first time Japan for a family of 4

Hello everyone,
I have read this forum and learnt a lot. I do have some questions as we are drafting our plans to visit Japan for the first time in April next year.

Here is our itinerary
2/4/2018 arrive Narita Airport @7:00pm
2-6/4/2018 Tokyo, to explore it and visit Studio Ghibli, DisneySea
6-7/4/2018 overnight in either Hakone or Lake Kawaguchiko at a ryokan with onsen
7-10/4/2018 Osaka, planing a day trip from there to Hiroshima and a day at Universal Studios
10-14/4/2018 Kyoto then fly back to Narita to return home

My questions are:
1- what's good area for families to stay in in Tokyo? Any recommedations for good reasonably priced hotels that suit families? My children are 18 and 10.

2- which is easier to get to Osaka from, Hakone or Lake Kawaguchiko?

3- Which onsens are better in Hakone, the ones near Yumoto-Hakone or the ones in Gora or other areas of Hakone (and which ones are cheaper)? Any recommendations for good ryokans there?

4- Is a day trip to Hiroshima and maybe Miyajima doable from Osaka?

5- after visiting Studio Ghibli are there nearby sites in Mitaka that are worth visiting?

6- for a pokemon and dragon ball z fan, which is a better place to visit, Sunshine City in Ikekebura, or Akihibara?

7- Is it possible to visit Odaiba after a day at Disney Sea? what are the things that are worth seeing there?

Thank you all in advance for your advice

Its best if you can state your family member's interest they have, without these details it's hard to recommend good information.

Here are my suggestion.

1 I would suggest you check out booking.com for hotels, it all depends if you want to stay in seperate rooms or 4 in one room, and staying near the Yamanote Line, do you have a budget on how much to spend on hotels.

5 For Studio Ghibli, remember to make reservation in advance in your own country, they do not allow walk in and are very strict on access, i've seen tourist make there way to Studio Ghibli and was turned down because they did not make reservation. All the information is here http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ . Mitaka is a nice quiet town, there is the Inokashira Park which is quite nice with a small zoo.

6 You can visit both, if you are talking about amimes and toys, you can also consider nakano broadway, but for the Museum I can't comment on that.

Can't help you on the rest.

7 No, it's not possible as disneysea can take a full day, try not to visit on the weekends

It looks like you'll have 11 sightseeing days, but that's counting the days partially spent on trains.

1 - I stayed in Hamamatsucho on the Yamanote train line in Tokyo - there's an impressive temple and two gardens and the Tokyo Tower within walking distance.

4- Is a day trip to Hiroshima and maybe Miyajima doable from Osaka?" This has been asked on this forum recently, and the answer was that it depends on how much time you want to spend at each place. If you're just checking off that you were there, it can be done but the day is very rushed. The torii gate at Miyajima is more impressive at high tide so factor that into your plans.

When I'm travelling I hate changing hotels - something always gets lost, there's all the packing and unpacking and dragging suitcases to the train station. If you feel this way too you might consider staying on the Kyoto side of Osaka for the 9th-14th. Download the Hyperdia app to check train times and you'll see what I mean - it's easy to reach one city from the other.

Have a great trip!

1) Define reasonably priced. You need to find a room large enough for 4 people because most hotels are going to count your 18 year old and your 10 year old as an occupant. Many hotels consider any child over 6 as an occupant, some of the luxury ones go up to 10 or 12, but figure you have 4 occupants for the room. Are you comfortable having your kids share a room and you and your partner share another?

