Cost
Nothing is owed in 2026. There's a long quiet stretch before the first real bill, and that's on purpose — it's your runway.
The first money moves in September 2027, and the single biggest payment is flights in late 2027, paid in full at booking. Save toward a flat 2028 total and you'll be short exactly when the flights need paying — so size your saving to hit that date instead.
Cumulative, per person, working from a $4,000 midpoint. Yours will differ — this is the shape of it, so you can plan your own saving. Nobody is invoicing you.
Starting November 2026, an automatic transfer of $150–$200 a month into your own account covers a September 2028 trip with room to spare. Set it once and forget it.
If we vote April 2028, there are five fewer months of runway, so the same trip needs closer to $220–$280 a month. That's a real difference for anyone stretching, and it's a legitimate reason to vote September on Question 1.
Everyone books and pays their own way. Your flights, your hotel rooms, your park tickets — booked in your name, on your card, on your schedule. No shared pot, nobody holding anyone else's money for eighteen months, and no one person on the hook if plans change.
One exception: the ryokan has to be booked as a block in September 2027, so that share gets collected the same week it's paid — not held in advance. Everything else you handle yourself.
A guided day in Kyoto is worth considering — guides charge per group rather than per head, so split between all of us a full day lands around the cost of a park ticket each. We can't price it until dates are locked, since peak season costs meaningfully more. That's a spring 2027 decision, and it'll be a straight yes or no with a real number attached.
Question 7 is just a headcount — nothing binding, and only the organiser sees it