We love traveling. Traveling with kids can be an exciting and enriching experience for the whole family. Exploring new cultures, trying different cuisines, and creating lasting memories together can be a wonderful way to bond.
We went to Japan in July 2023 for 3 weeks. One of the best things about picking July for this trip was that we were able to avoid big crowds most of the time because most of the summer break for schools in Japan starts at the end of July or the beginning of August. In addition, it usually gets super hot and humid in August, so I believe we were also able to avoid extreme heat.
Our trip started in Chiba, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Niigata, Ishikawa, Fukui, Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Hyogo, Aichi, and then back to Kanagawa! We rented a car, and we drove all the way. I mean my husband drove all the way. (Thank you so much!) In general, public transportation is great in Japan, so I believe you do not have to drive when you travel there. For us, it was great, mainly because we went to many places in tight schedule. Our boys were able to sleep anytime in the car, and it was easy to carry all the luggage. We did not do much in some places besides catching up with our friends or family, but let me share what we did in each place!
Table of Contents
Chiba
Because we flew to Narita airport, we stayed in a hotel in Chiba. We stayed at Hotel Mark-1 CNT (https://mark-1.jp/cnt/ you might need to use the translation function for this website). The highlights of this hotel were a large public bath and breakfast. After a long flight, it was very nice to soak yourself in a large bathtub. (I love taking a bath in general.) Also, they have a great selection of amenities, including beauty goods and even nice pajamas. The downside of this is that the hotel is actually about 50 minutes away from the airport by train, so it was a bit far since the boys were super tired.
For breakfast, it was buffet style, and I have this picture I want to share with you.
The picture at the top was a breakfast in a hotel in Hermosa Beach, CA, and the picture at the bottom was a breakfast in Hotel Mark-1, CNT. (The price for the hotel was about the same.)
In case you do not like Japanese food, they also had breads, and they were also great!
The pinkish thing in the picture is “Negitoro,” which is a paste of tuna with green onions. You can put soy sauce on it, and you can enjoy it with rice. The white thing in the picture is “tororo” or “yamaimo,” which is sticky yam you can mix with soy sauce and put over rice. Brown beans are “Natto,” which is fermented soybeans. It has a very distinguishable smell and taste, so you may not enjoy it, but it is great for your health and skin! Please give it a try!
Kanagawa
We took the JR line the next day to Yokohama City in Kanagawa to meet up with our friend. There are a bunch of things you can do in Kanagawa, but we basically spent some time with some of our families and friends. I enjoyed this restaurant in Yokohama personally, mainly because it has a private room and the food and price were decent. Also, it was about a 5-minute walk from Yokohama station. The restaurant is called Gonnosuke Yokohama (https://www.daiwa-j.com/shop/gonnosuke/yokohama_west/ You might need to use the translation function for this website). It is inside the shopping mall, More’s (https://yokohama-mores.jp/ you might need to use the translation function for this website) in Yokohama station.
They had “Teishoku,” which means a lunch or dinner set meal. It usually has rice, soup, a small dish, and the main dish.
I had this lunch set meal with fried greater amberjack as the main dish. It had a rich and buttery flavor with a soy sauce-based light sauce, which went great with rice.
Yokohama station is one of the busiest stations, so expect the crowds and do not get lost! There are tons of restaurants and shops near the station, and you can spend hours in the station!
We went to Hakone in Kanagawa in the end of our trip. We drove from Aichi to Hakone (https://hakone-japan.com/) (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html) for Onsen (hot springs). We stayed at Nanpuso (http://www.nanpuso.co.jp/) for one night. We have stayed in Nanpuso for a few times before because we love it! Their service, rooms, foods, and Onsen are all very good.
Our room had a private onsen, which was wonderful. I could literally enjoy it at any time.
I love futons, especially because I do not have to worry about my boys falling! It was also comfortable.
The food on the left was for the boys. When we made a reservation, we were able to choose dinner for either an adult or a child.
Food in the right was for us. There were a lot more foods than in this picture. The paper below is a menu. It is very nice to see what we were enjoying by looking at the menu.
