Know Before You Go: Traveling to Japan with Kids

Hotel rooms in Japan, especially in big cities like Tokyo, are quite small—so small, in fact, that there isn’t room for a cot or a fold-out couch. So you’ll need to book a room with enough actual beds for everyone in the family. On my recent trip, I arrived at our first hotel to find that my husband, my kid, and I were all expected to fit into one queen bed, despite the fact that I had specified two adults and one child when booking the room. It turns out that co-sleeping is pretty common in Japan, even with older kids (up to around the age of 10).

If you’re not comfortable cozying up together for the night, make sure to book a room with enough beds for all. The friends we were traveling with, who have two kids, ended up booking two hotel rooms to accommodate their family, but some hotels even have three or more twin beds in a single room.

Insider tip: If you’re booking a traditional ryokan with tatami mats and futons, you won’t have to worry about this; the rooms are designed to accommodate a number of different configurations.

While I’ve seen plenty of toddler meltdowns in Japan, the loudest kids I encountered on my trip were Americans. Not that anyone seemed to mind. In fact, no one seemed bothered at all when my friend’s two-year-old planted himself in a train seat and shouted “No!” repeatedly, or when a little girl we encountered banged repeatedly on a door while calling to her dad at the top of her voice.

While there’s absolutely no reason to worry if your kids are loud on your trip, I found that it helped my daughter to know that the social expectations are different in Japan than they are at home. Once kids reach a certain age, they can be embarrassed if they find they’re breaking social conventions. Plus, knowing how things work in Japan also presented a good opportunity to practice adjusting to different kinds of situations.

Japanese convenience stores are famously useful: they’re on practically every street corner, and you can find everything from clothes to stationery to whiskey alongside the snacks and bottled green teas. But the real godsend, for families, is the prepared foods case. All konbini (convenience stores) are stocked daily with fresh foods of all kinds. There are onigiri (filled rice balls), of course, but also lots of sandwiches, a variety of salads, and some ready-to-heat dishes including Italian-style pastas.

Will you need convenience food in a country full of katsu and udon? Maybe not. But just because your kid likes sushi in the US doesn’t mean they’ll have the same experience while traveling (especially if what constitutes “sushi” at home is maki rolls—which are not nearly as common in Japan). If a meal is a fail, it’s incredibly helpful to know that there’s a cheap, kid-friendly, pretty nutritious meal at an always-nearby market.

Related: A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Convenience Stores (and What To Buy There)

Despite Japan’s reputation for cleanliness, you won’t find a lot of public trash cans there. The country has an extremely elaborate system for recycling that everyone is diligent about using, and, as a result, you won’t see bins on street corners unless you’re in a tourist-friendly area. A friend who lives there explained it this way: “They want you to bring your take-out coffee cup home and disassemble it, so the lid can be recycled and the bottom can go into the combustible bin.”

While I’ve been to Japan a few times, I never really noticed the lack of trash cans until I had my kid with me—and had to carry all her empty water bottles and sandwich wrappers and tissues around. (How do kids produce so much trash?) If you’re on a train, take advantage of the garbage slots at the end of the car to get rid of whatever you’ve been carrying with you. Otherwise, plan to carry things until you reach a hotel—or the rare, miraculous public bin.

If you’re used to having to fold up a stroller before getting on a bus (or carrying the whole thing down long flights of stairs), you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Japanese public transportation of all kinds is designed to be very family-friendly. Kids’ fares are pretty low, there are lots of ramps and clean elevators if you look for them, and many buses even have a dedicated space to strap in an open stroller—with your kid in it. (You’ll find illustrated instructions on the bus wall.)

While some upscale Japanese mall bathrooms have electric hand-dryers, most don’t have paper towel dispensers because they’re considered wasteful. Instead, grab one of those cute handkerchiefs or washcloths you’ll see sold everywhere (including in your nearest market). Who knows—maybe they’ll inspire your kids (and you!) to keep up the environmentally-friendly practice when you get home. While you’re at it, grab a bottle of hand sanitizer, as some bathrooms also lack soap dispensers.

Sure, your kids will hopefully be excited to see some cool temples (and ring the big bells) or to visit fun cultural events and cute stores. But at some point, if they’re under a certain age, they’re going to need to run around. Thankfully, while Japan boasts many perfectly manicured formal gardens, most cities also have plenty of playgrounds with swings, slides, and climbing structures. Some are even exceptionally creative: The Heiwa no Mori Park in Tokyo’s Ota-ku area, for instance, has a huge obstacle course that will keep kids busy for hours.

If you’re just looking for a good place to run around or relax and enjoy the picnic, the cities’ green spaces are also very kid-friendly. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, for example, requires reservations on weekends (to avoid overcrowding) but lets families with kids enter without a reservation.

If you’re hoping for a date night while you’re traveling, so you can enjoy a fancy meal, street food tour, or bar-hopping experience, it will likely be tricky to find childcare. Most Japanese families do not use babysitters. Mothers are expected to (mostly) stop working when they have kids, and extra childcare comes from grandparents and other extended family. That said, if you put in the work ahead of time, you can, in fact, find local babysitters in places like Tokyo and Kyoto, including caregivers who speak English. Check out expat-facing sites, and make sure to plan ahead.

One of the cutest things I’ve ever seen while traveling was a mother-toddler pair at the luxurious Hoshinoya resort in Karuizawa. They were dressed in matching samue (traditional top and pants) and geta (Japanese wooden clogs)—all courtesy of the hotel—sharing a red bean–smothered shaved ice from the property’s roving cart. These kinds of perks aren’t the standard, but many hotels and resorts offer lots of kid-friendly amenities. Look for places that have dedicated playrooms or kid-friendly activities—upscale properties with lots of amenities may be the best bet for extra family oriented perks. Some (like the Karuizawa resort) will even let you drop your kid in the playroom at dinner so that they can have dinner with new friends (and helpful attendants) while you enjoy a fancy meal in the hotel’s restaurant.

If you’re hoping to enjoy Japan’s onsen (hot spring) culture, you’re in luck; most of them are extremely kid-friendly. Going to the hot spring is considered a part of living a healthy life, and parents introduce the practice to their kids starting when they’re still infants. Little kids of any gender often go to the women’s side with their moms, though dads also take kids to the men’s side. (Onsen is typically enjoyed without clothing and is gender segregated; many places also have a mixed area where guests wear towels for modesty.)

Hot springs’ facilities usually include some kind of small crib or baby seat in the changing rooms. Some even have small plastic baby tubs—the kind you’d put inside a bathtub for a newborn—so even the tiniest members of the family can enjoy the water safely. Make sure to check the spring’s temperature before your kids get in, of course, and you’ll all need to follow the standard practices of washing off at the stations around the hot pools before bathing. As long as you observe the traditions, your kids will be perfectly welcome to enjoy the onsen experience.