First Trip – Gay Dads w 3YO & 70YO

Here’s a report on our trip the last two weeks of August, as I’ve seen a general desire for more content about traveling with young kids. (If you’re wondering *why travel with a young kid?* the answer is: we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this year, where our work sabbaticals aligned with my mom’s 70th birthday.)

**Backstory:** We’re two gay men in our 30s with a 3-year-old daughter. My mom grew up in Japan in the 1950s and hasn’t been back in 45 years. We are from the US, but went to Japan at the end of a two-month-long sabbatical trip — the rest of us were coming from Eastern Australia so only Mom had jet lag, but the kid was also pretty cranky & tired of traveling at this point. We aren’t really interested in anime or manga (outside of Ghibli and my daughter’s new interest in Hello Kitty & Pokemon); our primary trip focuses were on my mom’s nostalgia, a basic intro trip to the country for the rest of us, and handicrafts. My husband does leatherworking and I sew.

**The Heat:** We’re from the Southern US (and have backpacked in the SW) so know heat pretty well, but it was exceptionally bad in a way that limited our ability to do outdoor things, especially because we were traveling with vulnerable people. We took care to wear natural and breathable fibers, froze our water bottles before going out, spent no more than an hour outside at any one time without ducking in to a cafe or shop, and got a lot of cold beverages from vending machines. My mother got an SPF umbrella from a department store early in the trip; we also got a cold neck ring from a Japanese store. All of this helped. Fans generally did *not* work well as it was too humid to get the evaporative cooling assistance. We don’t regret going at all, but definitely hope to go back at a better time so we can do more!

**Kid logistics:** We have a MacLaren umbrella stroller we got on a Buy Nothing facebook group. It’s very light, and we typically carried it up and down flights of stairs as needed. Our kid is thankfully toilet-trained, and the abundance of public restrooms in Japan made it pretty easy. She’s also very comfortable sleeping on the floor, on either a futon or a folded up duvet, with her travel sleeping bag; that was her standard accommodation this trip. She is *not* accustomed to sit-down restaurants, and has some attention issues we’re monitoring with our pediatrician that are particularly difficult at mealtimes.

**TL;DR Biggest hits with the toddler:**

* Anakuma Cafe (Harajuku)
* Gashapon and Beverage Vending Machines
* Ghibli Museum
* Iwatayama Monkey Park
* Watching them roast Hojicha in Uji (and trying matcha for the first time)
* Osaka Museum of Housing and Living
* Hiroshima Children’s Museum of Science and Culture
* Deer and koi on Miyajima
* Ghibli Park (especially the Warehouse kids’ play area)

**Housing:** Given the size/ages of our party, we needed some specific things. We got AirBnBs for our longer stay in Tokyo (Nihombashi) and Kyoto (Gion), a ryokan on Miyajima (the only time we all shared a room), and stayed in Super Hotels the other nights. The Super Hotel chain is business traveler-focused and pretty affordable and basic; most of them allow you to book adjoining rooms with a door between them, which was great for us.

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In addition to the trip report details, I’ll also be listing some of the things we *didn’t* do — usually due to some combination of the kid’s mood/ability and the heat.

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**Friday August 18: Tokyo**

We arrived in Haneda in the evening. Got the pocket WiFi, activated our JR Passes (for Thursday August 24), got visitors’ Pasmo cards, took the subway to the AirBnB, grabbed dinner from the conbini, and went to bed.

**Saturday August 19: Tokyo (Ginza)**

* Got up and out at around 10:30AM. Went to Ginza; shopped at Hands for sunscreen, craft materials, and other miscellany.
* Lunch: Korean restaurant in the shopping center. Very good!
* Stopped in briefly at Itoya to shop for stationery; they have a washi tape decorating station on the second floor that occupied my daughter (under my husband’s supervision) for around 20 minutes while my mom and I shopped.
* We were tired of shopping after this, so went back to the AirBnB. Ate some mostly pre-made food from the grocery store along with rice we cooked.
* After toddler went to bed, my husband and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and picked up our Ghibli tickets from Lawson.

