2 Weeks in Japan with a baby

• 

  lenny on 27/05/2023 - 21:19

  +1

  We travelled with our boy to JP when he was 9 months old. Our regular pram used to be a 3 wheel baby jogger city mini but bought a 2nd hand Maclaren umbrella style pram for the trip and used a combination of that and the baby carrier.

  We were really happy about that choice as the umbrella pram was compact enough to fold up if we weren’t using it or getting in/off public transport and having the 4 wheels was way better than the 3 when we hit rough tracks (from memory walking around Nara was pretty rough).

  Staying in on place for a few days is what we used to do - more so because of the effort it took moving everything.

  With regards to food, we were there for a couple of weeks and took a decent stash of baby food with us and would mix it with the local food when we went out. For 2 weeks it’s doable - a longer trip, you’d need a better plan.

  It’s a great place to travel to with young kids.

  • 

    Cacao on 28/05/2023 - 15:37

    @lenny
    Thanks for this.
    We have an old hand me down uppa baby alta which is an umbrella stroller definitely more convenient just doesn’t have much space at the bottom which is unfortunate.
    Sounds like thats the way to go.
    Would you mind sharing your itinerary and any baby friendly activities you were able to find? Or things to avoid?

• 

  zan5hin on 27/05/2023 - 21:34

  +3

  I would say stroller (a light one) would not be much of a problem with Japan having designed a very accessible public transport system.

  Get the JR pass in Australia. I would suggest the pass not many know about, it's called Kansai Wide: https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_wide/

  I did this with my brother in 2017. From Osaka we stopped for a booking at popular Wagyu lunch place in Kobe walking distance from the shinkansen, of course with a baby it's harder. We just had carry-on. But if you can afford $250 a night, you can afford Japanese taxis.

  You could then go to Himeji castle and Okayama where there is an amazing garden. Then we went very far on a train to Kinosakionsen, this special onsen town that really doesn't get many foreigners. They have snow crab and other stuff, but onsen is the main attraction and Japanese visit from all over. We were given japanese clothing and shoes and you just walk to whatever onsen you want, there is a map with seven of them.

  The time to go back and forth from Osaka to these cities on bullet train is not long so you can base yourself somewhere, we left Osaka and overnight in Okayama then did Himeji on the way to Kinosakionsen, another overnight and then to Kyoto.

  Then finish with Kyoto and Nara. Kyoto takes 2 days so base there and just visit Nara on another day. Also https://www.insidekyoto.com/kyoto-itineraries

  With this pass you can see plenty of nature stuff especially Wakayama: https://en.visitwakayama.jp/themes/unspoilt-nature/

  In Ueno with a baby, I reckon you will get more from going to adult stuff like the museums and galleries and not the zoo: https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-ueno/arti…

  While in Ueno go try this Unagi place with 300 year history: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g14134274-d…

  Tsukiji fish market is not in Tsukiji anymore, they built a new one.

  Tokyo has so much to see, but imperial palace I've seen twice, with my brother we went on free guided tour: https://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/about/koukyo.html

  On that 2017 trip I explored Yokohama, it's got some cool stuff as well including a ramen museum! Best ramen I ever had at one place can't remember the same but the story was they asked the owner 100 times to open a second shop in the mueum and he said no 99 times or something.

  Hotel Edit is where we stayed. Breakfast @ Yokohama City Central Wholesale Market according to my notes is a "mini tsukiji" but we didn't go. Shinjuku, Govt. Building has a viewing area, check it out.

  I spent 3 months in Japan including six weeks in Tokyo and didn't see half the museums and areas. Sensoji temple is nothing special, it's in Asakusa where I was based (technically Sumida-ku over the river where the hostels are).

  Then to get to Tokyo, I'd go back to Osaka (KIX) and fly direct to Haneda (HND) as it's fast and convenient and avoids taking train from NRT. Also means you're not far from Yokohama.

  All you need to know is on the website Japan Guide: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_08.html

  That links to the kansai wide pass, with an awesome map, with hyperlinks you can go down a rabbit hole in every major town/city in Kansai region.

  Activate one morning in Osaka, lunch in Kobe, sleep in Okayama, stop lunchtime Himeji, then Kinosakionsen overnight, then finish in Kyoto and visit Nara and more. I think from Himeji to Toyooka there are plenty of trains but need to check schedule to kinosakionsen maybe not as frequent.

