Random Observation/Comment #886: I’m glad my daughter likes Japan. I hope she also catches the travel bug and we compete on the travel checklist.
//Super fun family trip (Keeping Evie’s face out of long lasting post photos).
Things to know for Japan with Family
I was in Japan in Nov 2024 and traveled it like a foodie. These were pretty awesome times and I’ve written about the food side of my journey here:
[Travel Advice] Japan for Foodies
Random Observation/Comment #856: Why don't I live in Japan? For me, this place is a paradise.
This trip was more family friendly with a 7-year-old who’s no where near as food adventurous as I am, but then again, who is? Meals mostly consisted of ramen and random Lawson/Family Mart/7-11 given how tired we were from sightseeing and the rarity of takeaway.
I did, however, sneak out at nights so that I could walk around and eat my way through different local eats. Highly recommended for those that need a break.
Net-net: 7 is a great age to introduce my daughter to new cultures. She started saying “sumimasen” and “arigato” on a regular basis.
Planning the trip
Wanderlog (Not sponsored) - https://wanderlog.com/view/xuqhlfkolb/japan-2025/shared (our planned itinerary) - Free service to just create a full itinerary with drag-and-drop features for the major attractions. You can also add your reservations and add Google maps commute/travel so it helps with all aspects of logistics.
Be wary of commutes with luggage - Since Ubers are not that expensive, I would highly recommend getting to main stations and then just Ubering it directly to hotels. This way, you don’t really need to stay near the big stations.
Jetlag is harder for kiddos - Your kiddo will wake up at 2am and start yawning after lunch. Try to plan mini naps or at least don’t plan the Disney trip so early.
Airtag on bracelet - Although we never needed to use this, we found it comforting to know we could track our daughter.
Don’t over plan your day - Expect things will move slowly so just do 2 things a day.
Talk to your kiddo about cultural differences - There are rude things that are good teaching moments. Watch videos on Japanese culture and phrases like “arigato” and “ohiyo” to say.
Bring up picky eating - Try everything. Ramen was a staple, but food is just so good everywhere in Japan that your kiddo should be open minded. Should is the operative word and open mindedness is tough when being overtired. Having small healthy and familiar snacks like fruit and nuts are also key.
Pack mini fans or parasols - If you don’t have these, you can buy them at 100yen stores in Japan. Super useful.
Consider doing Tokyo Disney Sea for two days - Disneyland is eerily similar to Disneyland. It’s less popular so less crowded, but if you’ve been to the California one then you’ve basically been to the Tokyo one. Disney Sea is so big that it would have useful to stay at the resort and have the extra time to explore.
Book Teamlab tickets ahead of time - These exhibits are so cool, but they book up pretty quickly. Highly recommend booking these weeks in advance.
Consider booking returning flight from Osaka - You can save a few hours of commute by just doing the one-way Tokyo —> Kyoto —> Osaka and fly out of Osaka.
Other things to know
Jetlag is harder on stomachs - Have plenty of snacks from Lawsons/Family Mart/7-11. My daughter loved the somen packaged meal with the cold dip, chicken nuggets, and melon pan. Always good to get some cashews, plain onigiri, and egg sandos.
Traffic drives on left side, so people also walk on the left side - Slower traffic still bares right, so move to the right side of the escalator if you're not walking. I guess the slowest people are technically in the center of the walkway while the fast people walk along the edges? There’s always exception to these rules that I don’t understand because sometimes there are signs to walk right on the stairs, but left on the hallways. Just follow the signs, I guess.
Keep an empty plastic bag for trash - Japan is so clean and yet there’s no garbage cans anywhere.
Google Translate and Google Lens are awesome - There’s a conversation mode and you can take photos or do live translations of signs for streaming video.
Don Quijote is a tourist trap - It sells a lot of things (pretty much everything), but the prices are not always the best. I’d recommend buying your facemasks and other souvenirs at the local shopping arcade stands and pharmacies.
Itinerary
Thursday - Land and Commute to Hotel
Stayed at Karaksa Hotel Colors Tokyo Yaesu - This place was fine, but I would recommend staying closer to Disney all together. It was nice to walk to the shinkansen, but overall we don’t need to optimize on this factor if Uber is just so convenient.
I did this video idea for getting the Lawson egg sando. Honestly the best piece of content I’ve made in a long time haha:
Friday - Tokyo Disneyland
See the separate post just on Disneyland and Disney Sea:
[Travel Advice] Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea
Random Observations/Comment #883: After every visit to Japan, I wonder, how do we live like dishonest heathens in the US? How come we can’t have awesome public toilets everywhere?
Saturday - Tokyo Disney Sea
As mentioned earlier, I would recommend doing 2 days of Disney Sea and skipping Disneyland all together. Also make sure you go during weekdays.
Nihonbashi Kaisen Donburi Tsujihan Hihonbashi - Explored while everyone asleep. This donburi place was pretty yummy.
Sunday - Commute to Kyoto, Imperial Garden, Pokémon Center
We bought the shinkansen ticket the same day ($108 per person). There’s a train every 15 minutes so it was fine. The extra luggage space wasn’t accommodated, but there’s a lot of space in front of your legs if you choose a reserved seat.
Stayed at Cross Hotel Kyoto - One of the best hotels of the trip staying just a block away from all the action and a few blocks to Sanjo Station. I would totally stay here again.
Katsukura Tonkatsu Sanjo Main Store - If you like tonkatsu, this place is awesome. Really freshly fried options and fresh sesame for grinding. They had a great kids menu. We went at 2pm so luckily there wasn’t a long wait.