2) Hakone, definitely Hakone. From Fuji 5 Lakes you need to either bus it back down to Hakone, you might be able to bus it down to Mishima but it's a long bus trip and not covered by any pass (also infrequent) or backtrack to Shinjuku to then take something to Tokyo or Shinagawa to catch a shinkansen. From Hakone, you take the train from Hakone-Yumoto to Odawara and catch a Hikari there. I've stayed at: the Hakone-Yumoto Fujiya (small rooms, very very convenient location) the original Fujiya (atmospheric, bigger rooms, free shuttle from the Tozan line station, not particularly attractive baths, some place in Gora (huge huge rooms, friend booked it in Japan and I've not idea what it was called or even if it is still open), Hotel Kowakien near Yunessun (you need to take the bus from Hakone Yumoto there or walk all uphill or all downhill from the Tozan line, nice baths, across the street from Yunessun which is popular with foreigners, on the bus line to Moto-Hakone, large room and I want to say substantial western breakfast buffet.) I got a good deal on the Kowakien from Rakuten.

3) I've only bee to the onsen in my hotels or Yunessun.

4) Hiroshima and Miyajima in one day? Possibly, depends on when you start and how long you spend doing everything. 1 day visit Hiroshima and then the next visit Miyajima both starting from Osaka? sure. We caught a 7:50 I think shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima and got to Miyajima around 11ish? We then got back to Hiroshima station a few minutes after 3:22. So if we hadn't needed to be back at our hotel by 6 to change hotels, we would have had 2-3 hours in Hiroshima? My daughter really enjoyed Miyajima.

5) Kichijoji is a peaceful park with a small zoo. It's also close to Nakano and it's anime good shopping.

6) I prefer Sunshine 60. Though we did most of our shopping at the Pokemon Center in Kyoto.

I'll answer 7 later but the long and short of it is, no Disney takes up most of a day. Lines even on a quiet rainy day can still be long (aka 1 hour+)

Hi, just a couple of comments :

1- what's good area for families to stay in in Tokyo? Any recommedations for good reasonably priced hotels that suit families? My children are 18 and 10. A - I'd stay at Dormy Inn Shibuya and take two rooms. It is very reasonably priced and it has awesome facilities. It is a good location too for the kids


3- Which onsens are better in Hakone, the ones near Yumoto-Hakone or the ones in Gora or other areas of Hakone (and which ones are cheaper)? Any recommendations for good ryokans there? I really liked Lalaca at Gora and they have a few rooms (the Japanese/western ones) where you could fit 4 people easily. The operators are brilliant. We stayed 4 nights a few years back.

Just one comment, consider Kamakura/Enoshima for a stay instead of Hakone. It is easier to access and has more to do IMO. We stay at Iwamotoro Honkan which is brilliant and has great onsen. Also the onsen isnt the sulfur water that you have at Hakone. Sulfur water makes your skin feel good, but it is very much on the nose and if you get any cloth near it (which you shouldnt but our kids wore their togs into the private onsen at Hakone), you never get rid of the smell.

Thank you all for your feedback.

Your replies have been very helpful and truly informative.

I have actually been checking this website, and other travel blogs to get as much information about the areas we wish to visit and how to plan our trip.

I realise that April is cherry blossom season and therefore hotels will be more expensive than on other times of the year, and the first week of our stay it will be school holidays in Japan so queues in Disneysea even on a weekday will be long.

I have been looking at booking.com for the past few weeks and most of the Tokyo hotels have very small rooms that can hardly fit two people with luggage, so I got comfortable with the idea that we'll need two rooms.

The area of Minato near the Hamamatsucho station appealed to me the best, but since most people were recommending Shinjuku given the big station and easiness of going to Hakone and Mitaka from it directly , I got worried that the Hamamatsucho area may not be a good choice.

In regards, changing hotels, I hate that too. But sometimes there is no other choice. I have to be in Kyoto towards the last days of our trip because of a work conference.

I thought of spending a night in Hiroshima to give it and Miyajima justice but the 3-5hour travel from Hakone to it put me off the idea.
The idea of going to Hiroshima on one day from Osaka and Miyajima on another sounds good. I didn't think of it before. Perhaps because the other day in Osaka we hope to spend it in Universal Studios, and visit Nara on the way to Kyoto (if we could).
But we could even visit it from Kyoto on another day.

