Part two of our trip to Japan (Part One: Kyushu Blog)! With the Holidays approaching we were excited to have family join us over Christmas. My mom and brother made the flight over the Pacific for a few weeks of sushi, Pokémon and shrines. Unfortunately, a leg injury involving an electric scooter prevented my youngest brother and his wife from joining us, but we delivered them a suitcase full of Japanese kitchen knives and skin care products to make up for it.
Where Are We?
For our second half of Japan we elected to show my family around the main island. We hit the highlights cities of Tokyo and Kyoto with Nagano added in the middle as a hypothetical snowy Christmas stopover. My brother, Spencer, had been to Japan before, but it was my mom’s first time. We worked out a “best of” itinerary while also visiting a few new-to-us places.
My mom flew in and we immediately subjected her to the most touristy and child friendly thing you can do in Tokyo: Disneyland. I originally rolled my eyes at taking two, dedicated days to see both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea, I have to admit, I am a full Mouse Fan now. Yes, it was expensive and yes, it was crowded but Mae and Emmett were the perfect age to enjoy it and the magic infected us all. Mae had, on her own, drawn pictures of Anna and Elsa (from Frozen) months before to give to them. We were fortunate enough to run into both in the park and treasure some one-on-one time. It brought us both to happy tears watching our daughter excitedly talk to her heroes.
All of the credit truly belongs to Madeline, who planned a masterclass in “How to Tokyo Disney”. I asked her to write a separate post detailing her extensive research and timetables to help future visitors, since all I did was just follow along. Her artistry allowed us to never spend more than 30 minutes in a line, kept me well fed (critical factor for team moral) and hit every major show and ride in both parks.
Spencer flew in after the Disney days and met us straight off the flight in Akihabara, a vibrant nerd mecca in Tokyo. We set a train station to meet at, but failed to choose which exit, leading to a comical back and forth describing our surroundings, being unable to actually read most of the street signage. We eventually found each other and spent the evening exploring building after building of crane games, arcades and every form of collectable you could imagine. We walked away 5000 yen poorer and only a French fry keychain (literally a single, plastic fry) to show for it. Totally worth it.
On our last day in Tokyo we spent the morning in Asakusa, including the Sensoji Shrine and adjacent market shops, where we tried all of the animal shaped treats. Continuing with our impromptu food tour, we hit up some recommendations from Spencer’s friend, eating fantastic soba and recharging with some of the best matcha I’ve had in Japan, which is saying something. We tried to visit a Samoyed dog cafe too, but unfortunately a prior reservation was required (and no children) so we cut our losses, got bento boxes and boarded our Shinkansen to Nagano.
Nagano was introduced to the broader world in the 1998 Winter Olympics. A few decades later we traveled to the region to find some of that snow… and hot springs monkeys. Nagano itself was a fantastic walking city to explore and staying at the hotel in the central train station made it convenient to hop on trains and buses to explore the broader region. A highlight of the city were the Zenkoji Temple and adjacent shopping street. For day trips from Nagano there were a ton of options, but we picked two: The Snow Monkey Park and a day in Nozawa Onsen for skiing and geothermal waters. Both were about an hour bus/train ride from Nagano and both totally worth it, more details later.
On Christmas Eve we boarded the Shinkansen again for our final city of the trip, Kyoto. I found an Airbnb where the owners also run a small bakery on the first floor and the included breakfasts were expectedly amazing. Madeline found a florist that happened to have some evergreen branches, some string and bells from the 100 yen store and then temporary repurpose of Mae’s water bottle to make our Christmas Tree. The kids came to the super market with me to get milk, cookies and carrots for Santa. Our Christmas was set, with as many familiarities from home as we could find.
