First time Japan (with kids): Tokyo or Kyoto?

Hi,

Next February (mid february) we will be having a stop-over in Japan for 4 or 5 days on our trip to New Zealand. We travel with two adults, one 3.5 year old and one 1.5 year old kid. I can not decide between flying to Tokyo or Osaka (in order to visit Kyoto).

My feeling is that Tokyo is more vibrant, lot's of people watching, shopping, massive buildings good food and here and there some historic sites (temples)

Kyoto I expect to be much more a quiet city with LOADS of temples and shrines.

I am leaning a bit towards Tokyo because I expect it to be more diverse compared to Kyoto (I have the feeling that we might get bored after 5 temples). However, Since Kyoto has 1.5 million people, I expect here also nice shopping, food etc. just don't know.

For the kids, Tokyo has Disney, Kyoto (Osaka) has Universal.

I would really like to hear your experiences, recommendations!

Thanks a lot in advance,
Jeroen

It is a bit of a hard question because it depends so much on what each individual prefers to see, but I think that while you would probably have a blast no matter where you went, you would get more out of Tokyo.

First off, Tokyo has Tokyo Disney World and Sea, as you pointed out, which is very geared towards children. Universal Studies has a park called Universal Wonderland for kids, but it looks like it doesn't open until March. Although I've never been to Universal parks here in Japan, my image of them is more geared to adults with bigger and faster rides than DW, and a bit less geared towards really young children.

Also, Tokyo can be easily broken up into bite-sized bits to allow young children rest and naps and such, and you wont get temple overload if that is what you are worried about! Kyoto is definitely diverse, but not nearly that of Tokyo.

Please keep in mind I've never traveled with young children and don't have a good idea of their needs, so this should be taken with a grain of salt! I'm sure other forum members will chime in with their advice.

But whatever you decide, have a great time and make some good memories!

I personally would break down 4 days into 2,5 days in Tokyo and 1,5 day in Kyoto, as they're only 3 hours apart by the bullet train.

But, if that's not an option, I think first timers will be more fascinated by Tokyo.

Kyoto is awesome, but Tokyo.. just think about what you can do in 4 days: Disneyland/Disney Sea, Ghibli Museum (which kids and adults enjoy so much), Shibuya, Asakusa, Harajuku, Yoyogi Park. I will definitely choose Tokyo :)

Osaka is 30-40 minutes by train from Kyoto. and it has 2 major areas: Kita Umeda and Minami Namba.
kita has 4 departments stores and 3 rail stations plus a huge underground shopping complex (plus the Umeda Sky building etc.). Minami has 2 rail stations, pedestrian streets and more departments stores...All the world famous designers have stores in Osaka..

The Osaka / Kobe/ Kyoto/ Nara etc. area has just over 20 million people. Much less than Tokyo but still it has all the vibrancy you need!
at any rate your children are much too young to remember anything..

If you drop historical Japan and see contemporary Japan only, Tokyo.

If you see both historical and modern Japan, Osaka and Kyoto.

I tend to agree with Monkey See. My youngest was 6 or 7 at our first trip (Tokyo and Kyoto including Disneyland) and she can barely remember it (14 now). I wouldnt make the choice based on the kids, I certainly wouldnt go to Tokyo mainly for Disney, unless lining up in queues is your idea of a fun time. I'd go wherever you think you'll have a good time. But if you were to go to Tokyo, Ueno Zoo is nice. If you get down to Kyoto, head to Nara, the kids might like the deer.

I also think your kids would be a bit too small to remember anything. I think you should decide on adults' preferences.

I suggest the Kansai Region (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe) as there are generally more to see for tourists. I live in Tokyo and although it's an interesting city, Kyoto beats as a tourist destination, and shopping in Osaka (Namba and Umeda) could be more fun than shopping in Tokyo (Kyoto is a large enough city for shopping, and although Nara is smaller than Kyoto, it has also has several historic sites that are most important in Japan [Todaiji and Horyuji]).

[plus, food is generally better in the Kansai Region].

If you are inclined to see the historic and cultural heritages, then the answer is easy: Kyoto (and Nara).