We toured Japan from 3 Dec to 10 Dec 2022 (Autumn Season)  for 8 days 7 nights with 2 children (14 yrs old & 7 yrs old). Here’s a summary of our Tokyo, Hakone , Osaka, Kyoto Itinerary. The Airline we took was Scoot Airlines  and the flight hours was about 7 hours.

We visited 4 main locations: Tokyo, Hakone , Osaka, Kyoto and a total of 30 places. Our Accommodations was MIMARU Tokyo Asakusa Station, HAKONE GORA East, BON Condominium Umeda IN OSAKA

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What We Achieved for Our Second Japan Trip to Tokyo | Hakone | Osaka | Kyoto :

1. Took rides in Harry Potter’s Wizarding World in Universal Studios Japan for the first time – we love Harry Potter’s stories and movies.
2. Explored a forest in the dark and viewed the most unique light installations by teamLab.
3. Revisited Hakone and some places in Tokyo with the children, which we had been to as a couple in 2007.
4. Took the funicular and ropeway to explore Owakudani on Hakone.
5. Took an old train ride in Kyoto on a 19th century railway , fulfilling my wish to see autumn scenic colours.
6. Saw beautiful autumn leaves of Ginkgo trees in Yoyogi park and took several nice photographs.
7. Finally walked in the famous Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.
8. Added another skyscraper to our list – Tokyo Skytree, viewing Tokyo from above.
9. Learnt about train transport in Kyoto Train Museum and watched a model railway demonstration.
10. Tried a wide variety of good Japanese food!
11. Took photographs with several Christmas installations as it was in December – Christmas Time in the cities.

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8-DAY FAMILY TRAVEL ITINERARY FOR TOKYO | HAKONE | OSAKA | KYOTO

DAY 1  – Tokyo

• Flight on Scoot Airlines to Tokyo Narita Airport
• Take Keisei Narita Skyaccess for 9 stops, alighted at Asakusa Station and walked 4 min
• Checked in Mimaru Tokyo Asakausa Station Apartment , deposit luggage
• Visited Sensoji Temple / Nishi Sando Shopping Street (but it was too early and most shops not open)
• Ate Katsu don /Katsu Curry don for lunch in a restaurant we came across on the street
• Went up Tokyo Skytree to have a panoramic view of Tokyo.
• Checked in Mimaru Tokyo Asakausa Station Apartment officially.
• Tokyo Midtown – look at some lightings but quite disappointing and went off soon after.
• Shopping at Mandarake Complex in Akihabara – purpose to buy Licca Doll

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DAY 2 – Tokyo

• Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi Park – ginkgo leaves and autumn colours.
• Shinjuku West Station Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center (Collect Hakone 3-Day Free Pass and upgrade to Limited Express Romance Car there)
• Kiddy Land in Harajuku – 4 levels of cute merchandise and Sanrio characters
• Hobby Center Kato Tokyo – for Japanese model trains
• Odaiba Area with some Christmas lightings (impromptu) – wanted to explore that area but most things were closed then.

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DAY 3 – Tokyo to Hakone

• Asakusa Station to Shinjuku Station
• Shinjuku Station to take Odakyu Romance Car (train)
• Reached Hakone-Yumoto Station in Hakone and ate lunch
• Take Hakone Tozan Railway to Gora Station
• Checked in スタジオーネ 箱根強羅 East with Pin given by apartment home stay owner. (early check-in was possible)
• At Gora Station, take the Hakone Tozan Cable Car ride to Sounzan Station (早雲山駅)
• At Owakudani station, take the Hakone Ropeway to Owakudani Hell Valley
• Glass no Mori-mae – a museum of beautiful glass exhibits. Was decorated with Christmas theme.

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DAY 4 – Hakone

• At Gora Station, take the Hakone Tozan Cable Car ride to Sounzan Station (早雲山駅)
• At Owakudani station, take Hakone Ropeway to Togendai-ko station (桃源台港駅)
• Take the cruise ship at Togendai-ko (Lake Ashinoko) – (Hakone sightseeing cruise is included in Hakone Free Pass)
• Arrived at Motohakone-ko (Lake Ashinoko)(元箱根港)
• Walked up to Hakone Shrine and walked back down to Torii Gate Floating in Water
• Missed the cruise ship back so we took the shuttle bus – Hakone Tozan Bus at Togendai Station bus stop, towards Hakone-Yumoto or Odawara.
• Alighted at the Kiga-no-sato bus stop and more time saved (28 mins). Hakone Open Air Museum is a short walk from there.
• Lunch at Nakamura restaurant (Soba-Tempura) – near Hakone Open Air Museum [recommended!]
• Hakone Open Air Museum
• Got simple bento dinner from Daily Yamazaki Hakone Gora Store near our apartment stay.

