We are travelling to Japan during spring break this year with our 2 kids (12 & 15). We are travelling with g adventures for 9 days, but we will have quite a lot of free time while we are there. We will be in Osaka for 3 nights (2 prior to our tour), Kōyasan (1 night),Hiroshima-shi (2 nights), Kyoto (2 nights), Hakone (1 night), and ending in Tokyo (4 nights - only 1 of which is with the tour).
I am looking for advice on places to eat, things to see that wouldn’t typically be on a guided tour, things that a 12 and 15 year old would enjoy, any advice on cooking classes you have taken in Japan. Thanks so much in advance!
This will be our first time in Japan, so any advice is great!

Janice Gee Chan

In Kyoto...hike up to Monkey Mountain...the monkeys are everywhere. Also the bamboo forest nearby.
Visit the Peace Museum in Hiroshima and walk the grounds in the park behind the museum. EAT EVERYTHING! So much to chose from...no regrets! Buy pocket wifi at the airport when you arrive. Tokyo is crazy busy and expensive but so worth the visit! Our son lives in Osaka...our 2nd time visiting this March. Umeda Sky Building in Osaka...great way to see the city from above.
Your kids are fortunate to be traveling to such a wonderful country...very safe and clean.
Subway and trains are so efficient transporting millions of people every day in Tokyo.
Have fun!

Thank you! We are doing the peace museum with our tour. All of these recommendations are great!

Tsurutontan was a hit for us in Osaka. Their specialty is udon noodles. Their udon bowls are literally twice the size of your face. Amazing!!! They also have shops in Tokyo I believe. http://www.tsurutontan.co.jp/

That sounds amazing! Thank you

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I’m a big fan of the Cup Noodle Museum in Osaka!

That sounds fun!!

From Hiroshima you can take a ‘skytrain like’ 20 km local train to Miyajimaguchi then right bedside the train station take the short ferry to Miyajima island- beautiful setting, famous Tori Gate and great gondola up Misen mountain- can also hike up and down http://visit-miyajima-japan.com/en/. Loved it!

We are going to there with our tour. Can’t wait!

I can recommend two cooking classes (Haru cooking class in Kyoto and Eat osaka in Osaka). Relatively small class size, which is nice, and people were lovely. I also took a cooking class in Tokyo, but for few minor reasons, I didn’t enjoy this one as much. I’m not putting the name down as it wasn’t a horrible class or anything, just didn’t spark a joy as the other two did for me, but i can provide the name if you would like to know.
if your kids like ships and boats, Kure (30 min away from Hiroshima) is a great port to see Japanese defense force museums and actual ships and boats. Peace museum and Miyajima are definitely the top priority in hiroshima, but if you have time, Kure could be a great visit for those interested. Don’t forget to eat Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima. They are the best!

Thank you for the recommendations! I will
Check out those cooking classes for sure

Shinjuku! Just cool
walking around. Go to Isetan for the food hall - wowza! And definitely walk the Golden Gai at night. Sooo neat. Our hotel gave us 24hr sushi places. And the Ramen is to DIE for. The whole experience was mind blowing. Oh and Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown on Netflix as a Tokyo episode - some freaky things lol - but some cool ideas too. https://digjapan.travel/en/blog/id=11162

We just watched that the other day
is that the robot restaurant he goes to at the beginning?

Crystal Toigo-Avila yup! We went. And it was awesome. Freaky awesome. Freaky Japanese awesome.

I loved Mt. Hakone. The buildings reminded me of photos I've seen of the Swiss Alps. Tip: when you see Mt. Fuji in the distance snap the photos right then & there because the clouds can cover it up rather quickly.

I was just in Tokyo Feb 9-16 and it was awesome. The Robot Restaurant is interesting but I’d have to say a bit overpriced. Keep in mind the price is just for the show and food/drinks are extra. We enjoyed the Teamlab Planets(there is also Teamlab Borderless) but maybe too much for kids? Please go to Shin Udon in Shinjuku for the best udon in the city (the dry udon with butter). Thank me later.

ghibli museum near tokyo for the kids if they are fans of anime by the director miyazaki (my neighbour totoro, primcess mononoke and others). the museum is extremely popular and you must prebook tix. you can get them here in vancouver from the jtb travel office which is also the place to go if you want japanrail passes. in addition, the jtb office can provide lots of other tour/things to see.
tokyo is not as expensive as you might think. there's a huge range of accommodation and food. eat in small, neighbourhood places; stay in smaller guesthouses or hotels. business hotels are often a fantastic deal - the rooms are very small, but the usually have huge buffet breakfasts included and good services for travellers (laundry, bike rental, etc).
if you're getting lots of souvenirs from different places, have them sent ahead to your final hotel via yamato shipping. it's a great deal and it will be overnight delivery for the places you're going. arrange with your hotel to hold your deliveries. you can arrange the shipping with your accommodation; you can also go to a 7-11 or the freestanding outlets. the main issue will be finding someone to help you in english if you have no japanese.