*Didn’t do: Shimokitazawa*

**Sunday August 20: Tokyo (Harajuku & Shibuya)**

Incredibly hot this day, the kind of heat that makes little alarm bells go off in the animal part of your brain.

* We made it to Harajuku around 10AM.
* Stopped in at a capsule toy store on Takeshita Street, which was a big hit with our daughter (and with us for some of the weirder miniatures).
* Went to Togo Shrine and bought the Hello Kitty Goshuincho.
* Needed more caffeine, so went to Anakuma Cafe, a gimmick cafe with a hole in the wall through which a worker in a bear suit hands you your coffee. ***This was a huge hit with our kid, who we did not tell about it beforehand***. The “bear” high-fived her multiple times and gave her a free ice cream cone; she talked about the bear multiple times a day for the next week.
* Picked up lunch from a conbini and ate at the entrance to Yoyogi Park.
* Went to Meiji Jingu — which my mother vaguely remembered from her childhood! Got cold beverages & ice cream at the cafe after stopping by the main shrine buildings.
* Then headed for Shibuya. Walked through the Scramble. Got a pikachu plushie for our daughter from the Pokemon Center, introduced my mom to Muji.
* Got dinner bento boxes in the basement of Mitsukoshi Nihombashi, which was a real revelation — good, easy to eat at home base with the kid, quite affordable.
* After bedtime, my husband and I went to the Pokemon Center DX and picked up some gifts for friends (much easier to shop without a 3-year-old).

*Didn’t do: Yoyogi Park (too hot to walk extra distance), more of Meiji Jingu, Shibuya Loft.*

**Monday August 21: Tokyo (Shinjuku, Sanrio Puroland)**

* Got to Shinjuku around 11AM. Bribed my daughter with a couple capsule toy machine plays.
* Went to the government center observation tower, which was a positive experience (and the only observation tower we went to).
* Got lunch at conveyor belt sushi restaurant Himawari Sushi Shintoshin. I was expecting this to be a huge hit with my daughter, but she was mostly distracted by it and ate very little (ugh). Good sushi though, and it was very beloved by my mother — who had been to one of the earliest conveyor belt sushi places when she was growing up.
* Nearly missed the train to Keio-Tama-Center/Puroland as it changed tracks, but we thankfully caught it in time. Got to Puroland by 2:15PM.
* **Puroland: Very, very busy.** School was out, and it was packed — with teenagers!! It was the single most overwhelming experience of our trip. **I would not go again during school holidays.** We did the boat ride (and got express tickets for it, as otherwise the wait was *90 minutes long).* We also saw the Miracle Gift Parade, which was a pretty incredible production (and cultural experience). We looked for a gift for my kid’s Hello Kitty-loving teacher in the gift shop, but the gift shop here is really underwhelming; it’s mostly cheap plushies and junky toys. We ended up spending around 2 hours here. My kid was initially excited, but found the experience overwhelming and was a little frustrating with how crowded it was.
* Grabbed dinner from a conbini, got kid to bed. Too tired to go out.

*Didn’t do: 2 Chome, Shinjuku Gyoen, Shinjuku Central Park Children’s Square.*

**Tuesday August 22: Ginza Again, Nippori Fabric Town, Ozu Washi Paper Making**

* Got a slow start this morning, so didn’t make it to Tsukiji Outer Market as we’d planned. We had some shopping we wanted to do without the kid, so split up: My husband took her to Mitsukoshi Ginza’s patio area and my mother and I went back to Itoya to shop. We then traded off: We ate lunch from the Mitsukoshi food court with the kid while my husband went back to Hands.
* Went back to the AirBnB to rest for a little, then hustled to Nippori Fabric Town. I had hoped to spend half a day here, but ended up only having an hour or so. My husband again took the kid (to some leathercraft stores and to get shave ice) while I looked at fabric with my mom. Mom and I had to hurry back to Nihombashi because we had…
* Washi paper making experience at Ozu Washi. My mother and I did this (my husband watched our kid again). This was very pleasant and extremely cheap (around 700yen for lace washi, 500 yen for plain washi); you can book by emailing them. The instructor was bilingual Japanese/English and also showed us around their little museum while our paper was drying. When my husband and daughter showed up afterwards, the staff stopped working to coo over her, and they gave her a beautiful miniature paper umbrella.
* We got dinner from a conbini again, then put the kid to bed.
* After bedtime my husband and I walked up to Akihabara and got some gifts (and weird kitkats) from Don Quijote.