  With two weeks just Kansai wide and Tokyo/Yokohama would be awesome. Also a day trip to Nikko for sure. Or stay at a Ryokan overnight in Nikko: https://asianwanderlust.com/en/nikko-ryokan/

  So far I've never been to hiroshima or to Miyajima island or to Nagoya. I don't think it's worth the travel time for you in a 2 week trip, you will be totally templed/food/culture/garden fatigue already with just Kansai region and Tokyo/Yokohama megacities.

  • 

    Cacao on 28/05/2023 - 15:24

    @zan5hin
    Thank you so much very helpful. Will look at those links.

    Nikko looks great we may look at staying couple of nights.

    What are the must dos in Tokyo in your opinion?
    We have had to adjust our expectations in terms of how much we can do in a day with the little one.. it’s usually one or two things before they are tired and miserable lol.

    Also would you recommend staying in Osaka and doing daytrips to Kyoto? I had a good few days in Kyoto last time that was a long time ago just dont remember a lot of it..
    We are thinking to base ourselves around Ueno does that seem sensible?
    Ty again

    • 

      zan5hin on 28/05/2023 - 22:27

      +2

      Osaka you can definitely use a base for Kyoto and Nara, it's very short train trips. Same with Himeji as base for Kansai Wide pass.

      Ueno is a great base as it connects via train to both JR lines and other subway lines if I recall. From Asakusa, I'd usually have to train to Ueno to get anywhere else. You have the museums too.

      I still would suggest Yokohama base for a day or two. Up to you, there is a beer museum, ramen museum and the history of the foreign settlement area which I found interesting.

      Must do's in Tokyo, hmmm really it depends on your likes and dislikes. Walk down Harajuku and Yoyogi park on a sunday: https://www.insidejapantours.com/au/experience-japan/i-amj00…

      Akihabara for otaku stuff and maid cafe: https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-akihabara…

      The imperial palace as I already mentioned. Ghibli museum? There is lots to see in Odaiba https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3008.html

      Take a cruise along the rivers: https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001016/

      Check out Shibuya, Shinjuku, Roppongi Hills, Omote-sando….. but with a baby the nightlife is not your thing….. So maybe Shibuya station starbucks for the view of the crossing.

      Sumo schedule: https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket/year_schedule/
      went to sumo, sat in the far back row, cheapest seats…. but found they sell this soup in the basement called Chanko Nabe which is what sumo eat to stay fat, I think I had two bowls…. a friend took a photo of me asleep in the back row, haha, yum.

      I'm going to Tokyo myself for 4 days in July, I'm first heading the Kagaruzaka, like I said Tokyo is massive, I was there for six weeks and never knew they had a french quarter: https://afuncouple.com/kagurazaka-tokyo-japan/

      You can go up tokyo new skytree near asakusa, or like a mentioned in Shinjuku the government building view is free.

      Also use google events, facebook events and local websites like TimeOut to find exhibitions, events and so forth that are happening while you are there. I remember we just went for a walk from Asakusa and found a huge festival happening in the back streets, so many people you couldn't even move…… but if you walked 400m in the opposite direction, it's totally quiet and you would never know it was happening.

      Also to get you in the mood, on Netflix check out Midnight Diner, and Old Enough :) Or for something darker, Tokyo Vice.

      Just wander around, it's the most amazing country.

      2 quick stories - when I was backpacking I stayed in Sumida-ku for 6 weeks, and we found this Karaoke place in Asakusa where some hostel randoms went to drink and sing…. once I put $10 note in the machine for a drink (because instead of ordering with bartender, you give ticket to bartender)…. anyway, the guy comes running into karaoke room to find me, and grabs me by the arm and pulls me back to the machine…. because I put $100 note by accident and there was $90 sitting in the cash dispenser.

      Secondly, the hostel gave us a map of local places to eat in Sumida-ku. It was pouring rain but I let 3 other hostel randoms to one of the places, we sat down and the menu was in Japanese on the walls, anyway, one guy at the back who was eating saw us, came and sat with us and explained what we should order, another lady next to us helped us to cook it….. we were told that the place was open for 30 years and we were the first Gaijin to ever walk in the door.

      Lastly, in Nikko I was hanging at the bus station and just started chatting to some people who knew English, they ended up buying me lunch and refused to let me pay.

      Just the best people in the world…. One day I'm going to buy a little motorhome and just drive up and down Japan for a year.