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I was in Japan with my sons 8 & 13 in Oct 2018. They loved the Digital Art Museum in Tokyo. If they’re into video games, they had fun in the Sega building, checking out the anime, manga and video game shops in Akihabara going to Pokémon stores, checking out the character shops in the lower level of Tokyo Station. If they are Pokémon, the new one near Tokyo station has a Pokémon cafe but you need to make reservations in advance. We spent most of our time in Kyoto. There wasn’t anything specific they enjoyed there, they just loved walking around, and visiting some of the temples and gardens.

These are all awesome recommendations! Thank you

Crystal Toigo-Avila You’re welcome.

Baseball game! It’s not just a sport there – it’s an experience. Besides high level ball, there are cheerleaders, songs for each player, balloons, over the top decked out fans, beer vendors with keg backpacks and more! If your schedule aligns with any home games in Osaka (Hanshin TIGERS or Orix BUFFALOES), Hiroshima (Hiroshima CARP) or Tokyo (Yomiuri GIANTS or Yakult SWALLOWS plus 3 more teams nearby) I’d try to get to a game. I found a link with a schedule in English and also another site with other info. If interested in Osaka games and can’t find tickets, I can give you walking directions to a ticket shop next to the Hanshin TIGERS Koshien Stadium where I was able to get tickets for sold out games. Prices range from about 1,500 yen and up.
https://www.japanballtickets.com/baseball-calendar.html (for schedule only)
https://pretraveller.com/online-yomiuri-giants-baseball.../

Prebook the borderless TEAMLAB museum in Tokyo. Your kids will love it.

Animal Themed Cafés. I went to a cat café in Osaka with my niece. She also went to a hedgehog café in Tokyo. And there are lots of other types. If you google it, you’ll find loads of info. Here are a couple of sites that I just found:
https://thetravelintern.com/animal-cafes-osaka/
https://jw-webmagazine.com/8-animal-cafes-in-tokyo...

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The Dominique Ansel bakery in Omotesando!

Oh! I love me a Cronut! I didn’t know there was one in Japan! I missed it when I was in New York last year, so I’ll make sure to get there. Thanks so much.

Eat okonomiyaki in Hiroshima! So delicious and a really fun experience. Your kids will likely love it. We ate at Nagata-ya and I really recommend them. Walking distance to the Peace Museum, friendly and yummy. If I recall correctly they also had an English menu.

here are some ideas of delicious casual restaurants! the kids might like the 3D coffee art. http://www.raincouverbeauty.com/.../tokyo-food-guide...

Angela do u know a nice onsen in Hakone?

Colby Fackler

How was your tour? We are just in the early stages of planning and never considered a tour. What did the trip cost you for a family of four? Did you go to Disney and Universal?

Jen we would not do the tour again. We actually had the worst time ever on it. Our guide was FANTASTIC (don’t get me wrong), but it was a lot of travelling. Like A LOT. We would get up at 8am and train for hours most days. And for the kids it was too much. There was also a man on the tour who made our kids feel quite uncomfortable. This made the trip super awkward (kids didn’t want to leave the hotels and my husband had to hold back a lot since Japan is such a peaceful country). We would spend more time in each spot next time without a big group of people.
Going to Koyasan was phenomenal. Staying in a monestary was something we wouldn’t have done without the tour, and it was a once in a lifetime experience. I would highly recommend doing that.
Hiroshima was fantastic as well. You have to go to the peace memorial. It is an emotional experience.
We would spend more time in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo next time.
Disneyland and Universal were both fantastic! We stayed at the Disneyland hotel in the park... it was very pricy, but worth it to be in the park.
Our trip cost way too much. We could have saved a lot by not taking the tour (Japan is SO easy to get around, that it was unnecessary to be on a guided tour. We could have seen more of what we wanted and saved money).
Get the JR rail pass and you can literally hop on any train in the country and go wherever you want.

Crystal Toigo-Avila oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that! Thanks for the tips!