Kyoto was the capital of Japan and seat of the Emperor for over 1000 years. It is steeped in history. It was also left relativity undamaged by WWII and has some beautifully preserved temples and shrines. We had seen many of them in past visits and the current crowds are no joke in Kyoto. So, we saw a few of the less popular ones, for example seeing the bamboo forests of Kodai-ji Temple instead of Arashiama. Every spot in Kyoto is beautiful and just walking down the alleyways lets you stumble upon something surprising. Kyoto is also less than an hour train ride from the less traditional, merchant city of Osaka, where we did one of many offered food tours. Honestly, the primary thing we unintentionally did in Kyoto was shopping. The Nishiki Market was just a few blocks from our stay and we visited multiple times for the crafts: kitchen knives, pottery, textiles and the food. Kyoto is right next to the Kobe region so beef is always on the menu. Overall a fantastic city to end our partial family vacation on.
Favorite Experiences
Places
Here were some of our favorite activities from the trip! I put these on a map at the end of the blog along with our accommodations if you want links and more information.
- Akihabara – Still one of my favorite areas to visit in Tokyo, especially at night. The city lights are a site all on their own, but the main reason to come here is for all things geeky. There are dozens of buildings each with +5 floors and each with their own specialty. Are you into bespoke 1:64 scale cars? Have that. Looking for 12″ Gundam models? Here’s two dedicated buildings. With our young kids we spent most of the time in the arcades and claw machine buildings. Madeline and my mom got the chance to show their skills at the Taiko drum game.
- Snow Monkeys – At some point in my childhood I remember watching a National Geographic show where there were wild monkeys soaking in a hot spring while it was snowing and in that moment I added it to my bucket list. I can officially cross it off. It was cool, however, crowded and touristy with walkways and platforms that bring you right up to the pools versus the secluded natural occurrence I had envisioned.
- Kyoto Street Exploration- Walking the streets of Kyoto is a juxtaposition of modern Japanese super malls with wooden shrines everywhere. It’s a great walking city. Pontocho Alley was a particularly notable road with tons of small izakayas (tiny bars). The endless covered shopping areas of the Nishiki Market kept us entertained for days.
- Knife Shopping – I am an avid home chef who swears by Japanese style knives which have harder and sharper edges then western style but don’t hold that edge as long. Most Japanese knives are made in the Sakai region near Kyoto, making it a great place to buy them. There are dozens of shops, but here are my favorites.
- Aritsugu – If you want a safe bet, Artsugu is a great option. The handles and knives aren’t flashy, but you know every yen you spend is going towards a quality knife. There will be English speaking store attendants and is well trafficked. This is my “First time Japanese knife buyer” pick.
- Musashi – A premium knife store with beautiful blades and ornate handles. You will pay a premium for the “look” of the knife, but they are also top quality and work with a variety of craftsman, each with their own style. There are a lot of premium looking knife stores in the Nishiki Market, but this one on the outskirts stood out with the variety and customer help.
- Kosaka Cutlery – An actual hidden gem, this unassuming shop is run by a 95 year old man who is a 5th generation knife maker. While he no longer makes them himself, he inspects all knives that come in to his shop and is eager to help you find the right knife for you in limited English. These were by far the most affordable knives we found and also a unique experience.
Food
Here were some of our favorite restaurants. These along with the rest of the places we ate are in the map at the end of the blog.
Restaurants:
- Food Tour in Osaka– On one of our days in Kyoto we rode the train to nearby Osaka for a food tour. Osaka is renowned as the “foodie city” of Japan and trying all of the street vendor treats is a must. Takoyaki, octopus dumplings, and curry korokke, curry potato hashbrowns (think McDonalds hashbrowns with curry spice) were our favorite this time!
- Okonomiyaki Mangetsu, Nagano – Okinomiyaki (a cabbage pancake with variety of toppings) is one of our favorite dishes in Japan. This place in Nagano was a tiny place where our party of 7 took up half the restaurant. The kids loved watching the food getting made on the flat top.
