Help with Itinerary Please: Children and Wife with Some Anxiety – Tokyo/Osaka Feb 2021

24 comments

1. Does your airfare include the option to cancel in case Japan doesn’t open to America?

2. I would consider adding a stop/night to an onsen/ryokan in between tokyo and osaka. Would be a nice peaceful break from the hustle and bustle.

   For example, one of my favorites was **Shuzenji** which you can access by getting off the shinkansen from tokyo to osaka in Mishima. Very peaceful town with some shops, sights, and nice mountain river flowing thru.

   Or alternatively, add a day trip from osaka to Nara which is also a bit more peaceful and the kids will like the deer.

3. There is a Pokémon Center in Parco in Shibuya

4. OMG lookin at your first full day almst give me anxiety.

   Imperial palace, depend why you want to go, but if it’s for the garden, I would argue there is better places. Tokyo National museum is in Ueno, imperial palace middle of town and shinjuku/harajuku west… that is a lot of transport. Honeslty, tone it down and focus on area that are close to each other.

   You can easily move Shinjuku/Harajuku to the next day, even if it’s a holiday, there will be shop open.

   For the 19, do something else, even just in Osaka you can go to Shinsekai, Shinsaibashi, denden town, even if it’s a concrete reconstruction, Osaka castle is better than not seeing a single castle. Tricking around Namba only for 3 days (16-17-19) is a bit much

   Flying back to Tokyo can be a good idea as you would already be at the airport. Even check to get an open jaw ticket (or multi-city, different company give different name).

5. If you want to take it slow I would suggest just going to either Tokyo or Osaka for the entire trip. Maybe consider staying 6/7 days in Osaka (for Universal Studios) and then a couple of days at an Onsen town. Is flying in and out of Osaka an option?

   Also consider going to Nara – I think the kids will enjoys checking our the deers.

   Do you and your family enjoy walking around and just exploring? If so then consider going to Kyoto for a day. You don’t need to enter any temples or shrines, but it can be quick fun walking around Higashiyama.

6. I would like to second those that suggested to include a onsen town. The magic of Japan does not lie in the cities – the nature is the real deal. Especially if your family needs some time to relax. So including just the two biggest cities won’t even give you an idea on what the country has to offer. I would suggest a combination of Tokyo and Nikko. Nikko is beautiful and easily reachable. Also: Don’t underestimate your kids interest in culture. While there are many temples and shrines in Nikko it’s at the same time the burial ground of one of Japan’s most famous Samurai! You can go hiking, visit onsen/spa (gender seperated and full nudity, but then you and your wife can go with your kids and no one is left alone), enjoy beautiful landscapes – all just 2 hours away from Tokyo by train.

   If you go to Osaka: it’s a big city and interesting because it is a big city and the people are funny. BUT Japanese cities are basically concrete jungles. You get tired easily especially when on a trip with kids, possible Jetlag and little resting time. Maybe you could think about staying in Kyoto instead. A day trip to Osaka is easily done from there, the city has a beautiful old town to offer, you can navigate by bike and there are quiter areas like Arashiyama / Kurama Mountains for easy hiking. That would at least offer you a glimpse into two very different sides of Japan. Just Tokyo and Osaka will be very monotonous.

7. I recommend Tokyu Hands for shopping. They have various stationary, tool and other stuffs.

8. Agreed with u/gdore15 the 13th is too much back and forth travel. Doable but inefficient. Also wouldn’t say the Imperial Palace garden is the most interesting garden. Not sure if kids would enjoy that. The Shinjuku Gyoen is in a better spot for accessing the other locations you list in your itinerary. I would consider adding Asakusa. There’s Sensoji (the temple with the cool gate and the impressive five-story pagoda structure ) and there’s many shopping streets (not just the main Nakamise street) around. Cool souvenir shops, ukiyo-e post card stores, many snacks and food along the way. You can also relax by the river viewing the Skytree.

   Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office doesn’t need to be a priority. Kids will enjoy the Pokemon Store and likely Harajuku for hours. Galaxy Harajuku has some interactive activities and even a free VR ride that kids will surely enjoy, so look into it! Tokyu Hands is a notable destination for crafts and stationary, and is in Shibuya and the Takashimaya store in Shinjuku. Loft and MUJI are also other popular stationary sellers.

   Personally would rearrange the Tokyo leg in these three groupings:

   Shibuya/Harajuku Day:

   >Shibuya Crossing
   >
   >Pokemon Store and Nintendo Store in Parco Shibuya
   >
   >Harajuku (Takeshita Street, Galaxy Harajuku, Kiddyland)

   You might think of fitting more to this day, but I’d say it will take at least 6-7 hours to do all these. Then you gotta consider when/where to eat meals too.

