First time to Japan (Tokyo-Nagano-Kanazawa-Kyoto-Nara-Hakone-Tokyo) – traveling with two young children (8F and 6F)

13 comments

1. I don’t suggest any animal cafe but especially the exotic ones like the mipig one you have listed. They’re unethical and cruel plus there’s no such thing as a “mipig,” they’re regular pot belly pigs that are starved to stay small. And when they get too old and too big, they go out back and… yeah. Not something I suggest supporting.

2. That Kanazawa day is a little too ambitious. The walk from the train station to the market and through the garden and back to train station will take 4 hours minimum with time off lunch. Just the market would be doable.

   Fushimi Imari – Nara – Nijo in one day could be brutal. Expect very large crowds and if could be overwhelming.

   With kids you could maybe make the second day in Kyoto much easier if you take cabs instead of the buses – trains – could be a nice break

3. I’m not sure why you split the Hakone loop into 2 days. It’s best to do it one day so you only deal with the crowd once. What we did:
   – train from Odawara/Yumoto to gora
   – mountain train + cable car to Owakudani, see the volcano
   – cable car down to the lake, get on the pirate ship
   – hop off at the other side of the lake
   – go back by bus

   The reason why I suggest one day is because only the cable car has limited numbers of passengers on each cart. The rest, train, mountain train, bus back, is jam packed! There is no room 😅😅 we were so tired after being packed up and down.

   The next day, you can go to Forest Adventure Hakone. It’s an outdoor activity ground. Gora park also has nice stuffs to do, you can take the bus straight there if you’re close. Or shopping!!

   The deer at Nara are not aggressive. They’re well fed and lazy last time I visited. Some refused crackers cuz they’re too full. Just don’t grab them. They will allow some soft petting.

   Edit: i just saw you arrive from Kyoto that same morning. Better put Hakone loop on the next day. It’s close to 2 hours to get from Yumoto station to Owakudani if you do the loop.

4. We have been raising our child in Tokyo. At six years old, the child would have been exhausted by more than one place in Ueno in one day. For your schedule, however, it’s moot: the museums and the zoo in Ueno are closed on 11 March, as Monday is the usual closing day for museums and the like in the Tokyo area.

   Similarly, we *did* walk from Meiji Jingu to Shinjuku when our child was 5 or 6, but it took several hours.

   The trip from Kyoto to Hakone to Kamakura really seems to be pushing things: it’s 2 and a half hours from Kyoto to Hakone by Shinkansen and maybe 90 minutes on to Hase Station, followed by a walk of maybe 15 minutes. The time from Hakone-Yumoto Station (not from wherever you’re staying) to the Great Buddha you should put at about two hours, which won’t allow much time to do more than look at the statue, then immediately hurry for the train back to Shinjuku.

   Don’t take your children to animals cafés: the animals are generally treated badly and universally are stressed. The ‘mipig’ café is particularly egregious, as the pigs are essentially starved to keep them from growing.

   To answer some of your questions:

   * The children might like Kabuki well enough. It’s lively. In Tokyo, at least, it’s not necessary to be silent all of the time, either.
   * E-scooters are illegal for children younger than 16. You will not be allowed to rent them.
   * For intracity travel by train, double the estimates for longer journeys and triple them for shorter ones. Google Maps gives times for the fastest journeys between stations and shows times from when the doors close at one station and open at the next. They do not include the often considerable time necessary for travelling to and within the stations.

5. For getting a quick meal or snack, try Eleven 7/Family Marts/Lawson. The food is good and lots of choices. Japanese to-go food is very good. Also, Japanese Bakeries (they are very good) you can find rolls, hotdogs in rolls, pizza on rolls, curry in rolls, bacon and cheese on rolls and so on.

6. When going to Fushimi Inari, are yoy only expecting to see the entrance? It is usallly a 2-3 hour walk to get to the top.

   Also, maybe doing different activities for the kids? Walking all day and seeing temples may not be too exiting for them, plus maybe the kids would be too loud or annoying for other visitors.

7. You know your kids best, but I’d skip Kanazawa. It’s just going to feel like a day of constantly getting on and off buses and trains (Omicho Market is not really walking distance from the train station nor to the garden, and when I was 6-8 I certainly had limited interest in gardens). Plus there’s the matter of dealing with everyone’s luggage, corralling kids, etc.

   Philosophers Path is only worth it during peak cherry blossoms. If there are not peak blossoms on 3/15, it is just a generic footpath.

   The hakone-kamakura-tokyo day looks insane. I am an adult interested in temples and even I’d cut kamakura. Definitely not worth it with kids.

   Escooters are not allowed at your kids ages.

