Top Destination: Tokyo – Travel With Family & Kids

You’ve decided to visit Japan, but with all the information available online, it can be overwhelming. That’s where I come in and guide you about the best things to see in Tokyo.

Drawing from my personal experiences exploring the streets of Japan, I offer recommendations and top things to see in Tokyo and a 14-day Japan itinerary to help plan your trip and make the most of your time in the country.

Travelling with kids: Travelling with kids could be a bit challenging specially when they are very young. We travelled with our 4 year old  son and were hesitant in the beginning. But then we decided to bite the bullet and plan the trip.

To our surprise he loved and enjoyed the trip as much as we did. One of the reasons being we made sure that either everyday or every alternate day we had a kids friendly place to visit. Things like – aquarium, zoo, police museum (great for kids), ferris wheel or even buying him those small toys from the vending machines kept him busy throughout our trip.

In my itinerary, you will find all kids friendly places indicated by KF.

Tip: Prepare to walk a lot – that’s because Japan is big, the stations are big, the castles and shrines have big parks and walking areas so you might end up walking 3km-5km per day depending on how you plan your itinerary, your mode of transport and how far your hotel is from the nearest train or bus station.

Here are my top recommendations for Things to See In Tokyo:

1. Senso-ji Temple, Asakura
2. Akihabara (kf)
3. Ginza Shopping Strip, Police Museum (kf)
4. Imperial Palace
5. Meiji Jingu Shrine (next to Harajuku, so plan on same day)
6. Harajuku (Takeshita Street – Opposite to Harajuku station) – (kf)
7. Shibuya, Shibuya Crossing, Shibuya 109 Shopping – (kf)
8. Odiaba – (kf)
9. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (Observation deck) – (kf)
10. Mount Fuji (day trip)
11. Yokohama (day trip)- (kf)

Senso-Ji Temple, Asakura

What better way to start your day and probably your trip than visit one of the most significant and the oldest temple in Tokyo.

Sensō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo. The Sensoji Kannon temple is dedicated to Kannon Bosatsu, the Bodhisattva of compassion, and is the most widely visited spiritual site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually.

There is a 200 meter shopping street that leads to the temple gate. The street is full of shops providing food, souvenirs, gift items, toys etc.

You can even hire the traditional Japanese Dress – Kimono for a few hours and roam around clicking lovely photos for your instra lovers.

Akihabara – The Electronics District

Akihabara is the leading electronic district of Tokyo which is great to spend a few hours and experience the fast pace culture.

One of the station exits will lead you straight to the Yodobashi Camera building which is the go to place for all your gadgets needs. This multi-story store has the widest range of electronics that I have even seen.

Things to see in Akihabara are:

1. Yodobashi Camera
2. Maid Cafe
3. Gundam Cafe (Loo Experience)
4. Gachapon Halls (Heaps of capsule styled vending machine)

Ginza – Highend Shopping District

I might not be wrong to say that a visit to Ginza is a must. This is the most famous upmarket shopping area and has almost every leading fashion brand that you can imagine.

Not only this, Ginza is the only place in the world where you have the famous Chanel Lipstick Vending machine (one of its kind). The main street is a treat for eyes (in the evening) with neon lighting it up and beautifully architectural buildings of fashion retailers.

Here are a few names in this district which you should see while you are there:
– Nissan Crossing (See futuristic Nissan cars on display)
– UniqLo ( once the biggest Uniqlo in the world)
– Matsuya Ginza Departmental Store
– Ginza Six
– Police Museum (great for children – Free entry): It has real models of Police cars, bikes and even a helicopter.

Underground Shopping malls leading to Ginza train station. Here you will find fine delicacies like BVLGARI & Pierre Herme branded pastries, macaroons, ice-creams etc (not kidding).

Meji Jingu Shrine

Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū), located in Shibuya, Tokyo, is the Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken.The shrine does not contain the emperor’s grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto.

It’s just 3 mins walk from Harajuku Station and has vast garden, forest & walkways. In fact it is spread over 173acres of lush green forests and is a great place to stroll & relax.

The big gates at the entrance are a great spot for taking photos (if you can get other tourists out of the view).

