Travel to Japan with kids
We landed in Tokyo at 4:45pm local time, which our bodies were absolutely convinced was 3:45am. My son fell asleep standing up at immigration. My daughter, somehow wired from the flight instead of wrecked by it, spent the entire train ride into the city with her face pressed against the window saying “again, again” every time we passed a vending machine. That contrast — one kid catatonic, one kid electric — pretty much set the tone for the whole two weeks. Japan with kids isn’t hard exactly, but it runs on a different rhythm than anywhere else we’d taken them, and nothing we read beforehand quite prepared us for how that would actually feel day to day.
We did ten days split between Tokyo, Kyoto, and Fukuoka (visiting my wife’s cousin), with a six-year-old and a nine-year-old. This isn’t a “top attractions” list — you can find that anywhere. It’s what we’d actually tell another family before they go: what worked, what we overpacked for, and the handful of things that made a genuinely long-haul trip with kids feel manageable instead of exhausting.
The Jet Lag Nobody Warns You About
We’d read that the time difference would be rough, but reading it and living it are different things. From Montreal, Tokyo is roughly thirteen hours ahead, which meant our kids’ internal clocks had them wide awake and hungry at 4am for the first three nights. We stopped fighting it by day four — instead of forcing a “normal” bedtime, we let the first few mornings start absurdly early, got outside into daylight as fast as possible, and treated the early afternoon as a built-in nap window even for our nine-year-old, who normally refuses naps on principle.
What helped more than anything was simply not scheduling anything important for day one or two. We’d originally booked a guided food tour for our second morning and ended up rescheduling it — nobody in our family was functional enough to enjoy it, let alone appreciate the food.
Trains, the JR Pass, and Why We Didn’t Rent a Car
We never once considered renting a car, and after the trip, that feels like an obvious call. Japan’s rail network is genuinely built for getting around without one, even with kids and luggage in tow. We bought a regional JR Pass covering the days we’d be moving between cities, and used IC cards (rechargeable transit cards) for everyday subway and bus rides in Tokyo and Kyoto — tapping in and out is simple enough that our six-year-old wanted to do it himself by day three.
The bullet train deserves its own mention. Our nine-year-old had been begging to ride one since we booked the trip, and it somehow lived up to the hype — reserved seats, real legroom, a snack cart, and a smoothness that made the two-and-a-half-hour Tokyo-to-Kyoto leg feel shorter than our hour-long Montreal-to-Quebec-City drives. Book reserved seats ahead for anything during peak travel times; we didn’t realize how full unreserved cars could get until we were standing in one for forty minutes.
Tokyo: Less Shibuya, More Neighborhood Parks
We did the famous Shibuya crossing once, mostly for the photo, and our kids were thoroughly unimpressed — to a six-year-old, it’s just a very crowded intersection. What actually held their attention in Tokyo was smaller and quieter: a neighborhood playground in Yoyogi Park where we ended up spending almost two hours, a tiny shopping street in Yanaka with old wooden shopfronts, and an evening walk through Ikebukuro where the neon signs turned into an impromptu “spot the cartoon character” game.
Tokyo’s public playgrounds turned out to be one of the best free things we did. They’re everywhere, well maintained, and gave the kids a place to just be kids between the more “educational” parts of the trip, which mattered more for their patience than any single attraction did.
Was Tokyo Disneyland Worth a Day?
We went back and forth on this and ultimately skipped it on this trip, mainly because we’d already done a Disney park and wanted Japan to feel distinct rather than another theme park day in a different country. If your kids haven’t been to a Disney park before, or it’s specifically what they’re excited about, it’s a reasonable add — just know it eats a full day and the crowds rival anything in Orlando.
Kyoto: Temples in Small Doses
Kyoto is where we made our biggest planning mistake: we initially scheduled three full temple visits in one day, assuming the kids would be as interested in the architecture and history as we were. By temple two, our six-year-old was lying face-down on a stone step refusing to move. We adjusted for the rest of the trip — one major temple or shrine per day, with something physical and unstructured built in around it.
Fushimi Inari Shrine, with its thousands of vermillion torii gates climbing the mountainside, was the exception that worked perfectly for kids precisely because it’s not a “stand and look” experience — it’s a walk, with a destination, and a built-in goal of seeing how far up they could get before turning back. We didn’t make it to the summit with two tired kids in tow, and that was completely fine.