Kyoto Imperial Garden (free) - Beautiful park, but there’s not much to do there and it’s a very long walk.
Pokemon Center Kyoto - This is more like a regular shop with an extremely long line, but I guess they do great digital marketing because it was fairly crowded. I think most people just buy some cards and random stuffies.
Kyoto Wagyu Roast Beef Restaurant - Meat volcano! What a treat and super delicious meal. Went on an off time and didn’t have too much of a wait.
Monday - Fushimi Inari, Tofukuji Temple









Fushimi Inari Shrine (free) - This is a fairly intense hike up the mountain through a large number of steps. Don’t do it if you’re not fit for it. You’ll be fine just going half way up and taking a nice photo. There’s a shortcut that’s less crowded, but it definitely doesn’t seem like you’re going the right way.














Tofuku-ji Temple (1000yen for both) - This is one of my favorite temples. The rock garden and bridge are beautiful and well worth the 1000yen ticket. If you have a book, pay for the goshuin (stamp) which is hand written and absolutely gorgeous.
Yamafuku Japan - This was down the block from our hotel and had the best omurice combination. The store itself is very retro and worth a visit for some cool artwork.
Ramen Zundoya - Kyoto Sanjo - Quick ramen with Evie while we took some naps.
Tuesday - Kiyomizu-dera, Kimono dress-up, Tea Ceremony









Kiyomizu-dera (500yen) - It was raining so we took an Uber directly here from the airport for less than 1300yen. This was totally worth getting there early and not walking up the hill. Getting here before 8AM was key because this place gets so busy.




Kacto - We really wanted a Western style breakfast, so we found this place with awesome pancakes. My fried chicken sandwich was really fantastic.





Kimono and Tea Ceremony - sign up early via Maikoya (7500yen/person) - This is totally worth it. Everyone looked so cute (including me).
Wednesday - Bamboo walk, Tenji Temple, Monkey Temple, Ninja, Cat Cafe




Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (free) - This gets pretty busy and it’s not really that intense and consuming of a walk. It’s a nice way towards the nearby temple.









Tenryu-ji (800yen) - I really enjoyed this garden and temple as well. Very peaceful (but also got crowded with a school visit).












Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama - This hike will take around 30 minutes before actually seeing the monkeys at the top. I wouldn’t recommend it for elderly and Evie was pretty tired by the top. There’s no shortage of monkeys and you can feed them apples and peanuts for 100yen.
Ninja Museum and Experience - book ahead of time on Maikoya (6400yen / person) - The ninja experience itself was only 60 minutes with some dress up, shuriken throwing, blow dart throwing, and some katana play. I’m surprised the guide hasn’t lost an eye yet. This comes with a museum ticket and tour, but it’s a 15 minute walk away and the guide started at a much later time.
















