Sharing our experience traveling with a stroller and a small child in Japan to help all you other suckers aka \*parents\* out there planning a trip.
Overall I vote having the stroller was a HUGE help. Essential stroller features: Fold small enough to be carry-on if necessary, light weight for travel, full recline for sleepy tots, and a canopy/shade situation for the heat. Bonus for under storage.
Pros:
As everyone says, you will walk A LOT! Having the option to push your kid when they’re tired instead of carrying them helps conserve energy.
Full or near full recline means jet lagged kids could sleep whenever/wherever.
Many\* rail stations have escalators or elevators to take the stroller up.
Whenever a train started getting too crowded I could easily put the kid on my lap and fold the stroller down to make space.
Many tourist areas that don’t allow strollers either have designated stroller parking (ex.Fushimi Inari and Ghibli Park) or you have the option to store it in a coin locker.
Cons:
A lot of stores are small and are not easy to navigate a stroller (or toddler honestly) through.
A lot of stores in Harajuku and Akihabara had narrow stairs only. We ended up having to alternate between checking out certain places (Mandarake, Mega Donki, Animate etc.)and staying outside with the stroller and kiddo.
Some\* stations didn’t have readily apparent elevators or escalators. There probably were some, but I was def lost and turned around at times outside of Tokyo between all the different trains and subways. This just meant the toddler either had to walk, get carried in the stroller, or get carried separate from the stroller up the stairs.
For me the pros outweigh the cons. Team stroller all the way!
Some other things I did to appease my kid included having a tablet, pocket wifi, portable chargers and cables, and a coin purse for the endless gachapon and vending machines. Parenting is hard wherever you are, so you might as well enjoy yourself sometimes too! Overall great trip!