Tokyo
We rented a car in Yokohama, and we went to this aquarium in Shinagawa City, Tokyo, to meet up with our friend. There is a bigger Shinagawa aquarium, but we went to Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa (https://www.aqua-park.jp/en/aqua/index.html). It is much smaller, but it was actually the perfect size for my boys. We were able to see everything. The highlight of this aquarium was definitely a dolphin show! It was beautiful with all the lights, and the boys were just quietly watching the show the whole time. Also, the sea tunnel was very nice. You could see all the fish from different angles.
We had monjayaki at Tsukishima Monja Kuuya Shibuya, near Shibuya station. Monjayaki is a pan-fried batter that originated in Tokyo. The boys tried it for the first time, and they loved it! We tried ones with seafood. You eat with a small spatula-like spoon directly from the pan (very hot! ), which was actually really fun for the boys.
After lunch, we went to Miyashita Park (https://www.miyashita-park.tokyo/ you might need the translation function for this website) behind the restaurant. There was a little park on top. It was a bit too hot outside, but we had a little walk. There were so many restaurants and stores, too.
niigata
After Tokyo, we headed to Niigata. It was more like we stopped by Niigata on the way to our next destination, Ishikawa.
On the way to Niigata, we stopped by at this place I wanted to try in Nagano. Let me tell you something before telling you which place we stopped by. I am obsessed with “an-butter,” which is anko and butter. Anko is a sweet red bean paste. It usually goes with different types of bread, such as toast, baguette, bagel, and so on. I have been obsessed with eating Anko-butter bread since… sometimes in 2022. I just fell in love with the combination of sweetness (from Anko) and saltiness (from butter) when I tried An-Butter toast for the first time in my life. So! The place we stopped by was a sandwich place called “Sanch Fruit & Bread” (https://www.sanch-gondo.jp/ you might need the translation function for this website) which had an An-Butter sandwich I was craving.
The left sandwich is an “an-butter” sandwich for myself! The thick white layer was mascarpone. Butter was unsalted, so I was not able to enjoy my favorite combination of sweet and salty, but overall, it was great! Mascarpone was so creamy, and it was tasty. The bread was also very soft and delicious. My boys had a strawberry sandwich and a fruit sandwich, and they loved them!
We stayed in a hotel called “Hotel Monzen No Yu” in Niigata. When we picked hotels, we picked the ones that had either an onsen (hot spring) or a large public bath just because we truly love soaking ourselves in the bath.! This hotel had a hot spring, which was great! It seemed like local residents were also coming to the hot spring, so it had a nice, at-home atmosphere. There was an Izakaya-style restaurant inside the hotel, and we had dinner there. Izakaya is a Japanese bar/restaurant style where you can enjoy foods with your drinks.
We all shared Kaisen-Don (seafood over rice) and Tarekatsu-Don (breaded fried pork cutlet over rice). Tarekatsu-don is a specialty cuisine in Niigata, so I had to try it! The cutlet was soaked in a soy sauce-based sauce, and the meat was cut thin. Even though it was fried, the meat was sliced thin, so it was not too heavy for dinner, and the meat was so juicy.
“Don” means over rice in Japanese food.
ishikawa
For my boys, the highlight of this Japan trip was this “Ultraman Museum.” Ultraman is a Japanese super hero who my boys were obsessed with for a few years. They have tons of Ultraman action figures, watch lots of episodes, and have tons of Ultraman books. I actually did not tell them about the museum because I wanted to surprise them. I just told them we would stop by Ishikawa to see our friend (we did see our friend too!). When we got to the museum, the boys were super excited. Luckily, it was a weekday, and before summer break, we were the only ones in the museum too.
When I was looking around inside the museum, my boys were grabbing a lot of Ultraman action figures in a basket by themselves. We had to remove some of the figures but ended up buying 15 of them.
To get into the museum was free, and there was an Ultraman show that you paid extra to watch. They already have a schedule for the show, and the day we went was a show with Ultraman Dyna. (Since it is a paid show and they were asking not to post pictures on SNS, I will not post pictures of the show.) I just want to say that my boys had a blast! Ultraman Dyna and a bad guy were just right in front of my boys. Since we were the only audience, they were talking to us, asking for help, and playing games with us. It was just great to watch my boys meet their dream heroes in person.
They were playing with the Ultraman action figures everywhere, even inside the car!