      By the way, if you want earbuds that do real-time two way automatic translation to any language, they already exist. It's $400 here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Timekettle-WT2-Edge-Translator-Dev…
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9B0No-e_QQ

• 

  sumyungguy on 27/05/2023 - 21:57

  Having made five trips to Walt Disney World and one to DisneySea, I'd say consider skipping Disneyland as it's not interpreted for english speakers and therefore not as immersive as the US parks.

  • 

    Cacao on 28/05/2023 - 15:27

    We have been to Anaheim and HK and am looking forward to visiting the one in Tokyo specially with the little one.. I was thinking we would do both parks but haven’t decided yet. Thanks will reconsider..

    • 

      sumyungguy on 28/05/2023 - 15:39

      I know when you're scouting for travel tips it's the hardest thing to delete something that was part of your original plan. You could save the funds for a future trip to Orlando, ideally when your youngest offspring reaches 7 years, seeing as before that they don't remember much.

• 

  KaTst3R on 27/05/2023 - 23:05

  +2

  Should we get a 7 day JR pass and activate it after Osaka/Kyoto

  After travelling to JP multiple times, I find that I never break even on my JR Pass. Unless you are travelling inter region daily, it is not worth it. Especially now, JR has increased their pricing. Makes it less worthwhile.

  • 

    Cacao on 28/05/2023 - 15:30

    I think we will be able to get the pass at the current price and won’t have to pay the increased price as we are traveling before October. Do you still think its not worth it?
    We will look at their website to do the comparison in any case… just hard to nail down an itinerary so far in advance without knowing about the weather etc

    • 

      KaTst3R on 28/05/2023 - 20:05

      +2

      JR Pass is convenient if you just wanna show and go. That is the only advantage. 7 day pass cost $334 AUD.

      A typical train ride within a city will be about 150 to 200 yen ($2 AUD approximately). An inter region ride from Osaka to Kyoto cost 3000 yen, Kyoto to Nara cost 1280 yen (you can use google map to see the estimated cost). Kyoto to Kobe is 3800 yen. Your most expensive ride will be from Kyoto to Nagoya which is about 5900 yen. Assuming you stay at one hotel at the Kyoto then do day trips to Nara and Kobe, just counting your main rides 3000 yen one way Osaka-Kyoto + (1280 x 2 Nagoya return trip) + (3800 x 2 Kobe Return Trip) + 5900 one way to Kyoto-Nagoya = roughly $190 AUD. As mentioned, most within city ride is about $2 aud. So you need to do another 70 short distance train trips in 7 days to fully breakeven the full pass cost.

      From experience, you will be pretty tired travelling and you might just take it easy on some days. So it is pretty unlikely you will be constantly rushing to take trains and cover every single location in 7 days.

• 

  boretentsu on 27/05/2023 - 23:31

  +1

  I just came back yesterday after staying 3 weeks. We have a 3.5yo with a stroller. I've described the caveats at the last paragraph and will give the advice here. Bring both the carrier and stroller. You can also hire one over there. The one we hired was a bit dinky and it had very poor clearance so we had to kick it up at every set of lights so just check for this if you do it. Use the carrier for the first few days of each location to get a feel for where the elevator paths are. If you travel during peak hour it is manic and you will want to be as maneuverable as possible. Pay attention to the signs on the train carriages, they will show you where the elevator is in relation to your carriage. This will only take you to the gate, after that you're on your own and will need to find elevator signs to get to street level likewise when trying to descend into the subway. Typically only one exit (of many) will have an elevator and it may not be the one most convenient for where you want to go. We found JR (overland rail, not the metro) was especially hard to find elevator locations. If you have a baby carrier, you won't need to worry about this at all.

  On food, most places only open after 11am. Lawson and 7-11 convenience stores and vending machines will be your lifeline before then. It's almost universally agreed that Japan has the best convenience stores in the world. They have fresh and delicious food ready to eat at most hours (I saw them get stocked between 7-8am). I didn't look at how much baby products were available but Don Quiyote has a huge selection of stuff and I did see nappies there so likely baby food available there too. Generally, you can't go wrong if there's a line for the restaurant. I wasn't disappointed with any places I waited for. The best strategy is usually to be part of the opening sitting at 11am because after that you'll be waiting even more ridiculous times.