8. Ooofff your itinerary is exhausting IMO. 20k+ steps a day with no downtime in between and hoping around each cities is pushing it too hard esp. with the kids.

9. Way too hectic for 10 days with an 8yo and 6yo! I would instead do 4 days Tokyo, 4 days Kyoto with 2 days somewhere else of your choosing.

10. Go to izakayas with your kids, they will love the variety of food and you can get something you like and they might not

11. To echo what others have already said, this looks like quite a lot to do daily with 2 small children… I don’t have kids myself, so perhaps I’m wrong. You’ll know your kids better than we will but, at a minimum, I’d suggest making your first full day there a bit lighter just in case there’s also jet lag to contend with for you all – especially the kids. TeamLabs you definitely have to book a slot for, so you can’t really play that by ear. As such, I don’t think it makes for a good “first full day” activity when you have small people with you that may be less willing and able to just “power through” exhaustion as an adult may.

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    >We’re stopping in Kanazawa on 2024-03-13 mostly to give the kids a break from commuting. But I do think the sites I’ve chosen will be worthwhile. Disagree? Too ambitious?

    Honestly, it feels a bit pointless to stop in Kanazawa as they’ll just need to get back on the train. I think it’s better to just get straight to Kyoto vs dragging out the travelling with a stop in an attempt to get a break from travelling. Shinkansens are so comfortable, that I honestly don’t even know what you’d need to give them a break from. It’s not like the chaos of constantly moving between metro to metro and crowded, noisey, overstimulating train cars. Also, people say that Kanazawa is only really good for 1 day, but as a person that just came back from visiting there a week ago, it really deserves a few days. There is surprisingly a lot to see and do.

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    >Are e-scooters a good idea for children? The idea is to get some distance from the tourist bulk at the beginning of the park. I’m aware that the deer can be a little aggressive, which I believe also favors getting a little bit away to lessen the deer density as well. Is this correct?

    Sorry – as in put them on their own scooter or on a scooter with you? My guess is that it’s them as passengers LOL but just checking… I personally am not a fan of e-scooters for myself as an adult in my 30s, but I know loads of people that are completely fine and comfortable with them. With that being said, I also know people that have fallen and gotten quite injured having 2 people on the scooter as one person made a sudden, unexpected movement that threw the driver off. My gut says “not a good idea”, but then I am also very risk averse. I’d check around the laws there with escooters though and what you can and can’t do from that perspective as they may be off the table full stop regardless of whether or not you should use them.

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    >Would it be insane to consider bringing two small children to Kabuki theater? I believe it will be in Kyoto in March.

    Are your kids very well behaved? Do they get bored easily or can they sit in a theatre show regularly for a few hours? IMO, without knowing your kids, it’s really hard to say but i would say if they can’t sit in a regular theatre or 2-hour movie at a minimum patiently and comfortably (and relatively quietly), the answer is no. But admittedly I’ve never been to Kabuki myself so I may be wildly off the mark.

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    >Will we be able to get a critical mass of Hakone activities in one afternoon, or is it a good idea to reserve time the next day to “finish it”?

    Reserve the next day to finish it at an absolute minimum. Adults with longer legs and attention span than children typically would struggle to do all the key things Hakone has to offer in one afternoon. I would struggle to think it would be easier with the addition of two small children.

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    >Where would be the best place(s) to shop the last day? We’re flying out of Narita. Our bags will be in Shinjuku.

    What are you shopping for? This will heavily dictate this but also – is 1725 when you’re leaving for your flight or when your flight actually leaves?

12. I would remove some of your hikes and build in time for more kid focused activities and downtime. You will want to go back to Japan so save some of the shrines for later. Otherwise you will have very cranky little ones and not enjoy your trip.

    Wonder around food markets like Nishiki in Kyoto and the basements of department store food halls in Tokyo. Go to arcades to try the claw machines.

    A few things that my kids enjoy: snow monkey park in Nagano, I would switch that out with the one in Arashiyama as it’s fun to see the monkeys soaking in the hot spring. In Arashiyama take them to the Rilakkuma Cafe which has really cute food. Harajuku is a great choice for fun shops and food to try, include the Kiddyland store. Nara and feeding the deer was a highlight for us. I would also highly recommend a day at Disneyland or DisneySea.

13. If I were traveling with small children I would pick one or two activities max per day. If I were traveling that day I would pick just one. We did that with just the two of us without kids and it leaves more room for just exploring and taking in the scenery. If we felt like going somewhere or stumble across something interesting, we would just go and check it out. I don’t understand why there’s so many people on Reddit meticulously planning their holidays to Japan; take the time to relax and enjoy yourselves instead of being focused on being on time everywhere everytime.