Thanks to your advice rkold, I will stick with Hakone and give lake kawaguchiko a miss. I will look into the ryokans and onsens that you suggested.

Thanks rms899 and rkold regards the advice Studio Ghibli and the surrounding areas, and the Sunshine City, Pokemon centre in Kyoto, and Nakano Broadway. We'll certainly make sure that we have the tickets before leaving to Japan and will add these suggestions to our itinerary.

One last silly question, not sure if it has been asked previously, can we use Suica or Passmo cards in the Kansai region or are only suitable for use in Tokyo? Also can we use them on JR trains in Tokyo or do we have to use the JR pass?
We're only getting the 7day pass so I'm trying to delay activating it so it lasts us until reaching Kyoto.

Thanks again for your invaluable advice.

Any recommedations for good reasonably priced hotels that suit families? My children are 18 and 10.

Japanese hotels are designed basically for Japanese people. So if the hotel says it's a "double" room, it's basically for a single person. Most Japanese couple don't sleep in a same bed (of course there are exceptions) since we usually use "Futon" at home which is for a single person. Some international brand hotels have double rooms designed for couple, but they are on the expensive side. You can stay in "Japanese style double bed room" as a couple, but don't expect the room for two. You should check the room size and the bed size beforehand. "Reasonably priced" hotel tend to provide smaller room with smaller beds.

Thanks Lazy Pious.
I didn't think of kamakura .. but I will look into it and decide between it and Hakone.

I will also look into the Dormy Inn in Shibuya.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the advice and info frog1954

If you want to stay in a spacious room with a reasonable price I would recommend Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel. The room rate for 38 sq meter room is from around 15000 yen per night for April 2nd to 6th if you book via IHG site. This hotel is not in Tokyo but in Minatomirai district in Yokohama, which is the most popular place in Yokohama. But you will also need two rooms for your family.

https://www.ihg.com/hotels/jp/ja/reservation

I don't like Shinjuku. The train station is huge and can be very confusing and if you want to go to Tokyo Disney, it's going to make the trip a lot further.

I've stayed in Hamamtsucho and liked it, I think I stayed at the Chisun Inn. It's quieter. I love Shiodome as well. If you don't mind the further commute into Tokyo, the rooms at the Grand Le Daiba are about $180-200 and are larger on average. I believe the hotel has a direct free shuttle to Tokyo Disney. The rooms might be large enough for 4. I would personally stay in Odaiba over Yokohama. It's a lot closer to Tokyo proper.

For hotels, I would recommend comparing Booking, Rakuten and the websites of the actual hotels. Sometimes the hotel websites have the best deals. I've gotten a few good deals that way.

If you're willing to spend money for Takyuubin services, it will be quite convenient. You can send your bags from your hotel in Tokyo directly to your hotel in Osaka and over night in Hakone with just a small piece of luggage/overnight bag. The hotel in Osaka would probably even be willing to hold the bags an extra day for you, so you could then take the train from Hakone to Miyajima and not have any bags but that overnight bag.

I wanted to stay in Tokyo because I have dietary restrictions and once did 2 day trips to Nagano for two days. If you have a pass, it's not a huge deal.

USJ gets very crowded, possibly worse than Tokyo Disney because there is just one park and it is smaller. During crowded times, Harry Potter land is on a timed entry system and I've heard from friends who have experienced the system that is is pretty miserable. I went during a quiet time so it was a non-issue. USJ doesn't have FastPass so if you don't want long lines, you need to buy their express pass tickets, which make the park more pricey. The first hour or so I was there it was quieter but by 10 many rides had long (1 hour+ lines and this was on a quiet day.) On the bright side, the hotels near USJ have some of the largest rooms are are surprisingly well priced (like $150 or so a night.) (BTW while it is a pain to go into Tokyo you might want to check the Hilton and Sheraton near Tokyo Disney, I hear they have some well priced rooms and larger rooms on average than Tokyo in general. )

Nara is an easy day trip to Kyoto but not really on the way, even from Osaka. Nara is sort of a right angle between Osaka and Kyoto.