  I agree with @rock-bottom. We went to DisneySea because it was more friendly for smaller children. It was okay but my partner who has been to most of the Disneys said it was the shortest one she's done. Partly because we couldn't go on a lot of the rides. The kid won't remember any of it and if you want to go on big kid rides, only one of you can do it at a time anyway.

  @zan5hin provided most of the top points. I'll only add that I like good aquariums and recommend Osaka Aquarium. It's really well designed. The Tokyo Toyoso fish market might work well if you get woken up early enough by your child (auctions are well and truly over by 7am).

  I don't recall any great difficulty with a stroller at Nara even with the suboptimal one.

  Caveat: I've been to Japan once without children in 2015 and now with one child and, while we had a great time, I felt Tokyo and Osaka were hardcore slogs with a small child even though my partner doesn't think so. I'd disagree with the blanket comments that it's child friendly. These gave me a false sense of security and didn't prepare me for how hard it actually was. It could just be that we went during a "bitter" spot (opposite of a sweet spot) where the child was too young to cover moderate distances without a pram, too old to be carried for long distances but old enough to sprint off into a crowd yet too young to understand the risks of doing so. It would have been very different trip if the child could be carried or didn't need a stroller or hyper vigilance. After my experience, I would personally dissuade people from staying in major cities in Tokyo and Osaka if they have children between 2-6yo (maybe older). They are child deserts and in hindsight there are very good reasons for that.

  • 

    Cacao on 29/05/2023 - 15:24

    @boretentsu
    Wow thank you for this. Some really good points.
    I do remember trains were crazy busy specially in the peak hours. Didn’t think about that.

    Did you stay at or near Disney? My little one is still on 3 naps a day she’ll probably drop off a nap or two by then but still would be good to stay closeby so we can go back to the hotel if necessary.
    Also I am assuming if we do decide to go we should avoid weekends?
    Do you have any suggestions on hotels? I was hoping to find places with kitchenette/laundry ideally but also would like to be within few minutes from major stations and a park with a playground if possible but also would rather avoid big crowds haha… convenient but peaceful….
    Would definitely look into Osaka aquarium. Any other baby friendly places? Thank you

    • 

      boretentsu on 29/05/2023 - 16:19

      All good.

      For Tokyo, We stayed at the MIMARU Akasaka serviced apt. The area is more quiet residential and might be a good buffer before being hit will a wall of people. It has the Harry potter cafe nearby if you're into that. It has comparatively big rooms like 40sqm vs 15sqm for hotels. I would highly recommend staying at serviced hotels for the amenities like cooking and laundry. You can search with sqm filters on booking sites.

      As your child is under 1, I wouldn't focus too much time on what you can do for them. They won't remember and will generally be happy or neutral to be included in everything. But if you really want to do kid activities, most of that stuff is in Toyoso near the fish markets. Forgot to mention, do TeamLabs. Super fun and impressive but it may be over stimulating for your little one. Watch a YouTube of it first.

      I didn't see too many playgrounds to be honest. Like I said, not that child friendly and they don't invest as much into child friendly public spaces. You'll find the greenspaces typically at the top of shopping centres, Google rooftop gardens in Tokyo.

• 

  miruku on 28/05/2023 - 00:34

  +1

  The 7 day JR pass might not be worth it if you’re only travelling in one direction from Osaka to Tokyo. But you can check the price of the individual segments on https://www.hyperdia.com/sp/ to compare.
  Our trip from Tokyo - Nagano - Kyoto (stopover in Nagoya) - Osaka was cheaper without the JR pass. And it ended up being even cheaper than what I calculated, with the lady at the JR service counter helping us buy all the tickets at once.

  Note, I was in Tokyo very recently and couldn’t imagine taking a young child to some of the busiest tourist attractions there (particularly Sensoji and Harajuku) - it was super hectic. And there were heaps of good sushi places (by Aus standards) around. We found Tsukiji market itself a bit underwhelming and crowded but maybe we didn’t go to the right places within Tsukiji.

  • 

    Cacao on 01/06/2023 - 07:29

    Thank you. @miruku
    Quick question, when you say you bought all the tickets at once, did that restrict you in terms of having to show up for specific trains?
    Was it a big discount?

    From my experience metros/stations in Tokyo were the worst in terms of dealing with crowds.. definitely not looking forward to it!