*Didn’t Do: Tsukiji Outer Market*

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**Wednesday August 23: Ghibli Museum, Last Full Day in Tokyo.**

* We had Ghibli Museum tickets for 11AM; we got there at 11:15. It was a really delightful experience, even for a 3-year-old — the design is wonderful and kept her interested and occupied. Unfortunately she was also very grumpy about traveling, and this came out in her taking literally an hour and a half to eat lunch at the cafe. We didn’t have time for everyone to see everything, but trading off we each saw nearly everything. Loved the Miyazaki Studio permanent exhibit!
* Then met up with a friend of my mom’s at the Snoopy Cafe in Harajuku, which was boring and uninspired.
* Got dinner at Mitsukoshi again.
* After bedtime, packed up so we could bring just backpacks and one small suitcase on the rest of our travels.

*Didn’t do: Edo Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum, Inokashira Park Zoo*

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**Thursday August 24: Kappanbashi Street -> Kyoto**

* Brought our excess baggage to a Yamato office for forwarding to our final hotel. We managed to hash out the details with rudimentary Japanese; if we’d been staying in a hotel, it would have been much easier. Left other bags at the AirBnB “lobby.”
* Went to Kappanbashi Street to buy some kitchen stuff – bought some cool cookie cutters and some sanpuru display foods.
* Got lunch at Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku. Had to wait around 30 minutes in the brutal sun, but this was good.
* Picked up candied sweet potatoes next door.
* Took a taxi back to the hotel to get our bags, then to Tokyo Station. Got on the Shinkansen to Kyoto. Took a taxi to our AirBnB in Gion; grabbed conbini dinner.
* After bedtime walked to Yodobashi Camera. Shopped for presents.

*Didn’t do: Senso-ji, Sogenji Temple.*

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**Friday August 25: Northwest Kyoto**

Heat was merely unpleasant today rather than totally deadly. Probably one of our best days.

* Took a bus to Kinkakuji, arriving at 9:40AM. Was not too busy at all. Had matcha and a sweet at the tea house there, which my mom really enjoyed. Bought overpriced shave ice outside the entrance.
* Walked from there to Kitano Tenmangu for the monthly shrine sale. This was a real treat. We picked up some lovely textiles and antiques at good prices (wagashi molds, vintage kimono, temari balls), and also enjoyed visiting the shrine.
* Got lunch from 7-11.
* Took the train/tram to Arashiyama. Rain threatened so we got very tasty afternoon tea at Chavaty, during which it absolutely POURED.
* At this point we were cutting it pretty close to the monkey park’s closure, so when the rain let up a little we hustled over there. Got in, carted the stroller up the hill (just a few stairs and then steep paved switchbacks). Kid was at first terrified of the monkeys, but we worked through it. Beautiful view, great experience.
* Took the train back to Gion, got okonomiyaki nearby.
* After bedtime went to Club Metro for their monthly, 30-year-running drag show. It was one of the better gay-bar vibes I’ve experienced; I would highly recommend it! Show starts at midnight on the last Friday of the month; doors open at 10PM but I’d recommend getting there around 11PM. Unfortunately we were pretty tired at this point, so we only caught the first couple acts of it; we got Kotobike bike share back to the AirBnB because the trains and buses stop running that late.

*Didn’t do: Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street, Tenryu-Ji and all the other temples in the hills around Arashiyama.*