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DAY 5 – Hakone To Osaka

• From Gora Station take train to Hakone Yumoto Station
• Take the Hakonetozan Line at Hakone Yumoto Station towards Odawara Station
• At Odawara Station , take the Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen to Osaka Shin-Osaka Station (新大阪駅)
• Check in BON Condominium Umeda – a small apartment home stay. [they allowed early check-in at 2:48pm]
• Ate a late lunch – brought from supermarket previously and 7-eleven store at the Shin-Osaka Station.
• Ventured out to explore Osaka Science Museum – had a fun time looking at interactive science exhibits for 2 hrs
• Tempozan Marketplace for sushi dinner

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DAY 6 – Osaka

• Walk to Osaka Station
• Take Osaka Loop Line by Yamatoji-Rapid towards Nara to Nishikujō Station
• Transfer by taking JR Yumesaki Line to Sakurajima Station
• Reached Universal Studios Japan – Harry Potter’s Wizarding World First / Elmo’s Bubble Bubble in Wonderland / Lost World Ride /Super Nintendo World
• Lunch at Lost World Restaurant
• Dinner at Saizeriya just outside Universal Studios Japan.

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DAY 7 – Kyoto Day Trip From Osaka

• Take the Tokaido-Sanyo Line on Special Rapid (30mins) towards Kusatsu to Kyoto Station
• From Kyoto Station, take train to Umekōji-Kyōtonishi Station (梅小路京都西駅)
• Explore Kyoto Railway Museum – highlight is to view a railway diorama demonstration.
• Lunch in restaurant inside Kyoto Railway Museum
• Arashimaya Bamboo Forest Walk – took only a short walk
• Boarded the Sagano Romantic Train to view autumn scenes.
• Back to Osaka
• teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka – beautiful light installations in a forest
• Ate at Mos Burger for dinner

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DAY 8 – Osaka / Evening Flight

• Checked out from BON Condominium Umeda but leave luggage there as we still have time before evening flight.
• Osaka Castle – learnt about history of it and admired the surrounding landscaped garden.
• Pick up luggage from the apartment stay.
• Took a taxi to JR Shin-Osaka Station as we had luggage.
• Lunch at Don Don Tei at JR Shin-Osaka Station – Ajino Kouji Gourmet Street
• Took Kanku Rapid at 15:23 hr at Platform 1 from Shin-Osaka Station to Kansai-Airport Station
• Reached Kansai-Airport Station which is directly connect to Osaka – Kansai Intl Terminal 1 after 1 hr 10mins
• Flight back to Singapore at 6.30pm.

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Cards to Use in Japan

For Osaka, we bought the ICOCA Card which we had to top up an amount and any leftover balance was refunded to us at a machine at Kansai-Airport Station exit. We asked the station attendant to help us on the refund. A handling fee of ¥220 would be charged to process the refund but we can keep the cards for future use.

For Tokyo, we bought the Tokyo Subway Ticket directly from the machines in the metro stations but you can also buy the Tokyo Subway Ticket from Klook online which let us explore Tokyo for 24 -72 hours on Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines (we are using most of these lines and not JR lines. It is not allowed on JR lines) as we only needed it for some metro rides. This ticket allow us to have unlimited rides across 13 different routes with over 280 metro stops covering most of the city.

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Travelling with a 7-yr-old and a 14-yr-old in Japan

This was just after Covid-19 times and Japan had just opened its door to international travellers. As we had not travelled for two years, we were really excited to go for this trip despite all the inconveniences of wearing masks when we are out. We only took them off for photo taking momentarily. It was not uncomfortable because the weather was cold and the mask could help ward off the cold wind.

7 year old – She loves Japanese stuff and was very excited to be visiting the country where all her kawaii (cute) merchandises are found. Then, she was still not into Sanrio characters but more Sylvanian families (has the doll house and bought several furniture and character toys) and Licca dolls we found in Don Don Donki. When she discovered gachapon machines every where, she wanted to turn those all the time. I think it was the thrill of not knowing what you would get. I had also enjoyed buying mini cute things from gachapon machines when I first went to Japan in 2007, so I indulged her. We walked a lot for this trip, taking metro rides, Shinkansen and kept moving from one city to another but she was able to keep up with our pace and did not complain about tiredness. In fact, she was more energetic than us adults, posing happily for photographs because she loves travelling in Japan so much. We managed to go again in 2024 [ see our 2024 Japan Itinerary here].

