We’re a family of four (kids are 11 and 13 years old). We flew from Finland to Osaka, where we stayed for the first four nights. We stayed at Mimaru Namba North, which turned out to be in a great spot between the wonderful Horie district and Shinsaibashi, and only a few blocks from Dotonbori.
**Osaka highlights:**
Horie district and Orange Street: We really liked the stylish and calm atmosphere of the Horie design district. It’s filled with wonderful cafés and chic little boutiques. Traditionally a furniture district, there were still a few very nice furniture shops with modern design classics and Japanese craftsmanship. A few great places we visited were Biotop, Goodland Market, The Real McCoy’s, Westwood Bakers, and Maze Café.
We visited Teamlab Botanical Gardens one evening and thought it was wonderful. There were no crowds, and the park is lovely in itself. There are a few different installations, and it does not take more than 1-2 hours to see them.
Nakazakicho, near Umeda, is another quaint and bohemian chic area with charming narrow alleys and cute old Japanese houses with lots of interesting tiny shops, restaurants, and overall a great atmosphere.
Osaka Castle was a must-visit, and we all thought it was interesting to learn about it’s history at the exhibit inside. Great views from the top, Osaka is vast!
After Osaka, we moved on to Tokyo, where we stayed for three nights at the Sequence Hotel at Miyashita Park in Shibuya. This turned out to be a great choice for us, as it is very well located just between Shibuya and Harajuku stations, and it was a wonderful hub for walking around Shibuya, Harajuku, and Omotesando. We explored these areas by foot for the whole four days, beside a visit to The Making of Harry Potter (which was a must for our girl). The views from the hotel were nothing short of amazing, by the way!
**Tokyo highlights:**
The recently renewed Miyashita Park: This is a wonderful park atop of a shopping center, with a skate park, beach volley, climbing walls, and cafes. It even has a replica of the Hachiko statue which you can sit with and take a photo crowd-free.
We spent a perfect day by taking a stroll to the nearby Yoyogi park to see some early cherry blossoms, walking back to the hotel exploring Harajuku, Omotesando, and Cat Street. Cat Street and the adjoining alleys have a great vibe – we had an excellent pizza dinner at the very cool Pizza Kevelos!
I’d recommend planning your dining well, especially with kids. One saving grace for us was Uobei conveyor belt Sushi in Shibuya, with all of us grumpy on empty stomachs on Saturday night. We tried Kanazawa Maimon Sushi at first, but the queue was enormous so we diverted to Uobei, which turned out to be a hilariously Japanese experience! It’s not cozy or atmospheric by any means, but the sushi (and million other) dishes were surprisingly good and the kids had a blast ordering them on the tablets.
The Making of Harry Potter WB Studio Tour. For Harry Potter fans, it’s nirvana. And fans there were, with almost everyone dressed adoringly as a student of wizardry.
*Note:* If you arrive from Osaka or Kyoto via Shinkansen and plan to stay near the western leg of the Yamanote line, you can get off at Shinagawa station before Tokyo main station and save some time.
From Tokyo, we moved on to Kyoto, where we stayed at Cross Hotel Kyoto between Pontocho and Kawaramachi.
**Kyoto highlights:**
Kiyomizu-dera. The walk up from Gion is very nice and it wasn’t too crowded. Lots of young people in traditional festive attire, just authentic Japan!
On our second day, it was raining, and so we opted for the Teramachi and Shinkyogoku shopping arcades and Nishiki market, where we found all kinds of neat souvenirs like ceramics, toys, etc. We got delish donuts and a cup of coffee at the apparently very hip Koe Donuts, look for it!
Ryoan-ji, and Ninna-ji: Extremely beautiful and serene. They made a perfect day trip as they’re within walking distance apart. Kinkaku-ji is also nearby. Be aware that the restaurants around the temples serve lunch until about 14, so plan accordingly.Pontocho is full of amazing restaurants. Couple of places we went and enjoyed very much were Yoshinosushi with a very homely and welcoming atmosphere, and a charming small Japanese vegan spot called Nijiya.
*Note:* Consider the taxi if you travel in a group. The train/bus network is not as convenient as in Osaka or Tokyo, of course. We used Go app and Uber a lot. For instance, from Kawaramachi to Ryoan-ji it was around 2800 yen, and took far less time than a bus or a train.
**General notes:**
Consider flying to Osaka (or maybe Nagoya?) instead of Tokyo if you plan on visiting these cities as well. My wife flew to Narita and back from Haneda last year on a business trip, and she said that Kansai was a 100x more efficient and fast to go through.
We had Ubigi eSims for data, and it worked extremely well in all cities. We had two 10Gb plans for us adults, the kids used our hotspots, and we had about 3.5Gb of data left after 10 days.
Suica/Icoca on iPhone Wallet is very convenient. Just add the card to your wallet, top up as you go.
For vegetarian and vegan food Japan still seems a bit tricky, but you can use Happycow to easily find places with veggie options or full vegan restaurants.
If you like vinyl records, there’s no place better to buy them than Japan. Every shop I visited had amazing selections, and the prices are very reasonable right now.
When planning our trip, we got a feel for the neighborhoods by watching walking tours on YouTube. Virtual Japan and Drifted Films are a couple of great channels. Works as a remedy for wanderlust too!
Overall, we had an amazing trip; the only trouble is we miss Japan terribly already.
by taemoo