Travelling with 4 year old in August

So this coming August I plan to visit Japan with my almost 4 year old son and my wife. For both of them it will be the first time to Japan, while it will be my 9th time in Japan (with the 8 other times being business trips).

We are travelling from Korea so jetlag won't be a problem. I know that August is not the ideal time to travel in Japan, but it was the only month that worked for us.

Right now we are planning to splitting our 10 day trip in one half staying in Kyoto and the other half in Tokyo. We will fly in and fly out from Kansai airport. Daytrips will be Nara from Kyoto and Nikko from Tokyo and maybe Himeji and/or Osaka for the aquarium if time allows it.

Of course I checked the itinerary here on the website and want to make a similar trip as they suggested but I was wondering if you have any more recommendations to make the trip more summer and kids friendly. Which museums or theme parks would you visit and which other places would you go to?

Would you like to stay at not only urban cities but rural area in Japan ,experiencing traditional lifestyle, beautiful nature and warm communications with the locals?
The accommodations are farmhouses with authentic Japanese rustic charm.
They also offer fabulous activities such as Sado(tea ceremony), edible wild plants picking tour and fishing at rivers of clear water.
No doubt you will get unforgettable memory there!
It�fs in Noto peninsula, approx 1hour flight from Haneda airport in Tokyo.
For more details, please check the website below .
https://www.shunran-no-sato.com

Does your country have Disneyland and Universal Studios? If not, your son would love spending a day at either/both of them.

When you want to take it a bit easier, places like Kichijoji, in suburban Tokyo, would be a great town for a young family to walk around in, with its many independent stores, cafes and the big shady Inokashira Park.
https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/format/index044.html

On hot days, parents would take little kids to parks where there is a fountain or stream that allow children to play in. If you could tell us the area you are staying, someone may be able to pinpoint such a place for you.

I am not good with heat. If you want to escape it you could try Karuizawa by Tokyo (it�fs a nice place anyway) and/or Dorogawa onsen in Kansai. This is harder to reach and you should stay for the night, but really nice.

Hi!

I've never traveled with a 4 year old, but my daughter was 5.5 on her first trip to Japan. I am going to be giving opinions based on my child and myself, these might not hold true for you or your child.

But one note first, have you thought about flying into Osaka and out Tokyo? I know Korea has a LOT more flight options than some other locations. The reason I mention this is because unless the airfare is substantially lower out of Osaka, you are increasing your overall travel cost by needing to back track from Tokyo to Osaka.

My child doesn't like overly long days of transport. She wouldn't want to spend hours sitting in a car and doesn't like spending hours on the train. I try to be judicious in picking my day trips now. She's now old enough to read books but even with books, long trips can get bored. When she was younger it was even harder because she was more dependent.

This is the crowd calendar for USJ:
http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/usj/

And this is TDRs:
http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/disney/

I think Tokyo Disneyland proper has a lot more for kids than Sea unless your child is tall enough for all the height lines. I would wouldn't want to go any day post orange. I found the orange day we went just miserable and we go to WDW and DL all the time.

USJ seems to be less popular in August. One plus of USJ, is both times I went the kid rides in Sesame Street land had minimal lines. One time the weather was bad, but the other time the weather was beautiful and lines for other rides did get quite long. Most of the Sesame Street land lines stayed within 15-20 minutes or less, which I find more pleasant with child. Another plus of USJ is you can buy Express Passes. They don't have a Fast Pass system like Disney (which is free) the only line skipping at USJ is paid, and because of that it can help if you want to do things at the best time for you. If your child is taller than 92 cm Flight of the Hippogriff is fun and my child is finally over 122 cm and really enjoyed all the rides she can finally go on. If you book a package vis JTB you can get a hotel near USJ and either 1 hour or 30 minutes early entry to the park. I've done the Happy 15 by staying on property at Tokyo Disney and it is so worth it. The JTB package doesn't have an English page, so I didn't know about it last trip or I would have looked into it.

My child didn't really enjoy the aquarium. We spent a few hours there but it's so crowded, it can be a bit overwhelming. My child loved feeding the deer in Nara. She still talks about that a lot. She also loved climbing through the post in Todaiji. Mine also loved the monkeys in Arashiyama though it is a 20-30 minutes climb uphill. For 100 yen you can feed the monkeys from within the enclosure. She also loves it when you can feed koi. It's funny because she's not overly fond of zoos.

I am sure for kids who enjoy trains the train museum in Kyoto is a winner. In Tokyo we usually shop lol. She loves Miyazaki films but didn't like the Ghibli Museum. Mine loves Kyoto and I am not quite sure why. She has her own camera now and loves taking pictures. We're going to the Pokemon Cafe in Tokyo because mine is a fan. I would think Odaiba is fun. I'm thinking of taking mine there this trip.

We're going to try ninja training near Akame Falls but we thought about going to Koka for the Kid's Ninja Village. Nikko also has Edomura Wonderland which is another place we looked into visiting.

I think with a young child you just need to sometimes take things slow and stop for snacks. Mine loves ice cream. I guess you could look into where there is a fruit picking? Children tend to love that. Mine wants to go fruit picking in Japan despite the fact we live less than 5 miles from a huge pick your own apple orchard lol

Good luck!