Fukui
After Ishikawa, we stayed in Fukui one night to see our friend. We stayed at the Hotel Riverge Akebono. (https://www.riverge.com/lang/?lang=en). It was a great hotel. Since Fukui is well known for dinosaurs, there were some dinosaur-themed items inside the hotel, which was very cool. Their highlight was a skylight public bath on the top floor, where you can enjoy the great view. They had a great selection of shampoos and conditioners from many different brands that you could choose from. Breakfast was buffet-style, and they had over 60 homemade dishes to enjoy!
Fukui is also known for soba, or buckwheat noodles. Our friend took us to this soba-making place, where you can make soba from scratch and also enjoy the soba you make, which was super fun and delicious!
The place we went for soba making is “Echizen Sobaclub.” It is very close to Fukui Station. The instructor taught us step by step, and my 8-year-old son was able to finish from the first step to the last step! After making soba, they cooked and served us with their sauce, which was so good. My boys generally did not like soba, but they finished it all.
We also wanted to go to the Fukui prefectural dinosaur museum (https://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/en/) but it was under renovation and closed. If you go to Fukui, you should definitely check out the museum!
kyoto
After Fukui, we stayed in Kyoto for one night. We stayed at a hotel, “Kissuien Stay & Food” (https://kissuien.jp/ you might have to use the translation function for this website). The hotel was good, but the public bath was under construction, and there would have been an extra charge for taking the bath. The restaurant inside the hotel, “Aun,” was very good. The room was super clean and spacious.
The main thing to do in Kyoto for us was go to Amanohashidate (Heaven Bridge), one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. (https://www.amanohashidate.jp/lang/en/) We wanted to show the beauty of Japan to our boys.
Amanohashidate itself is already so pretty. (the right picture), but you can take a monorail or chair lift to go up to Amanohashidate View Land, where you can look down on the view.
We took a chair lift to Amanohashidate View Land. At the top, there is “Matanozoki-dai,” where you can do “Matanozoki,” meaning you look at the view upside down through your legs (like in the middle picture). By doing so, it looks like the dragon (the long land) is going up to the sky (heaven). That is a must-do in Amanohashidate View Land. My boys were saying, “Where is the dragon? I don’t see it!” but overall, it was just so beautiful.
osaka
After Kobe, we stayed at our friend’s place one night in Osaka. We did not do much in Osaka besides catching up with my best friend, but we made Takoyaki at our friend’s place! Apparently, my friend was doing it so easily, but it was hard for me. My boys totally enjoyed it, though!
For the next day’s breakfast, we had Hawaiian-style pancakes at Eggs ‘n Things. My boys were just super happy with lots of whipped cream and pancakes!
hiroshima
After Osaka, we went to Hiroshima to visit our family and stayed there for a few days. Hiroshima is actually one of my favorite places in Japan. There are lots of greens, yet you can still enjoy the city if you go to Hiroshima, but it is not as crowded as other big cities. There are so many beautiful spots, including one of the three most scenic spots in Japan, Miyajima (https://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/).
On our first day, we went to an insect museum located inside Hiroshima City Forest Park Insectarium. (https://midori-gr.com/shinrin/about/konncyuukann/ you may need to use the translation function for this website.) One of the boys’ dreams was to see a real big rhinoceros beetle. And they did see the real one at the museum! They were super excited! The museum is pretty small, but again, we were the only ones there, so we were able to spend time looking at each insect with no rush. There is also a dome with all the beautiful butterflies.
After the insect museum, we stopped by at the place called Bakery Kitchen Firo (http://3rdproject.jp/firo/ you might need to use the translation function for this website) for more An-Butter bread! They had many different flavors for both anko and butter! It was hard to pick, but we bought original an-butter, purple yam an-butter, and green tea an-butter. The butter was salted, and it was my kind of butter!
The next day, we went to this mountain resort called Megahira Hot Spring. (http://megahira.co.jp/pc/index.html you might have to use the translation function for this website)
The highlight for my husband and myself was their food, but the highlight for the boys was definitely a stag beetle they got from the hotel staff. Apparently the beetle came into a hotel, and the staff was keeping it. We were the only family there with kids, and he just gave it to us. The boys were super excited, and the beetle ended up traveling with us in Japan until the end, when we returned it to nature.