**Saturday August 26: Kyoto Shopping**

* Husband & I took it easy this morning because we were out so late; while we rested, Mom walked out to Kiyomizu-dera solo.
* After she got back, we took the bus to the Shibori Museum; this is a small museum run by a family who has practiced this form of dyeing for many generations. We did not take a class there, but it was a generally positive experience.
* Stopped in to the Mikane-jinja Shrine for a gold goshuin (and an amulet for my MIL); then grabbed Kotobikes (we have a portable kid seat) and headed to Nishiki Market for a late lunch. Nishiki Market wasn’t too crowded at this point (around 2PM) but it was mostly just OK; we hadn’t done a ton of research on best places to eat or anything and were also dragging a little at this point.
* We biked around and did some shopping at Misuyabari Sewing Needles, a centuries-old family-owned sewing needle business, and Nomura Tailor House.
* Then biked back to the AirBnB. Dinner was from a grocery store, plus a fried chicken restaurant nearby.
* *This wasn’t a great day; in retrospect we missed the public transit time (sitting down with air conditioning) and the heat really got to us by the end, especially my mom.*
* After we put the kid to bed, my husband and I took LUUP scooters up to Fukueido and got daifuku, then walked back through Gion at night.

*Didn’t Do: Kurama to Kibune hike.*

**Sunday August 27: Fushimi Inari and Uji**

We discussed doing Philosopher’s Path this day, but figured it would be a lot of outdoor walking time with less public transit rest, so decided to take the train down to Fushimi Inari and Uji instead.

* Despite our best efforts, we didn’t arrive at Fushimi Inari until 9:45AM. Grabbed some pastries from the great bakery Eight right off the Keihan line stop. It was starting to get busy, but still enjoyable; we hiked up a bit of a ways, about up to the crossroads, and then walked down to town on the other path.
* *Note:* We did regret not bringing more cash to Fushimi Inari – we barely scraped together enough for a shave ice on the mountain, and couldn’t pick up some of the more interesting trinkets from other shrines.
* There are only a few small flights of stairs, so our method of just carrying the kid up worked well.
* We picked up lunch from 7-11, then took the JR line down to Uji.
* In Uji we got incredible matcha desserts from 総本家 大茶萬/Sohonke Ochamon.
* Walked to the Fukujuen Tea Factory Museum. Much like the Shibori Museum, this was pretty small and definitely would have been better to do a workshop as part of our visit; we did pick up some great souvenirs from the gift shop.
* On the walk, we passed by a store that was roasting hojicha out in the open, which my daughter found fascinating.
* We walked back across the river, watched them feeding the fishing cormorants in their cages (cormorant fishing was closed because of high water levels)
* Went to the Uji visitor center and did a tea ceremony in the Taihoan public tea house.
* My mother had not realized that Byodo-in was in Uji. Her career is in art and historic preservation, so when she realized, she asked if we could go. (check out the nameless antique shop near the southern entrance for some beautiful textiles – we picked up a silk shibori haori there for 2,000 yen). We got tickets to see the Phoenix Hall as well as walk the grounds; my mom cried when we got there because she never thought she’d be able to see Byodo-in.
* Walked back to the train, got a conbini dinner for the kid, and made some tofu, rice and vegetables for ourselves at the AirBnB. Packed up our things.

*Didn’t do: Any number of other matcha dessert shops; Tale of Genji Museum; actual tea fields; summit of Mt Inari; Nara.*

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**Monday August 28: Osaka**

* Left AirBnB at 10AM and took a taxi to Kyoto Station. Took the shinkansen to Osaka, then the subway to Super Hotel Osaka Tanimachi-yonchome. Super Hotel doesn’t allow early check-in, so we left our bags there and went out.
* Got lunch at Oden to Osake Yuon, an izakaya where we had the second floor to ourselves and got really good oden that made my mom *very* nostalgic.
* Split up — my husband went to some leatherworking shops and my mom and I took my daughter to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. This was a huge hit – indoors and air conditioned, not very crowded, a lot of “yes” time for my kid.
* Met up back at the Super Hotel around 3:30. Got dinner at a deli nearby, repacked our bags.
* After bedtime my husband and I went out to Dotonbori, but honestly we were too tired to enjoy it.

