Japan with Grandkids

15 comments

1. >Day 4 Hakodate – Morning Market, Mount Hakodate, walk around old town

   Yes, the run to Hakodate is insane. You’ll have plenty of Shinkansen rides on the rest of your tour, and if you really want to try out the JR East Shinkansens specifically, ride somewhere closer — maybe Sendai (E5), Utsunomiya (E5, for Nikko) or Karuizawa (E7 / W7).

   >Day 6 Nagoya – Maglev museum

   Each of the three main JR companies have their own train museum. [JR East’s is in Omiya](https://www.railway-museum.jp/e/), a short bit north of Tokyo; JR Central’s is SCMaglev; and [JR West’s is in Kyoto](https://www.kyotorailwaymuseum.jp/en/). I’m not sure if Nagoya is worth a dedicated stop just for the museum and castle, since other locations can cover it. Or maybe your grandson wants to go to all three lol.

   >Day 7 train to Kyoto Kiyomuzidera, Higashima, Kinkakuji

   Kiyomizudera and Kinkakuji are at opposite sides of town. Doable, but it’s about a 1hr trip between the two.

   >Day 11, train to Hiroshima Hiroshima Castle

   If you’re going all the way to Hiroshima, I’d suggest that you drop all the castles in the itinerary (they’re all concrete replicas of destroyed originals), and go to Himeji instead. It’s between Osaka and Hiroshima, and can be done as a half-day trip. It’s the largest “original” castle with a traditional stone and wood construction.

   >Goshuin

   Just a reminder that Goshuin isn’t stamp collection, though it kinda functions similarly for tourists not keen on Japanese culture (sigh). Have the kids understand its spiritual and religous importance, and treat their Goshuincho properly and with respect. And don’t put anything that’s not a Goshuin in the Goshuincho.

2. Slow down, mate. Maybe I’m wrong and you have legendary kids, but really that itinerary is a rush for most fit adults.

   Definately drop Hakodate. Not worth the 8+ hour round trip.

   Consider going to Legoland in Nagoya. It’s literally next door to the SCMaglev and IMO the best theme park for kids. It’s designed with kids in mind and much less crowded; there’s hardly any wait and you could finish most rides within a day with time to spare. If you don’t want to go to Legoland, I suggest skipping Nagoya and replacing SCMaglev with the Kyoto rail museum.

   Kyoto is very packed. It’s transport is less efficient so you cannot assume you can get to all your destinations as quickly as Tokyo or Osaka. Day 8 is very inefficient. As for attractions, again not knowing your grand kids, but most will get bored after the first temple or two. Use the days saved from Hakodate/Nagoya to spread out your visits and consider going to Toei Kyoto Studio Park, and the rail museum. Toei is a working TV filming set/ theme park that has both old ninja/samurai era and more modern anime attractions. The rail museum is larger than SCMaglev and has a larger variety of trains and activities. There’s also an aquarium and large playground nearby.

   Osaka; you can skip Osaka castle. It looks nice outside but is really dull inside. Himeji is a better option which you can visit as a brief stop as you go towards Hiroshima.

3. If you’re able-bodied then yeah, you can do it. I might want to take a ferry back instead of a train. Like from Hokkaido to Nagoya. It’s an experience as well. They’re like a hotel on the ocean.

   Also, arashiyama/kinkakuji is west Kyoto while higashiyama/nishiki market/Fushimi/kiyomizu are east Kyoto. If he likes trains arashiyama has 4: JR, Torokko, Hankyu, and Randen Keifuku within 10 minutes walking distance. Torokko has a big train museum (or at least it did when I lived there).

4. Holy hell….this will be an absolutely miserable itinerary for everyone involved. Trim it down by a minimum of 20%, build in days where you do nothing i.e. just chill in the neighborhood you’re in, and remember kids that age are absolutely not interested in temples/museums (with some specific exceptions.) Find some things that are familiar for them (like Legoland, Super Nintendo World). If not, I assure you that you will be tired, stressed, and tempers will be on edge, and that’s all your family will remember. Chill out, enjoy being WITH the kids rather than trying to cram an entire country into 2 weeks.

5. Definitely drop Hakodate. That’s cray. I live in Nagoya and I just love it, but I’d drop it since you’re also going to Hiroshima. Tokyo, Kyoto/Osaka, Hiroshima and back to Tokyo is more than enough!!

6. On your day 8, you have Fushimi Inari which is in the east (and has a hell of a lot of walking if you want to reach the top). Then you will be going west to Arishiyama I am assuming to the Bamboo Grove, then the Monkey Park. The Monkey Park is up a steep hill as well. Then you are going back into town to go walking around the Nishiki Markets.

   Depending on where your hotels are, you are going to be busing or training to the central hub stations, catching loop trains or buses, then needing to walk to the sites, then back to your hotels. So I would put one activity in the morning and one in the afternoon, otherwise you’ll all be knackered.

   As others have said, I would drop Hiroshima and Osaka Castles, do day trips to Nara and potentially Himeji instead. Miyajima is lovely and a must do. Nara has nice deer that the kids will like to see.

7. I was just there. even in June it could really be hot and humid, or it could be raining a lot. You probably need a plan b, in case it rains a lot, and might want to stick to tokyo and osaka… Also, you can’t do tokyo, Akhibara, Shibuya, and Harajuku in one day.. there is so much to see just in tokyo…. and so much people.

8. It would be interesting to take such a bullet train from Osaka to Hiroshima.

   https://www.jr-hellokittyshinkansen.jp/en/

9. Day 2?!? While Tokyo subway is extremely efficient, you could have a lot of walking just within the massive stations – for example your exit is at the opposite end of the station from the carriage you’re in.

   Plus keeping an eye on two kids in the crowds.

   Japan is going nowhere. I’d scale back and leave some stuff for another trip.

10. Main advice: drop Hakodate (so NOT a quick run), which basically saves you 3 days that you can then use to go slower – which you will definitely need. You’ll have plenty of train experience anyway.

    Also, keep in mind that June will likely be hot and humid. You’ll be traveling with 2 young kids: be safe (hydrate), and be realistic.

11. Yep wayyyy too packed

12. Day 8 in Kyoto is pretty full on. Especially with kids. Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama are on opposite sides of the city, a fair distance away. And they’re both very physical places- walking up hills, walking through crowds. PLUS the very crowded food markets.

    I think you might need to temper your expectations about what you can fit into a day.

13. Get the kids a notebook each and they can collect the eki sutampu (station stamps) at train stations.

14. I’d recommend the train museum in Kyoto for sure. I’m a massive railway fan and loved the museum there, if your grandson loves trains as much as me then he’ll love it.

    It has old steam and Shinkansen trains. Exhibits on the history of rail transport in Japan and there is a viewing area on the top that overlooks the railway where you can watch the Shinkansen and local trains go by.

    Also look out for Dr Yellow, the diagnostic train, it’s considered lucky if you get to see. We did while on the Shinkansen down to Kyoto so I hope he gets to see it too.

    Good luck with trip.

15. Holy hell this could be an itinerary for a month