The food in the left picture was for the boys. The shrimp were huge! The food in the right picture was for adults. Each item was just so good.
The hot spring was very good as well. There was supposed to be a huge indoor pool, but sadly, it was under construction and closed.
The Miyajima station for the street train was renovated, and there were lots of new stores right next to the station. I got Mochi Zunda by Yamadaya for a souvenir. Zunda is an edamame paste. It was actually really good. You may also want to try Momiji Manjyu, which is a baked rice cake in the shape of Japanese maple.
You have to try Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese-style pancake. There are two different styles of Okonomiyaki: Osaka-style Okonomiyaki and Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. For Osaka-style Okonomiyaki, all the ingredients are mixed in the butter and cooked. For Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki, all the ingredients are separated into layers, and it usually has noodles in between the layers. I personally like Hiroshima style better, but you should try both!
yamaguchi
Yamaguchi has actually been selected for The New York Times’ list of “52 places to go in 2024, ranked 3! This is actually a place where we had a wedding, so I am so proud of it!
One of the go-to places in Yamaguchi is Rurikoji Temple. However, it is under renovation until November 2025. If you are interested, please check out the place after the renovation.
We did not do many tourist things in Yamaguchi besides spending a wonderful time with our families but the highlight of Yamaguchi was Omishima island, beautiful ocean!
We went to a beach on Omishima Island, and it was beautiful. It was not crowded at all! The boys enjoyed the beach for hours.
I really wanted to go to a beauty salon in Japan. I went to this beauty salon, Y’s Hair West (http://ys-hair.jp/elua/; you might need the translation function for this website), in Yamaguchi. The left is before, and the right is after. I was very satisfied with their performance and price. (It was about $150 for the cut and balayage.)
It took 3 and a half hours in total. They served me coffee and chocolates, which were very nice. It was a very comfortable and pleasant time for me.
Since our schedule was so tight and we were moving around all the time, we were able to rest and relax a little in Yamaguchi, which was really nice. In the picture, I am sitting on Engawa, a traditional Japanese architecture, an extension of the indoor floor to the outdoor, where you can enjoy both interior and exterior relaxation. I love Engawa, and if I can have a dream house, I will definitely consider having Engawa!
hyogo
After having a great time with our families in Yamaguchi relaxing, we went to Arima hot springs in Hyogo. Arima hot springs are known as one of the oldest hot springs in Japan. It was my first time being there, but it was one of the best hot springs I have ever visited. We stayed at a hotel, Hyoe Koyokaku. (https://www.hyoe.co.jp/english/) It was one of the best hotels we have ever stayed at in Japan.
Their hot springs were top-notch! They had Ichi no Yu (a Japanese-style bath), Ni no Yu (a Roman-style bath), and San no Yu (a Japanese-style old-style bath). They switch the baths day by day, so you can enjoy all of them.
Their interior design was beautiful. There is a space where you can relax after a bath.
They were also providing free Japanese green tea with Japanese snacks at the space.
For both dinner and breakfast, we picked buffet-style dining at the restaurants. There were great selections of foods, and it was nice to be able to pick whatever we wanted to enjoy. since our stomach was a little getting tired toward the end of the trip! I wonder why.
aichi
After Arima in Hyogo, we went to Aichi to visit our friend. We stayed in Toyota City for one night.
Our lovely friend gave the boys Jinbei, a Japanese casual cloth you can wear in the summer. We also did fireworks together, which was super fun!
Apparently, I learned that my favorite An-butter was born in Nagoya City, Aichi. That means I had to have butter! Unfortunately, we did not have time to stop by the place I wanted to go, but our breakfast at a hotel was a buttery toast! That made my day.
After Aichi, we went back to Yokohama in Kanagawa and stayed there for a few days, relaxing.
In case you are wondering, we drove 2,242 miles in Japan! Thanks to my husband driving that much, we just had a wonderful time!
Throughout this whole trip, I was just so impressed with how clean everything is in Japan, even the public bathrooms. I also truly appreciated all the great customer service we experienced. I could feel that there was always “Omotenashi,” a Japanese culture of hospitality, everywhere we went.
Japan is a great country to travel to. We just had an unforgettable trip in Japan. We will definitely go back with different plans! Until then, see you soon, Japan!
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