   Asakusa/Ueno/Ginza:

   >Sensoji/Nakamise & surrounding shopping streets for food and shopping
   >
   >Ueno Park & Tokyo National Museum
   >
   >Ameyoko Market, near Ueno (Okashi no Niki is a comprehensive Japanese snack store there)
   >
   >Tokyo Character Street (underground of Tokyo Station, if kids are into cute characters & stuff, there’s a mini Pokemon store here as well)
   >
   >MUJI Ginza (largest MUJI store in Tokyo, famous for their gel ink pens and other stationary)
   >
   >Hakuhinkan Toy Park

   Ginza blocks off the road for cars every Sunday. Hakuhinkan Toy Park in the southern end of Ginza is kinda fun. Good for kids. Could do this first full day since it can be busy, at least 8-10 hours to do all this. Asakusa is definitely my pick for “where to experience Japanese culture in Tokyo” though.

   Shinjuku Day:

   >Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (instead of Imperial Palace Gardens, could also do it in morning of Shibuya/Harajuku day)
   >
   >Shin-Okubo Koreatown
   >
   >Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office (can be low priority, open in the evening/nighttime as well)
   >
   >Isetan
   >
   >Takashimaya (Tokyu Hands)
   >
   >Kabukicho (wife only date)

   I would honestly want to include Odaiba, or even just TeamLab Planets or Borderless but that can make the itinerary quite rushed and tiring. If you do book accomodation in Shinjuku though, you could probably spread out the Shinjuku Day events to other evenings to allow for a day in the Odaiba area. Cool shopping spots and the Rainbow Bridge lit up at night is beautiful.

   For the comments here saying you should focus on only Tokyo or Osaka, it’s definitely a difficult call. Leave out Osaka, then there’s no Harry Potter park (Universal Studios) and I also know Tokyo is a great place for kids. But that’s my perspective as a Tokyo local. (spent many summers here as a teenager)

9. What does Tokyo Imperial Palace mean?

   The palace itself isn’t open for touring. You can tour the palace grounds but honestly it isn’t very interesting especially not with kids. If you mean the gardens, I echo what others said. And Feb isn’t exactly the best time for gardens unless the timing for ume blossoms is right.

   I like Takashimaya and Isetan but they are upscale. Visit for the food basement I guess. Ut I don’t expect it to be super interesting for your family.

   The Metropolitan building offers free views but I don’t think it’s the best. Mori City View of the new Shibuya Sky observatory. Or Ikebukuro’s Sunshine 60 with its aquarium.

   And plan at least a little bit ahead with a group of five when it comes to food

10. I would suggest looking for a place that does a make your own display food workshop. They’re pretty popular these days especially with kids around the same age yours.
    There’s a lot of just regular old sightseeing in this plan so it could be a nice change of pace for you all and would give you some more unique souvenirs.

11. The thing with onsen is that it’s usually split by gender. Your kids seem young enough that they wouldn’t mind but nudity is a thing to deal with. There is a fun one in Tokyo called O-edo Onsen (it’s out in Odaiba) it’s a theme park meets onsen. Has a big shared space where you all can wear yukata and eat from a variety of food stalls. Then they have gendered fully naked spots. Maybe you and your wife take turns hanging there alone while one watches the kids?

12. Japan’s trains are wonderful, punctual clean and very well run. You don’t need to fly Osaka to Tokyo and if you did you need to get to the airport. It’s about an hour to get from central Tokyo to Narita. I don’t know time for Haneda.

    Tokyo’s Imperial Palace Gardens are ok but not the best gardens in Tokyo.

13. Tokyo is intense. I’d say do as little as you can in Tokyo or try to find very chill places to visit there.

14. I went to Osaka and Tokyo during Christmas/newyears so I’m not 100% sure how things will be in February. But Something that may be a bit slower in Osaka that my group really enjoyed was the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. Now I dont know if your children would like it or not, I know I would have as a kid but everyone is different. Might be worth looking up though. We enjoyed the history and seeing the different ways people lived. Also we rented Kimonos and the male equivalent while there and walked around taking photos in the Edo period street which was also very fun.

15. I recommend visiting Lake Kawaguchiko while you are still in Tokyo. I also suggest you get 7 day Japan Rail Pass since you need to go back to Tokyo for your return flight. you just activate it on your 4th day in Japan. You might also want to add Kyoto or/and Nara to your itinerary since it is very near Osaka. I’m sure your children will love feeding the Deers in Nara Park. Don’t forget to try Japan’s many sushi conveyor restaurants.

