We went on a trip to Japan with young kids- ages 5, 4, 2, and 5 months old. Here are our top tips for a great trip!
Japan Travel Tips
- Bring your passport with you everywhere. It’s against the law to not have it on you. We didn’t know for 80% of our trip.
- Get a sucia card on your phone and reload it with money as you go. Kids 5 and under don’t need to pay for transportation.
- Encourage your kids to follow the rules early on – stay on the left side of stairs, the road, and the escalator. Encourage quiet voices on trains. Encourage keeping their feet off of the train seats. And make sure you’re following these rules as well.
- If you need to get clothes for kids, Uniqlo has affordable ones.
- Almost all restaurants will give you an extra bowl and kid utensils for your kids.
- You will walk a ton- have good shoes and if you have kids under 5 make sure to bring a carrier for each one.
- If you have a large baby, consider bringing all the diapers you need for your trip. The biggest size diapers seems to only be pull ups which is difficult to get on a baby who cannot stand yet.
- Find diapers at a local drugstore. They aren’t usually at a grocery store.
Places we were disappointed with
- Pokémon sweets- While we were excited to have some Pokémon treats, they were out of the one food item they sold- a Pikachu shaped waffle. The chai tea was terrible, and the other drink was more than 75% ice.
- Monsoon- this restaurant was highly rated, but a huge disappointment. The service was slow and for one of the entrees we ordered the rice was the best part of the dish.
- Parks under remodel- there were several parks that were closed when we showed up, but there was no information online about it being closed
It’s definitely a trip that would be great with older kids, but it can be great to go to Japan with young kids!