As you walk you will come across the great power spot with lines of drums and another good spot for some cool selfies.

Don’t forget to pick up a slate and write and hang your wish in the main area.

Harajuku

If you are looking for one place where you can have young trendy shopping, super amazing food, crepes and want to spend your evening then this is the place.

Easily accessible by metro, the Harajuku station is in between Shinjuku & Shibuya.

The heart of this place is the Takeshita Street which is directly opposite the station as you exit.

It is filled with trendy costume shops, famous crepe stands, Daiso, McDonalds and other local fast food. Make sure you reach here empty stomach.

Here you will also find Kiddyland (10 mins walk from the station) which is one of the famous toy shops with about 4 floors filled with toys for kids of all ages.

Don’t miss the Gachapon vending machines on the 2nd floor.

Also try the Brook’s Me-BYO cafe which has a great ambience and full of healthy food.

Shibuya

Things to see- Hachiko Statue (Loyal Dog), Shibuya Crossing, Retail shops & plazas

Shibuya is one the trendiest shopping & business districts of Tokyo. Just one reason is big enough to visit this place and that being the Shibuya Crossing -which is considered to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world at peak hours.

While you must experience the organized chaos by crossing the intersection, if you want to capture the birds eye view in your camera then the Starbucks at the intersection is the best spot. Grab a coffee and wait while the previous occupiers are satisfied (and leave the spot), have a seat and enjoy the crossing over and over again.

There are amazing shops in this area like CanDo (for souvenirs shopping), Shibuya 109 which is a multi-leveled shopping mall with hundreds of shops and Mega Donki retail store for all sorts of shopping like souvenirs, electronics, kids’ toys, adult toys (yes a separate section in the store) & fresh produce.

Hachiko Statue – Get filled with emotions by getting yourself photographed with the statue of Hachiko – the loyal dog who waited for his master for days outside the Shibuya station even after he passed away.

Odaiba – All Day Fun For Kids & Adults

Tokyo Joypolis Shopping Mall (LegoLand Discovery Center, Madame Tussauds), Venus Fort (Toyota Center ), TeamLab Borderless.

Set about 45mins from Ginza, Odiaba is the high tech entertainment hub established on an artificial island.  A great place to spend a whole day if you have kids as it has the LegoLand Discovery Center, Madame Tussauds Museum (get clicked with wax statues of famous people), Venus Fort (Toyota Center) – a treat if you  have some liking for cars, here you can test drive the crash safety simulator, race car simulator and many other things- fun for kids & adults.

The area is surrounded by Tokyo Joypolis Shopping Mall where you can shop till you drop and has a massive food court to fuel you up. In the evening you can have a quick ride in the ferris wheel for some peace time.

Also a great place to visit is the TeamLab Borderless which is a popular, immersive museum known for its colorful, futuristic digital art installations & photo ops.

Mount Fuji (day trip)

Mount Fuji (Fujisan in Japanese) is the highest mountain in Japan, standing 3,776.24 m (12,389.2 ft). For the adventurous you can opt to climb the mountain or simply admire this beauty from the base.

Fujiten Snow Resort is a small ski resort along the northern base of Mount Fuji in the Fuji Five Lakes region. Fujiten is the larger of two ski resorts on Mount Fuji and offers good facilities and views of the mountain. The other one is the Snow Town Yeti on the mountain’s southern base.

Commute: Travelling between Tokyo and Mount Fuji by local trains takes about 2 to 3 hours, and includes at least one transfer. At Shinjuku Station, you can catch the JR Chuo limited express train and arrive to Kawaguchiko Station in about an hour.

View Only: For those with kids or not opting to go to the mountain base, don’t get disheartened. If you are taking a Shinkasen (Bullet train) trip from Tokyo to Osaka or Kyoto, the mountain can be viewed for a brief moment during the journey.

Yokohama – day trip from Tokyo

Other Things To See:

1. Watch Sumo wrestling – only on selected days and months
2. Tsukiji Fish Market – One of the largest wholesale fish market in the world. Get in early around 4am-5am if you want to experience the business of this market