Bengal cat and owl forest - I’d recommend skipping the owl cafe because it’s a bit sad to see the owls just sitting there. The bengal cats were pretty and cuddly.
Ramen Muraji - Women owned and really friendly staff. The chicken broth was really deep and delicious. I tried this lemon ramen, which was surprisingly good.
Koe Donuts Kyoto - We got the Creme Brule donut, which was pretty fun to watch make.
Thursday - Commute to Osaka, Kid’s Plaza, Aquarium
Stayed at Tabist Hotel - This place was a huge studio with 5 beds facing the water. The only down side is that its a 5-block walk from the Dotonbori area (which doesn’t sound like a lot, but comes up to being a few more blocks than you want at night).
Dearbros Omurice - I only came here because it was an omurice I had with Dennis when I was visiting in Nov 2024. It was as good as I remembered.








Kid’s Plaza Osaka - We went after 3pm which had a discount and was much less crowded. This was perfect for 2 hours of roaming around and getting out her energy. I think the ideal age is between 3-6 years old, but there are spaces for smaller kids. The main area was a huge play area with a lot of hiding spots.












Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan - Our ambition for the night continued by going to see the night aquarium. It was definitely less crowded than usual and the 5-7pm casual saunter with pictures worked out well. There’s a whole shopping mall next door for dinner.
Friday - Universal Studio Japan Super Nintendo World
Commute to Universal Studios was pretty quick (30 minutes) from Dotonbori. We left the hotel at 7, got there at 7:30, and the doors opened at 8:15AM. We did some speed walking to the Super Nintendo World area immediately because we knew that if we missed the first batch, we’d have to pay extra for tickets to get in.
I’ve written a full separate post dedicated to Universal Studio Japan with highlights of Super Nintendo World and Harry Potter:
[Travel Advice] Super Nintendo World and Harry Potter in Japan
Random Observation/Comment #884: The first step into Super Nintendo World is so cool. You’re literally transported into the movie.
Sushiro - The huge touch screen was awesome. This is not your typical conveyor belt sushi place. These are made to order instead of just seeing sad plates pass by. I would totally come here again.
Saturday - Dog and Cat Cafe, Random shopping









Samoedos Shinsaibashi - Samoyed Doggies! Make reservations. We got lucky because we got there at open. These are no longer puppies like in the photos. They’re 6-12 months old now and quite active. If you post a review, they’ll let you take a sitting holding photo with one of them.









Cat Cafe CAT TAIL - 19 cats! Since it was a rainy day, we decided to take an hour break here and just hang out with some cats. They were all very adorable and the price came with some snacks and advice on how to get them to climb on you.
New Light (800yen lunch) - I couldn’t find this place because it doesn’t look like a restaurant. I got the sirloin katsu curry rice and it was so yummy.
Don Quijote shopping - I would recommend against coming here for shopping. It’s overpriced and a tourist trap for the lazy. Get your goods from the shopping arcade areas.
Fukusuke Nanba - Izakaya place with some deliciously grilled chicken and vegetables.
Sunday - Commute to Tokyo, Shinjuku Gyoen, Teamlab Planets
Commute to Tokyo took 3 hours via Nozumi. Booking was done in the taxi on the way to the Ueno train station.
Stayed at the Ryumeikan Tokyo - Beautiful hotel with really spacious rooms right next to the Tokyo train station.
Hakata Tenjin Gyoen shop (cash only) - Ramen place with freshly made noodles and pork broth. Everyone gets the kaedama for extra noodles. Perfect. There’s basically only one thing on the menu.






Shinjuku Gyoen (500y for adults, free for kids - you can pay with your suica/icoca card) - I would have spent a few hours here, but it was super humid that day and we’d had a long trip.
Tsujita Nihonbashiyaesu - Tsukamen (cash only) - I think this was a top 3 meal for me this trip (I ate a lot). The noodles are perfectly chewy and the dipping sauce is just divine.



TeamLab Planets - Book this weeks in advance because we actually couldn’t get tickets except for the late night entrance for 1. I took it because it was Father’s Day. Since Vinessa has total FOMO about this, I’m going to say that it’s very unique/artistic and better if on any substance.
Monday - Art Aquarium exhibit, Afternoon flight
Art Aquarium Museum in Ginza - We booked this the day before, but it was pretty empty on a weekday morning. It’s on the 8th floor of this mall, but you have to enter on the 9th floor. Evie took my phone and kept taking photos of fish butts.
Long commute home with lots of missed flights and not enough sleep.
~See Lemons Love Japan for Family
[Travel Advice] Clemens' Travels
//All the places I’ve been on a Google Map - Link if you want to browse