I Was Shocked by How Child Pleasant Tokyo Is

• Japan holds a particular place in my coronary heart as a result of I taught English straight out of school.
• My spouse and I took our youngsters to Japan for a marriage.
• We discovered that Japan is a good vacation spot for little children.

One of many biggest joys of my life has been touring with my household, particularly to different nations. Japan has an particularly vital place in my coronary heart — I lived in Japan and taught English there for my first job out of school, and I nonetheless have great buddies in Tokyo. Japan has additionally given my household a few of our happiest journey recollections.

In October 2017, my spouse and I traveled to Tokyo for the marriage of two of our Japanese buddies. We introduced our two children, who had been ages 9 and seven on the time. Earlier than the journey, I fearful that the crowds and bustle can be intimidating for younger children underneath the age of 10.

However I used to be fallacious — Japan is perhaps the proper journey vacation spot for households with younger children.

Listed below are just a few of the happiest recollections from my household’s travels in Japan.

Tokyo is a kid-friendly metropolis

Tokyo is an enchanting, huge, futuristic, neon megalopolis, however it’s additionally protected, clear, peaceable, orderly, and enjoyable for youths to discover. Japan is so protected that younger youngsters usually experience the subway alone whereas going to and from faculty.

Our children felt snug in Tokyo. They beloved the attention-grabbing, colourful Japanese merchandising machines shelling out sizzling tea or chilly lemonade bottles. They loved selecting sushi rolls and baked items from Japanese comfort shops (“Konbini”). They beloved Japanese arts and crafts, toys, and memento treasures at native retailers within the neighborhood of Shinjuku the place we stayed. We beloved strolling as a household in Tokyo’s attractive parks and shrines, like Meiji Jingu, providing sanctuary and quiet areas.

Tokyo is simple to navigate, with nice public transit

From our first prepare journey into the town on the “Narita Categorical” from Tokyo Narita Worldwide Airport, our youngsters had been fascinated by the easy-to-use, on-time Japanese prepare techniques.

It was enjoyable giving our youngsters their very own little tickets for every subway experience, exhibiting them the advanced internet of Tokyo subway maps, and serving to them hear for the title of every cease to be known as out in Japanese on the subway intercom.

Tokyo has numerous cute locations to go to

Japanese tradition has created so many fashionable imaginative universes, like anime and Hi there Kitty. The very best of Japanese popular culture is definitely inside attain whenever you journey to Tokyo, with enjoyable spots just like the Ghibli Museum for followers of films like “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro.”

Our favourite place for youths in Tokyo was KidZania, an immersive, impressively detailed youngsters’s museum and “child metropolis,” the place children might do numerous real-life “jobs” like bread baker, magician, firefighter, or Tokyo Fuel engineer. Our children met and performed with many Japanese children their age and had been guided by pleasant, English-speaking Japanese employees. Better of all, KidZania had an in-house café the place mothers and dads might loosen up with a cup of espresso.

Japanese hospitality tradition is heat and welcoming

Each meal in Japan was scrumptious! Our children particularly loved conveyor belt sushi (“kaitenzushi”), the hole-in-the-wall ramen store that our buddies took us to, and the izakaya restaurant the place we might all select a number of small plates (type of like Japanese tapas) and eat family-style. We felt well-fed and effectively cared for at each meal in Japan.

Japan is a magical place of thrilling sights, great meals, and friendship. It was an honor to see It with my household, vicariously by the eyes of my youngsters and nostalgically by the eyes of my very own youthful self. I hope to go to Tokyo once more someday quickly within the subsequent few years.