    • 

      miruku on 02/06/2023 - 11:50

      Yep, the specific times had to be booked (except for the Kyoto-Osaka leg which was valid anytime on the specified date). I already had dates and time ranges in mind, and the JR service lady showed me the options for available times within those ranges. We ended up taking a different Kyoto-Osaka route though (so ditched the original ticket) as the non-JR route was more convenient for where our hotels were located and meant we didn’t need a taxi.

      I calculated those initial trips to be about 20,700 yen per person all up, and it ended up being about 19,400 yen, so a slight discount. I think she booked something like a Tokyo-Kyoto five day ticket that covered the Nagano detour, which made it a bit cheaper, but I don’t really know.

      Yeah, metro stations can sure be crowded too, but we found them more manageable than the tourist attractions as you’re at the station for shorter periods of time! I’d highly recommend using google maps for navigating public transport, as it can give suggestions for which train car to take for the quickest exits (might not apply though if you need the elevator for a pram), and which exit gate to take to your destination.

• 

  Spamazon on 28/05/2023 - 08:23

  Had friends do this with a toddler. No issues at all.

  • 

    boretentsu on 29/05/2023 - 20:06

    Cool story from your friends

• 

  AaronRain on 28/05/2023 - 15:04

  +1

  Sounds like a timely book for this trip:
  Tokyo Maze – 42 Walks in and around the Japanese Capital: A Guide with 108 Photos, 48 Maps, 300 Weblinks and 100 Tips
  https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/777328

• 

  singlemalt72 on 29/05/2023 - 09:50

  +2

  We took a 9mo around Japan in 2019.

  Get a travel stroller, the smaller and lighter the better - ditch having a pram and just have enough nappies/wipes etc for the day in a daypack. Having a travel-specific stroller is great as it folds up to almost nothing on crowded trains/buses making life so much easier. I swa a few travelling parrents fumbling with their full sized prams and was glad we went our way.
  We didn't get the JR pass for a couple of reasons
  - it limits you to just JR lines, in Tokyo you are going to use a number of lines getting around
  - It does not include the Nozomi (super fast) Shinkansen which was wonderful between Osaka and Toyo (got a cheap deal on Klook)

  If you are taking a lot of luggage it pays to use the luggage courier services between hotels, but it does take a over 24 hrs so travel with a small amount of luggage with changes of clothes, toiletries, chargers, etc.

  We had no trouble getting around, major stations have elevators, many more access options were rolled out in the build-up to the Olympics.

  We went to the Ghibli Museum for my teen daughter, but even at 9 months, my infant daughter was fascinated by it.

  One thing that caught us out was baby food - our daughter was still breast-feeding at the time but was weaning and we found very few options in commercial baby foods at Konbinis and Pharmacies (unsure of bigger supermarkets as they were harder to get to). Best option was to look for rice porridge at eateries. If you check out the Youtube channel "Paolo from Tokyo"; he has done a few stories about kids in Japan - the Japanese are not really into prepared baby foods and tend to make/use available foods for infants - good to look at something like that and get your child introduced to these tastes before going.

  Hope this helps

  • 

    Cacao on 01/06/2023 - 07:23

    Thank you @singlemalt72
    What travel stroller do you have?
    We’ve got an old Uppababy Alta its an umbrella stroller.
    Babyzens look really good but too expensive even second hand..
    Great to know some of the accessibility issues were addressed for the Olympics.
    I’ll check out Paolo’s channel. Thanks for the tip ☺️

    • 

      singlemalt72 on 01/06/2023 - 08:43

      I honestly can't remember, it was a three wheeler thing that folded up to a very compact shoulder carry, I bought it on facebook marketplace with the idea I could easilly abandon it if it were no good.

• 

  Cacao on 01/06/2023 - 07:17

  Thanks very much.
  We have booked our flights we will have 19 nights in Japan starting at the end of September.
  I had a quick look at accommodation looks like October is quite expensive?
  So far we are thinking 5 days in Tokyo at the start so will do Disney, zoo and markets. Then Osaka/Kyoto but likely be based in Osaka. Does that sound okay? 5 nights likely.

  Then possibly Mastumoto/Kamikochi? We’d love to stay in the alps any recommendations on how many days? Do we need a car? Any short hikes with the baby?

  Lastly stay few nights in Nikko then Yokohama before making our way back to Tokyo.

  We are flying in and out of Tokyo.

  Would really appreciate your thoughts on the itinerary :)