Travelogue: Tokyo in Three Days with a Five Year Old

 It's been five years since we've had a five year old, and, also being honest, the youngest of three doesn't usually get treated his age and instead has to grow up quickly to keep up with the older brothers.  So, we had forgotten how to pace ourselves for a five year old.  

There's a great blog for living in and visiting Tokyo (and Japan more broadly).  I look things up here regularly and should have stolen ideas from it when planning this trip: https://bestlivingjapan.com/ 

In any case, after so much family time in Kyoto and over Christmas, my three kiddos needed a break from each other.  So, when back home in Tokyo, we assigned each of them a day to spend with their cousin and pick an activity.  Though this was a survival mode decision for me (trying to maintain happy spirits among the siblings), it turned out to be a great way to have individual time/conversation.  Filing this away for future family visits! 

Day 1: Middle Child Day.  First stop was Heiwa No Mori (Peace Park) field athletics (aka obstacle) course.  After all the temples in Kyoto, this was reportedly a blast.  Kids can spend hours here if you go on a day that it isn't too crowded (which it wasn't) and you don't have to wait in line for each obstacle.  

I'm not sure what lunch was, but then they took the train back into our neck of Tokyo to visit a favorite candy store.  With most treats averaging Y10-Y20 (under a quarter), a little money can go a long way.  It's not a fancy or glittery store, just a normal neighborhood shop with endless opportunities for browsing Japanese sweets.

Day 2: Solo day with the Oldest.  In a true Tokyo experience, the 15 year old took his cousin out into Tokyo on his own.  I can't really imagine another city where this would happen.  Maybe somewhere in Europe with good public transportation networks, but I've never lived in those places, so I'm not really sure!

They visited the TeNQ Space Museum in Tokyo Dome City.  All on one floor, when discussing options, I thought it looked manageable and within an appropriate attention span.  Apparently it was super fun, because they didn't leave to find lunch until close to 1pm.  By that time, all the noodle shops were full and with lines, so in order to avoid a hangry situation, the teenager made an executive decision McDonald's was in order.  The parents joined after lunch for bowling, also in Tokyo Dome City, finishing up the afternoon.

Day 3: Out with a 10 year old.  The youngest really doesn't like to travel far, preferring locations accessible by his scooter.  This was just fine for his cousin, so they headed to "Robot Park" nearby our house.  After playing their hearts content (and watching how Japanese parents meticulously train Japanese children from a very very young age to properly stand in line and wait their turns), they walked over to Roppongi Hills to choose a lunch.  Given the noodle failure the day before, a fancy soba/udon shop was in order.  They then stopped at a Tsutaya Roppongi bookstore, which has a good selection of kids books in English and also fun books like Where's Waldo in Japanese.  Not to mention I hear there was also a Starbucks pit stop :).

Mostly, when we ate as a group, we ate at home -- it isn't easy to find places in Tokyo to seat 10 people without having to choose a course menu.  With a request for some Tokyo craft brew, we ate one night at TY Harbor -- in addition to the beer and a view of the water, it's a great spot for visitors craving an American-style salad after lots of cooked foods.  Plus they had a kids menu and coloring set, like a family restaurant back home.  

Another day at lunch, I had planned to eat at City Bakery Brasserie Ruben (unlimited bread basket is great for the kids!), but it had filled up by the time we arrived.  Instead, we headed next door to Ark Hills Cafe, which turned out to be an even better choice.  In addition to being a touch more casual (always easier with kids), its lunch menu had both Western and Japanese options - so we could order chicken sandwiches and hamburgers as well as udon and ginger stirfry pork.

As a family on other days around Chrimstas, we had short outings to Tokyo Tower (also has a VR boat race in the basement and a ball pit for toddlers), a B League basketball game, and Kiddy Land + crepes in Harajuku (my favorite outing as a kid in Tokyo!).  

We also considered a few of these itineraries, a day at Ueno Zoo, a day at Yomiuri Land amusement park, or day trips to Kamakura, Hakone or Nikko, but ultimately decided to take it easy and enjoy family time rather than sightseeing.  Tokyo Disney and Tokyo Disney Sea were early candidates as well, but we collectively ruled those out even before visitors arrived with us not really being Disney people, and them realizing how exhausted the five year old might be the day after such a Disney adventure.

Travelogue: Kyoto in 3ish Days

We went to Kyoto with our full family (10 people, ages 5 to 75) - it was quite a production! I decided to hire a tour guide, so I could also have a vacation.  A splurge, for sure, but it was worth it alone just to have someone else the kids could pester for what the schedule was. 

