Japan with 4 and 6 year old?

[ApplesandBananas]

Another Japan thread... we're thinking of a family holiday in Osaka and Tokyo, probably for 3-4 days in each at the end of the holiday, with beach stay at the start to get over the jetlag. Any suggestions on how suitable that holiday wold be for young children?

And on places to stay with a beach (or do we need to do 2 centres to get that eg Thailand then on to Japan - brochures suggest that but it seems a lot of flying). Thinking about Easter next year (blossom season, I think?)

Thanks.

Japan is a fantastic place for a holiday, so many interesting things to see and do BUT I would probably wait a few years until the DC are old enough to appreciate it.

I can see that idea, but we've always taken the view that often children don't appreciate things fully until they are in their mid/late teens, and I'm not waiting that long!

So we look at a holiday and think - will the children be happy day-to-day. If the answer's yes, then it's worth the time and money to us, even if they don't remember every detail. (I think the influence of traveling is quite subtle anyway, it's as much about taking away the fear of the unfamiliar as actually remembering the detail.)

But I assume pottering around Tokyo will be quite exciting for them? And we'd be able to get in a few visits around Osaka - they are usually OK with a half day of culture with the promise of swimming later on!

From what I remember (and I was a child myself) Japan is very child friendly and has fabulous interactive museums. I am sure you will have a fabulous time.

Easter is a great time to visit (we usually go then) but it's a bit early for beaches in most of Japan except Okinawa - and if you're going to have the extra flight down there, you might as well just stop off in Thailand or somewhere more mainstream on the way anyway. Or there is always this place - an indoor beach complete with artificial volcano. That one is on Kyushu island, so still south of Tokyo and Osaka but reachable by short internal flight or bullet train trip.

Yes, I think there should be plenty to keep 4 and 6 year olds happy - lots of good museums, parks, shopping centres, or just riding around on the trains or eating at a proper revolving sushi bar can be fun.

Plus Disney just outside Tokyo and various other theme parks (Universal Studios in Osaka, smaller places like Sanrio Land for Hello Kitty, Thomas (the tank engine) land, Sylvanian Land etc) if you are that way inclined. If you say what your children are interested in I can probably come up with some specific suggestions.

Wow, that indoor beach is amazing!

We'd take them to Disney, but we'd primarily want to go to walk around the cultural sites and experience the atmosphere of Tokyo. Museums are good, esp if they are quite interactive.

They love swimming and cycling, so if we can tie in a bit of culture with some time at the pool or playing in a park, walking by a lake or river each day, that should keep them happy. And yes, they do like eating out, watching the world go by, so the sushi bars and things would interest them.

They LOVE the train, which is part of the reason I thought Japan would be a good place to try. So we were thinking of a slower place to go - maybe beachy/national park for a few days, then Kyoto and Tokyo. Osaka too? Any suggestions? I think Hiroshima might be too much for them? We'd probably stay a minimum of three nights in each place, so it's not too rushed. We could spend 2-2.5 weeks there.

Grateful for any suggestions, I've just started looking in to planning it. Thanks.