14 year old – The boy had become a teenager and grew taller than me by then. He became more interested in aeroplanes but still retained his interest in metro trains. With the extensive network of metros and Shinkansen, Japan was a transport heaven for this train enthusiast. He could not get enough of the Japanese mini-model trains and the Kyoto railway museum which we had visited specially for him. There were also a lot of transport we took for this trip – funicular, ropeway , cruise ship, metro trains, Shinkansen, highland bus, theme park rides.

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Exploring in Cold Weather – Clothing Needs

In Tokyo

The weather was generally cool in Japan with temperature ranging from 12-13 degrees Celsius so we mostly wore down coats over another layer of long sleeves sweater plus heat tech heat tech top and bottoms (if needed). On our outing to Meiji Shrine, it was hot enough to just wear a long sleeve shirt with inner heat tech top, with no need of coat.

Do wear clothes in layers as due to entering buildings for exploring or shopping, we had to often take off our coats which were too hot for the inside warmed environment. Once we go out, it became too cold again. For this purpose, we carried foldable shopping bags to carry our coats inside when we do not need it (better than hand-carry). As the temperature for night time will fall below 10 degrees Celsius and we were out for almost the whole day until night, we had to have our coats with us.

In Hakone

It was so cold up in Owakudani while we were taking the ropeway that the kids and I wore gloves too. It was probably not such a good time of the year (December) to visit the Owakudani up on Mt.Hakone because all we could see was a blanket of heavy fog. The sulphur vents area was barred to visitors too, with a sign stating dangerous levels. Thus, a more suitable time of the year to visit Hakone would be during Spring and Summer.

The cold wind blowing at us while cruising Lake Ashi made us retreat inside the ship so we could not enjoy the scenic ride as much. My first time on this cruise was during Spring (March) and that time, the weather was more enjoyable to enjoy the Hakone region more. It was such a nice vacation that I thought of bringing the kids here this trip to show them too. Alas, I had not anticipate that December was not a good weather for Hakone.

In Osaka and Kyoto

Osaka which is to the central- western of Japan was hotter than in Tokyo in early December . One normal coat, one sweater shirt was needed only with no need for thermal inner wear. From my experiences so far, as long as your legs are warmed, you would not feel as cold, no matter if you do not wear enough on top. Therefore, wearing thick pants/jeans or pants with extra inner thermal legging is recommended.

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Food

Restaurant Meals

We love Japanese food and tried a variety of Japanese meals this trip. In Tokyo, we showed the kids how we ordered from a machine, brought the tickets to the counter for them to prepare katsudon for us. They quickly prepared it and we self-collected which was quite fast. We also ate tempura with soba noodles, ramen noodles, conveyor belt sushi and tempura don at a restaurant. Up on Owakudani, we tried the special egg ice-cream and Japanese-Italian food in Saizeriya.

Frozen Food / Convenience Food

If you are opting for apartment stays like us with no buffet breakfast, it helps to buy supermarket frozen ready cooked food (lots of them in Japan) and heat it up over a stove or microwave. There are good quality packed Japanese bento meals (ask staff to heat it up for you in the convenience store if you need), rice ball (onigiri), oden from the convenience stores (FamilyMart, 7-Eleven, Lawson). Don Quijote is another popular store for meals and snacks (it is known as Don Don Donki in Singapore).

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Bring Your Own Bag

We always bring lots of foldable shopping bags from home as we often shop in Japan’s convenience stores or supermarkets to purchase snacks, drinks and cooked meals. The convenience store charges for each plastic bag we use.

For this trip, we are mostly eating supermarket ready to cooked meals for breakfast (frozen fried rice was tasty!) and some meals that we could heat up in the microwave or cooked over a small stove. (We have a kitchenette for each apartment stay). Therefore, I also packed collapsible silicone food containers which was useful to store some unfinished food when we moved about.

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Thermal Water Bottles

It helps to have thermal water bottles to drink warm water on the go as the weather was too cold. The water would turn icy cold if you keep them in normal water bottles and you would feel even colder when the icy water goes down your throat. In restaurants, they often served icy cold water too and it was not good drinking them when we are eating hot food in cold weather. Sometimes, we try to tell them to give us normal temperature water but they do not quite understand what we wanted. Now after doing a google search, I found that if we want warm water, we could use 白湯 Sayu (means warm water) o onegaishimasu (please).

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Shopping and Souvenirs

Things We Bought: Fridge Magnets, Mini train models, train merchandises for the boy, A Licca doll and doll room with clothes accessories for my girl. There was a nice family photo we took in Universal Studios Nintendo World (professional photographer) and a photo for the Kyoto Railway Museum. My boy bought Tokyo Tower model and several railway models and souvenirs.