Suica cards do work in Kansai. I used mine in June. :D I've been told Pasmo will work in Tokyo. I would get whichever card you need first be it in Kanto or Kansai. And yes, you can use Suica or Pasmo on JR trains. People in Japan do it all the time.

Suzi,

So, I will be a little contrarian to the others regarding Tokyo and your arrival.

You get in at 7p, you will be jet lagged, tired, with luggage. If your plane arrives at 7p, you will be lucky to be out of Customs by 8p or 815p or so, with 2 tired kids.

I suggest you take the Limousine Bus (if arriving Narita) to a hotel. Why? Because they will take you door to door with your luggage, no going up and down stairs and escalators in train and subway stations and changing trains at night in a city you have never been to before. My suggestion to first time visitors on a budget is to take the Limo Bus to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, a moderate to budget friendly hotel. Shinagawa station is a great place to make your base while in Tokyo and has a Shinkansen platform when you are ready to take the bullet train. The Prince is across the street from the train station.

You can use Shinagawa as a base to see all of the Tokyo sites and is very convenient. The 7-11 next to the station has an international friendly ATM to take out cash as needed. Plenty of places to eat inexpensively too including a Ramen Alley.

My kids are grown now (and my daughter lives and works in Tokyo) but whenever we came over to Japan we always used the Limo Bus for the convenience of the luggage transport and the fact it is door to door. Arriving in the evening you can almost be guaranteed no delays on the highway for the bus.

If arriving at Haneda, you can take a Limo Bus or the monorail then a taxi to Shinagawa.

The suggestions are fine that others made but if I am dog tired after a long flight, the last thing I want to do when arriving in a foreign country I have never been to is to lug luggage, tired kids, etc. through subways, trains, etc.

I do this trip from San Diego to Tokyo once or twice a year to visit my daughter and other family and I stay in Shinagawa for the reasons above at the Prince Sakura Tower Hotel (may be too pricey for you as two rooms will be close to US$400 per night each total) and use Shinagawa as my base.

Just my two cents.

Stan

Thanks again rkold for your feedback and advice.

Indeed, Stan, I have been checking that any hotel I select will have the Airport Shuttle drop us at its door given that we will arrive in the evening after a long flight

I have considered the area of Shinagawa as well for the reasons you stated Stan. I'll look into the hotels you suggested.

Not keen on Yokohama or areas further out of Tokyo for hotels, frog1954.
It's a long flight and it will be night time when we leave the airport and I assume we will be quite tired.

Coming from Australia, jet lag won't be much of an issue (Japan is only one hour behind) but it's still a 10hrs+ flight. Adding about 1-2hrs from Narita to downtown Tokyo, I guess we will just be wishing to check in and sleep as soon as possible.

Thank you all once again for your advice and suggestions.

I would stay around Hamamatsucho station, it will be slighty cheaper and not as busier as shinjuku, shinjuku is one of the main hub in Japan, if you want night life and many shops and depeartment store, then shinjuku. As someone has suggested Odaiba is also a good choice, and one of the cheapest area to stay along with Asakusa and Ueno.

As you are still along way away from your visiting date, many hotel site might not have a large choice of hotels for you to choose, but try to check back time to time and book early as you are visiting during high season, and competition is high for hotels within tokyo. As I have suggested booking.com and sites like Rakuten japan is a good choice, they offer many hotels rooms for 4, but you probably want to get two rooms. Rakuten japan already have rooms past 2018, so you can take a look, it's in Japanese, but with google translation you should be able to navigate through the site and get the right room, they have more choice than the english version Rakuten and hotels are released earlier, I also book through Rakuten japan, and I don't understand japanese.