Day 1:

We left Tokyo on an 8:20am shinkansen arriving in Kyoto at 10:30.  Our tour guide met us on the platform and took us to Toji Temple which has an open air fair on the 21st of every month.  Everything from fresh fruits/vegetables, to old kimonos and obis at Y1000 per item, to new art.  I found a shawl remade from old shibori cloth. 

Lunch was chicken sukiyaki in a restored home: http://chisouinaseya.com/menu/index_en.html Though quite centrally located near the Kyoto town hall, we were glad to have a guide to show us it - I would have never found it on our own.  Our visitors tried fu (麸), a protien-packed wheat gluten cake.  Some loved the chewy texture that soaked up the sukiyaki sauce - and for others, one nibble was enough.

In the afternoon, we walked through Shijo and Nishiki Market, checking out food stalls, shops run by the sixth generation, and stopped for a donut snack.  Then it was on to Gion, ending up at Yasaka Shrine at sunset when the lanterns were lit.  

Dinner was a simple yakitori.  I wanted to take everyone out for kushiyaki (fried things on sticks), but most places wanted us to  order a set menu for 10 people.  No one was that hungry being two days off the airplane, and Americans also aren't really a fan of "course menu" abdicating choices with no substitutions to the restaurant.

Day 2: 

We started at 9am and went first to Kiyomizu Temple - by the time we left around 10:30, it was really filling up so going first was a great call.  

We then we Kennin-ji, a temple i had never been to before, though it is apparently the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.  Also interesting is an area with some of the first tea plants brought to Japan - and it is very flat, so easy to walk through for old and very young legs tired from walking up the Kiyomizu Temple.  After that, we tried again to spot a geisha walking through Gion, but it wasn't our lucky trip.  

For lunch, we headed to the north of the city for some udon and soba - the hot noodle soup was so welcome to warm up after a chilly morning walking around.  The kids menu, including onigiri (rice balls) and vanilla ice cream was a hit. 

No stop in Kyoto is complete without Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion).  A full remake of the walkways during low tourist traffic due to closed borders during COVID has led to a much more comfortable experience with such crowds.  Actually, the light rain during our visit kept away most of the crowds - and thankfully was light enough not to bother us too much.  

We were able to squeeze in a walk through the Imperial Palace gardens.  So strange to be able to walk in without an appointment - when I studied in Kyoto over 20 years ago, it was a long process to apply for permission which had to be done by mail (ahem, only nascent Internet at that time) at least three weeks in advance.  

Through arrangement with our tour guide, we then split into two groups for an experience, having already seen so much.  I took the kids for a taiko (Japanese drumming) lesson with a guy who (before COVID!) performs internationally.  We had some good rhythms going!  

Greg joined the adults at a sake brewery tasting at Kagura Brewery, reportedly Kyoto's oldest.  Our tour guide explained to me it used to be one of the biggest breweries in Kyoto, but some years ago when the market wasn't so great, the family removed the large brewery and on their land built rental properties.  They now generate most of their income from real estate, allowing them the flexibility to keep making sake in a traditional (labor intensive, expensive) way and also experiment with new flavors.  They've also hired a retired American finance guy to help expand their appeal to foreign customers.  Our crew left with three bottles, so I guess their taste is good!

At dinner, we reconnected with friends of ours from Ho Chi Minh City over pizza.  Three meals in a row of Japanese food was about all some of the group could take :) 

Day 3: 

I was too ambitious with Days 1 and 2 above, forgetting about jet lag and small five year old legs.  Thankfully, I had sensed that might be the case a week before the trip, so I had already cancelled the tour guide for that day, and had a few things in my back pocket, depending on moods.  

We opted for Nijo Castle and then to take a lunch time shinkansen home.  Nijo was a great morning activity - it opens at 8:45 and is self-guided.  Kids can run around the gardens, getting their energy out.  Because it had frozen over night, pockets of frost on bridges and benches meant some opportunities for drawing pictures in the frost, too.  Note to future visitors: as you have to take off your shoes to see the inside of the castle, if you visit on a day when it is freezing, bring an extra pair of socks or some slippers.  Our toes were more than a little chilly by the end of seeing all the rooms (the castle is not heated).  

We were looking forward to showing our visitors all the "eki-ben" (train station bento boxes) to choose one for the ride home.  Unfortunately, we couldn't find where they were in Kyoto station, so settled for unexciting options.  Once we finally got our whole crew with new tickets for the earlier train through the ticket wickets ... we found the stalls *inside* the gate.  Sadly we didn't have time to browse for a better lunch selection before our train, so I noted this for the future.  We did have time, though, to stop at a convenience store for the niece to buy a super soft cotton shinkansen kids mask to wear on the shinkansen.  Have to travel in style!