Eating With Picky Kids in Japan
This was the area we worried about most beforehand and the one that turned out easiest in practice. Japanese convenience stores (konbini) became our unlikely best friend — rice balls, simple sandwiches, and a wall of recognizable snacks meant there was always a fallback if a sit-down meal wasn’t landing with the kids. For actual meals, family-style ramen shops worked well because everyone could order their own bowl exactly the way they wanted it.
Sushi conveyor-belt restaurants (kaitenzushi) were a genuine highlight rather than a compromise — the novelty of plates rolling past on a belt kept our kids engaged through an entire meal in a way a regular restaurant rarely manages. We’d recommend seeking one out specifically for a family meal, not just as a backup option.
A Few Etiquette Things We Got Wrong at First
Shoes off before entering most homes, traditional inns (ryokans), and some restaurants is the big one, and it trips kids up constantly since they’re used to keeping shoes on everywhere. We started having the kids practice “shoes off, slippers on” as a little routine before the trip, which sounds silly but genuinely cut down on the friction once we were there.
Eating or drinking while walking is uncommon outside of festival areas, which surprised our snack-grazing kids more than anything else on the trip. We adjusted by building in proper stops for snacks rather than the walk-and-munch habit we have at home. Talking loudly on trains is also frowned upon — our kids picked up on this faster than we expected, mostly by watching how quiet everyone else around them was.
What We’d Pack Again
None of this is essential to enjoy Japan with kids, but each of these earned a permanent spot in our travel bags after this trip.
| Product | Why It Mattered | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Kids’ training chopsticks set | We packed these for restaurant meals and our six-year-old went from refusing to try chopsticks to insisting on using them by week two. | Check Price |
| Windproof compact travel umbrella | Spring weather in Japan flips between sun and sudden showers fast; a sturdy compact umbrella earned its space in every daypack. | Check Price |
| Digital luggage scale | Domestic flights and the Shinkansen both have stricter luggage rules than we expected; weighing bags before leaving each hotel saved us from a scramble at check-in. | Check Price |
| Packable foldable daypack | We used this as an extra bag for souvenirs and snacks on travel days, then folded it down to nearly nothing when we didn’t need it. | Check Price |
| Easy-on slip shoes for toddlers/little kids | With shoes coming off constantly at temples, ryokans, and restaurants, shoes our youngest could manage himself made a real difference to how often we were waiting on him. | Check Price |
| Inflatable kids’ travel neck pillow | For a thirteen-hour flight each way, this was the cheapest thing in our bags and arguably did the most work toward keeping the kids comfortable enough to actually sleep. | Check Price |
What This Actually Cost Us
Japan has a reputation for being expensive, and parts of it are, but everyday family costs surprised us in a good way. Konbini meals, regional train tickets, and most museum or temple admissions are genuinely affordable; the spending that adds up fastest is accommodation in central Tokyo and Kyoto during peak cherry blossom season, which we’d booked without realizing how much demand-driven pricing would affect it. Staying slightly outside the most central neighborhoods and taking a short train ride in saved us a meaningful amount without costing us much convenience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Japan with kids a good idea for a first big international trip?
We’d say yes, with the caveat that the flight itself is long from North America. Once you’re there, Japan is unusually clean, safe, and easy to navigate even with limited Japanese, which makes the on-the-ground experience less stressful than many other long-haul destinations.
How many days do you need in Japan with kids?
Given the flight time, we’d recommend at least ten days if you’re coming from North America, ideally split between two or three cities rather than trying to cover the whole country in one trip.
Is the bullet train worth it with young kids?
Absolutely, in our experience. It’s smooth, has real seats and legroom, and was genuinely one of the highlights of the trip for both our kids rather than just a way to get between cities.
What’s the best season to visit Japan with kids?
Spring (cherry blossom season) and autumn tend to have the most comfortable weather, though both are also the most crowded and expensive. We’d book accommodation early if traveling during either window.
Do kids need a visa to visit Japan?
For most Canadian and American passport holders, short tourist stays don’t require a visa in advance, though it’s worth checking current requirements for your specific nationality before booking.
If a thirteen-hour flight feels like a big leap, our trip report from Disney World covers a far shorter-haul option with its own lessons learned, and if you want something closer to home entirely, our guide to Montreal with kids is about as low-effort as family travel gets.