16. I would really recommend Nara it is pretty close to Osaka by train and the deer are so friendly there and there is also a lot of culture and really nice food to eat. It can get a bit touristic but when I went there I really loved it the deer are so tame and now and you can go up to them and pet them it’s really tourist and kid friendly.

17. Just a few ideas:

    Try visiting a [Loft store](https://www.loft.co.jp/) for arts and crafts. Both [Shinjuku and Shibuya](https://www.loft.co.jp/) have one. You might also like a quick visit to a Daiso (100 yen store), they can have some quirky items sometimes in between the usual home stuff.

    PARCO Shibuya Store has a Nintendo store, a CapCom store, maybe something the kids might like.

    Osaka: nearby the aquarium is a shopping mall. There’s a popcorn shop called Popcorn Papa or something similar on the 2nd floor. You can try all different kinds of flavors, the pineapple and maple ones are delicious. The rest of the shopping mall has quite a lot of toy and snack related stores, might be fun for some last minute souvenir shopping.

    Nara is also an excellent suggestion already made by other people here.

    Also, everything in between the sights will most likely also be a fun part of the experience, so like other people say, don’t plan too much. Taking the subway, shopping at a 7-11 / Family Mart / Lawsons, walking around and seeing unexpected things, the small square cars driving around you, the drink machines everywhere etc etc 🙂

18. Stay the fuck home and don’t come spreading the virus around. How dumb are you to think it’s all gonna be finished by next winter?

19. Head to Golden Gai on your date night. It’s more or less in Kabuchiko.

    Also, I don’t really know if Osaka is worth seeing. Maybe I’ll be lambasted, but Osaka is just a smaller Tokyo to me.

20. Feb 19 – if your kids get overwhelmed / had enough of Namba, I’d recommend visiting Shinsekai! It has a seedy reputation at night but in the day time its still nice to check out. Also right beside Shinsekai is Spa World, an indoor onsen/pool/spa with games and food and massages if u want to relax 🙂

    Alternatively if they are up to more, you could take day trips to Nara or Kyoto. Nara only needs a good 3-5hours to visit. Kyoto longer as most of the sights are quite far apart.

21. I find Odaiba during a weekday pretty chill and quiet. You can hit TeamLab Borderless, a couple of the malls and then end in the Oedo Monogatari Onsen which is very family friendly.

    Around Tokyo Station you will find the Pokemon Cafe and a big store next to it. Being a Pikachu fan this was an awesome thing for myself and you can book a spot online 3 months in advance.

    I would swap the Tokyo Imperial Palace for Meiji Shrine which is next to Harajuku. In the afternoon, with the trees is very nice, relaxing, quiet and for the kids – lots of pokemon to catch.

22. Without reading other comments, DO NOT go to Harajuku on a Saturday. Harajuku is the busiest train at times (the one where people get shoved in as doors close) and I personally experienced riding the train there where multiple ppl had no handle, and it had to do an emergency stop, and like 10 of us almost fell over lol.
    Also Harajuku itself will be a sea of people. It’s honestly not that exciting, it’s just one little street. But a weekday should be much more manageable.

    Also personal preference, but I found the Imperial tour to be somewhat boring. However, I did love to Tokyo Museum. It is massive with like 4 buildings. (But one building was under renovation when I went, and other is dedicated mostly to extra purchase exhibits.)

    Edit: And if one shrine is all, choose Fushimi Inari. It’s the quintessential shrine. With all the red/orange torii gates. Once again, week days would help with crowds.

23. Thanks for that advice. Not hearing great things about the palace. Thanks again.

24. My autistic daughter and I went for a few weeks and I did put a few more things into the itinerary than we ended up doing. At some point she just didn’t feel like any more constant moving and schedule commitment. We were in Nikko at the time so we just stayed put for an extra day and went to the Edo Wonderland which is really fun for kids, especially if they like to dress up in period costumes. I am only saying this because it was great to spend a slow day rather than a Harajuku day with a lot of hustle and bustle (although she loved that too – ate at Monster Cafe there which is definitely young people friendly). I agree with others that Nara is a good add. There are a lot of Pokeman stores but we went to one in Ikebukuro which is in a good mall for kids as well, if they like Naruto, Dragonball and One Piece, and it is a short train or subway trip from Tokyo. A piece of advice from our travel agent was if we had to transfer to another train line in Tokyo, avoid Tokyo Station for efficiency and transfer at a station before or after. This seemed to cut down on some hustle and bustle as well. Have a great time!