*Didn’t do: Osaka Castle, Shinsekai.*

**Tuesday August 29: Hiroshima to Miyajima**

* We were hoping to take the Hello Kitty shinkansen down to Hiroshima, but learned after all of our hotels were booked that this was one of the two days it wasn’t running. Sad!
* We dropped all of our bags except for overnight backpacks at Shin-Osaka station’s luggage lockers.
* Picked up a consolation Hello Kitty ekiben for the kid (plus ekiben for us) and hopped on a train. Unfortunately got the wrong train (one that ended in Okayama) so had to transfer. Still got into Hiroshima around noon, where we left our backpacks at the station.
* First stop was the Children’s Museum of Science & Culture, which was a great spot for my kid to run around and get some “yes” time. It’s free, but a little shabby (many of the exhibits were broken).
* Then walked over to the atom bomb dome and peace park. It was very hot so we only spent around 1-1.5 hours here.
* Stopped in at Uniqlo to get new underwear for my kid because she decided she hated her Cars underwear.
* Got dinner at Okonomiyaki Momiji-Tei, then grabbed our overnight bags and took the JR train and ferry to Miyajima. We got in later than we’d hoped, but Miyajima Hotel Makoto was very pleasant.

*Didn’t do: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.*

**Wednesday August 30: Miyajima, travel to Nagoya**

* Breakfast at the ryokan. Left our overnight backpacks there while we explored.
* Got coffee at Miyajima Coffee.
* Walked by the torii gate view; had our first encounter with the deer, which had also been initially alarming to my kid but were soon beloved by her.
* Walked up to the cable car station; I’m glad we walked through the beautiful park instead of taking the shuttle bus, even though we were pouring sweat. Took the cable car to the observatory, walked around a little, took the cable car back down.
* Fed the koi at the little cafe near the bottom cable car station.
* Got lunch at Matochan okonomiyaki restaurant.
* Split up: Husband went back to grab bags while Mom, kid and I got shave ice and momiji at 藤い屋 宮島本店 淡雪花. The momiji were (delightfully) still warm.
* Met at the ferry; got off the island by 3PM. Picked up a couple of bags from Hiroshima station.
* Unfortunately took the shinkansen the wrong direction from Hiroshima; we got off as soon as we realized, which left us stranded in a middle-of-nowhere station for an hour before we could get a train back.
* Picked up the rest of our luggage at Shin-Osaka, got dinner ekiben, got into Nagoya around 7:45PM and dropped everything we didn’t need into a locker, got into the Super Hotel Nagoya Ekimae.

*Didn’t Do: Rent bikes on Miyajima; climb up to the top of Mt Misen; tour Itsukushima-jinja or the Toyokuni Shrine pagoda.* In general I really wish we’d spent more time on Miyajima.

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**Thursday August 31: Ghibli Park**

* We had tickets to the Hill of Youth + Warehouse (9AM) and Dondoko Forest (12PM). Ultimately this ended up being a little tight to get everything done, including lunch (food truck area meant we could skip the cafeteria lines).
* Generally very cool; the warehouse’s main permanent exhibition is really just a series of photo-taking opportunities, which I didn’t find all that enticing. However, the kids’ play area in the warehouse was delightful; we also enjoyed exploring the Hill of Youth house’s treasures and of course seeing Satsuki & Mei’s house was great too. My daughter climbed the Totoro structure around 5 times.
* My mother lost her Pasmo card after getting off of the train, which wouldn’t be a problem except that our luggage storage locker was linked to it. Thankfully, someone found it and returned it to the information center in the plaza by the train station.
* Traveled back into Nagoya proper, got our bags.
* Our JR passes had expired at this point so we had to buy shinkansen tickets for Shinagawa/Tokyo. This was more annoying than expected, because none of the machines would take any of my husband or mother’s credit cards (even though they do sometimes accept foreign cards), and the ATM lines were very long and then my husband’s debit card wouldn’t work in them either (despite working in all of the conbini ATMs the whole trip). We ended up booking them at a travel agency desk. Got ekiben and beers for dinner as we were exhausted by this whole affair.
* Stayed at Super Hotel Shinagawa Shimbamba, where our bags were waiting for us. Spent the evening re-packing and organizing everything.

**Friday September 1: Fly Home**

* Got breakfast and coffee at NOG Coffee Roasters, which was honestly some of the best coffee I’ve had in my life. It was very empty and the cafe area is somewhat spacious, so my daughter enjoyed looking at the architecture books on the walls.
* Picked up some snacks as presents from Lawson.
* Took a taxi to Haneda and caught our flights home.