You're welcome Suzi. :)

Actually, kms899 and Suzi, Rakuten now has an English website for booking hotels as well. I used it for my June 2017 trip. I have found that sometimes their Japanese website has better availability, but mostly if you are booking a single room vs a double. Since you want either 1 large room for 4 or two doubles, it should be a non-issue.

https://travel.rakuten.com (is the website just switch the language flag to English)

I've looked at the Prince, I admit, I don't like the fact that not only is the pool extra but it doesn't allow anyone under 18 (or was it 20) to use it. So don't book the Prince thinking your children can use the pool! In fact if a hotel has a pool make sure to 1) look for additional fees and 2) look for any age requirements. Many pools in Japan do not allow kids or have very limited hours for kids to use the pool, the exceptions are onsen, where most of the rules are only applicable to kids in diapers.

You can check out Japanican. I think they had sightly lower rates at some hotels for 2 adults than elsewhere, I just get dinged with them since the concept of an adult traveling alone with a child is completely foreign.

Lots of hotels have an airport limo bus, not just those in Shinagawa. I've taken it a few times. I am pretty sure the Royal Park in Shiodome does as well and a lot of people use them to stay at the various resorts near Tokyo Disney. It's 20 minutes+ into Tokyo, but I have seen some really well priced rooms at the Sheraton and Hilton there and it will make your Tokyo Disney day much easier. You might want to check it out since the rooms are on average larger. Odaiba is also not super far from central Tokyo and Odaiba has its own amusements. It is considered part of Tokyo. I think several of the hotels there also have limos to and from the airport outside of limos to Tokyo Disney. The Tokyo Disney Hilton has rooms that allow 4 people: http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/japan/hilton-tokyo-bay-TYOTBTW/accomm... and it might be cheaper to book there than to book two rooms elsewhere. It's really not that far into Tokyo proper and there are frequent trains on the Keiyo line. They have flash sales where the rooms are 50% off.

I use to takyuubin my suitcases from the airport and then take the train. I travel from NY, so a super long flight and a super large time change. Lately, I've just been spending more and staying at the Tokyo Station hotel, since they will meet your NEX and then take your bags to your room for you. They also will take your bags to the NEX or shinkansen when you leave. But I'm just one adult and one child now, and my child is under 10 so still free at many luxury hotels.

I know Rakuten has a english site, but the japanese site has more plans on offer compared to the english version, and the Japanese site tend to release hotels much earlier.

I recently booked a hotel through the Japanese site, but sometimes getting the information through translation is just a guessing game, but the english site does not have this hotel at the same time, searching gave me no results, whiles the japanese site has over 15 different rooms and plans available, thankfully the booking number is usable in both japanese and english site for you to amend the details or for cancellation.

Thank you for your answers, suggestions and advice.

I have taken what you all said and searched and found that staying in Ikebukuro is cheaper than staying in the Minato/Hammamatsu and the Shinagawa area.
It's true that as a family of 4 we'll stay in two rooms, but at a hotel like the B Ikebukuro Hotel, even the two twin rooms with breakfast are half the price of the same at hotels in Minato, Shinagawa area.

I didn't consider staying at Ikebukuro previously and don't know much about it other than it's one of the big shopping hubs in Tokyo and has a mega Pokemon centre in Sunshine City.

What I would like to know:
Is it as busy as Shinjuku?
Does it have a red light district?
Is it a good area for families?

Also, I noticed that some hotels are already showing no availability for April 2018.
Am I too late in booking or way too early?

Thank you so much for your help and advice once again

Golden Week is in 2018 from 28th April to 6th May, this might impact hotel bookings.

Thanks LikeBike for the info, but I won't be in Japan during Golden week. We will be there in the first half of April.

I'm astonished that even 9 months in advance (I have been searching the different options of accommodation since late June) and a lot of the hotels are not available. I couldn't figure out is it because it's too early or because April is peak cherry blossom season therefore I'm late.

Becos you are looking too early. Most hotels only list rooms 3 to 6 months out.