We wrapped up our 14 day trip with preschool and kindergarten aged kids (3.5 and 5.5 years old). It was our second time going but first time with kids. We went to Kumamoto, Mt Aso area, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Yokohama. I didn’t find a ton of content for traveling with young kids so I’ll provide some insight.
—Kid related tips—
› Don’t necessarily love AirBnB’s but they’re the way to go in Japan with families. It’s hard to find hotel rooms for a family. Many times you just have to book two rooms unless you want to share a small bed with your family.
› Pack light and book AirBnB with a washer dryer. Packing light makes traveling around and changing destinations so much easier. We took 3 carry-on bags, a duffle and backpacks for everyone.
› Carry extra plastic bags for trash.
› Really try and ditch that stroller and get them used to walking. Our kids made it fine without one. We’d walk over 8 miles some days. Many nights I was carrying a sleeping 3 year old home though. We did Inari with out to much pain and suffering.
› If your kid is over 100cm you should be fine in the teamLabs Planets water feature with shorts on.
› In cabs, kids can just ride in your lap.
› Getting cabs in Kyoto isn’t easy because there’s so much demand.
› Rental car companies supply car seats. We booked through Toyota Rent-a-car
› Japanese city drivers are pretty crazy on those narrow side streets. Watch out for you little ones!! It was really bad in Kumamoto and Kyoto.
› Kids favorite activities in Tokyo: Koganei Park (playground, open air museum, sleding hill, bike rentals), teamLabs Planets, Tomica Shop on Character Street, Swallows Game.
› in Haneda Terminal 3, there’s a cool shop on level 5 that has a slot car race track. 200 yen gets you 5 min. The kids loved that.
› We spent about ¥25k-30k ($170-200) a day on food, transit, and shopping (doesnt include shinkansen, hotels, rental cars etc). We probably would have spent more but it’s hard to shop with young kids. It’s so cheap compared to the US. The whole trip was around $13k, not including points and credits.
› FYI you can take kids into bars and izakyas. Probably best to do so outside of peak bar hours.
› Clean bathrooms are easy to find. Convince stores are great for this.
—General Tips—
› At Inari, consider taking the side path through the [Bamboo grove](https://maps.gsi.go.jp/index_m.html#18/34.966595/135.778849/&base=std&ls=std&disp=1&vs=c1g1j0h0k0l0u0t0z0r0s0m0f1) and then once you get to the top, [take the back route down. ](https://maps.gsi.go.jp/index_m.html#18/34.971329/135.784298/&base=std&ls=std&disp=1&vs=c1g1j0h0k0l0u0t0z0r0s0m0f1)There’s some cool shrines on the way down and it’s so peaceful.
› Use the [Japanese topomaps](https://maps.gsi.go.jp/) and/or open street maps
› FYI Mt Aso is currently closed. Check conditions before you attempt to go. [https://maps.gsi.go.jp/](https://maps.gsi.go.jp/)
› If you buy your Shinkansen tickets on smart ex, you need to scan the QR code at the ticket gates that say QR. Redeeming them at the ticket machines doesn’t work (big mistake on my part). You can also link the tickets to your IC card, but that doesn’t really work well with kids.
› If you want the seats with storage, but don’t need them for the whole party, you’ll have to book them separately on Smart EX (of course tons of tourists were on the train with giant oversized bags and no storage seats reserved… So do what you want?)
› Go to a sporting event! I personally love the Tokyo Swallows, but I’ve heard good things about the Soccer games too.
› The soup spaghetti from ホームズパスタ in Shibuya was so good. It ended up being a fall back option after failed attempts elsewhere. The Japanese know how to do noodle soups so I shouldn’t be surprised.
› Go to Mr. Gyoza in Kyoto, don’t forget to order the Karage too.
› getting a rental car and getting off the betten path and getting into nature was so worth it. We loved our time in the Mt Aso region. It was really the best part. I’m sure there’s 100’s of other cool places to visit that you can only do by car. So much amazing food.
› We loved our Nike Pegasus Goretex shoes for tackling all terrain (they were the only shoes we brought). However, if you are only on pavement in the dry season, there’s probably better options for comfort.
Let me know if you have other questions about the trip or destinations. Feel free to message me.
by LANDERky