- Oni Tofu , Kyoto Armed with Google translate, we did our best to interpret the all Japanese menu and some how ordered some delicious tofu dishes with sauces that had been boiling in large cauldrons for who knows how long. The food was delicious and the dishware it served on notable, meaning we had to tell our kids quite a few times to be gentle with it.
Family Moments
- Christmas – It wasn’t a traditional Christmas, but we loved coming together to celebrate with our tiny “tree” and answering complex questions about how Santa could find us or get in to our hotel room without a key. After putting the kids to bed the adults enjoyed Japanese whisky, face masks and bad Hallmark Christmas Movies.
- Pokémon Card Hunting – Yes I’m a 36 year old adult and yes I still can’t help paying money for small pieces of paper. It was fun exploring the many shops in Japan with my brother as we searched out our childhood favorites to collect. We even did a pack opening with our other brother back in Colorado over Facetime and the lucky punk opened a Charizard (IFYKYK).
- Nazowaonsen – We really wanted the kids to see snow and it was one of the primary motivations for doing Japan in December. After nearly two hours of train, bus and walking we reached the ski area of Nozawaonsen with fresh snow falling. The kids lasted all of five minutes before deciding they were too cold and it was time for hot cocoa… At least Spencer had a fantastic day of skiing.
- Per Mae (5 Yr Old): Favorite moment was “Meeting Elsa & Anna” – No surprise here, Mae loved Disneyland and getting to meet her favorite characters. Kudos to the Cast Members who made it a truly “Disney” experience.
- Per Emmett (2.5 Yr Old): Favorite moment was “Christmas” – Christmas was Emmett’s favorite. Best present was the Mack the Truck that could hold Emmett’s Lightning McQueen inside from his sister Mae!
Tips & Lessons Learned
This is where we put all of the things we learned along the way about traveling in the region as well as traveling with toddlers. Some of these are are a repeat from our last post.
About Japan:
- Public Transportation Systems – Across Japan the subways, buses and train systems are top notch and easy to navigate. You can really get almost anywhere with them and Google Maps does a really good job of providing the routes and timing. iPhone users can use the Suica App on their phones to pay for most local fare (and for purchases at convenience stores and vending machines) and non iPhone users (there are dozens of us… Dozens!) will need to get a physical Suica card at the airport or major train stations. Shinkansen tickets are harder to buy online and easier just to go a day or two ahead to the station and buy from attendants.
- Finding Places to Eat with Kids – In Japan we had a hard time finding kid friendly places to eat, especially for dinner. By kid friendly, I mean had a table vs bar seating and no reservation required at 6:00PM, which hasn’t been a tall order so far. There are a lot of really small places where even a party of four was a big ask and anything called an “Izakaya” doesn’t allow kids. In general we didn’t see many families out eating either, so plan ahead for dinners versus expecting to just walk in to a place.
- Cash – For all its technological advances Japan is still super dependent on physical money. The good news is that convivence stores, plentiful in Japan, always have low fee ATMs, particularly the 7-Eleven for easy withdrawals.
About Traveling with Toddlers:
- Japan Lodging is Small – Japan is a quiet country and the lodging is typically really small rooms. We could feel the kids get more pent-up energy as our hotel days went on and on and on. Japan is a great place to research ahead where playgrounds are or areas to let them run free. Forests, hiking up to shrines, etc can be a good way to get that energy out.
- Japanese Etiquette – It’s worth studying up on Japanese etiquette before arriving and talking to your kids about it. Especially in Kyoto, Japan has a very disciplined and orderly culture. Shoes are expected to be off indoors and even on trains or subways, if their feet touch the seats, shoes should be off. You will get reminded from other train passengers!
- Language – A little language can go a long way and makes it a fun way to engage your kids in a new culture. Similar to South Korea, our kids loved learning how to say hello respectfully and bow their head. They enjoyed telling the waiters/chef “Oishi desu!” (it’s delicious!) and they still say “Ikemashou!” (let’s go!) when we leave.
