Gday guys,
I'm sure we have some japan travel enthusiasts here so am looking for some ideas on stuff to do in japan. I am taking my 11yo son as a boys trip - we are into judo so will go to the home of judo, going to the japanese grand prix.
Other than that just going to catch up with my sister in laws family in tokyo and go to robot restaurant.
We are there for 15 days so was going to air bnb in homesteads etc.
Hit us with some cool things to do?
Cheers
Cheers - yep he's got akihabara on his list. He loves pokemon so the mega center is a must. Nearly forgot harajuku he'll love it.
I will miss out on halloween in rapongi. Best experience ever, not for kids though. He might tell his mum 😁
Onsen. Castles. Fuku fish. Bullet train. Deer wildlife. Just some more things to add to your list.
I strongly recommend visiting Kyoto, its full of awe.
Fuku fish
I assume you meant Fugu ?
I personally don't think that should be high on the list TBH.
Kyoto and the others I agree with.
DisneySea was fabulous and don't forget to use the fastpass system.
Absolutely! We liked this more than Disneyland
Sumo wrestling ? Not cheap but amazing to see!!
Any links you know of
I had the hotel I stayed at sort out tickets. Wasn't the easiest thing to do from Australia.
Hot tip for the sumo wrestling is to buy the cheapest seats available. If you go early in the day most people haven't turned up yet as the more famous wrestler's dont compete till towards the end of the day (you won't know the difference) and you'll be free to wander down and sit in the box seats down near the ring. Save yourself a cool $500 or so.
Just miss the september and october tournaments unfortunately.
Heads up, arcades are pretty much everywhere and are awesome. If you are playing the prize games you can ask for hints and eventually the staff will rig it for you to win once you fail enough. However most upstairs areas with the actual games tend to allow smoking so you might want to pick up some face masks from 7/11.
Yesterday I went to Ainoshima near Fukuoka. It's a cat island. Heaps of cute and chilled Kitty's walking around.
Airbnb in Japan has been good so far. Try to find a place that has bikes as well. Our places in Osaka and Hiroshima had bikes and we could do so much more stuff. The house we are staying in for the next few days in Miyazaki is a groovy 90 year old house.
Car factory tours, other factory tours, Tokyo science museum, the Tokyo tunnel from Chiba to Yokohama(?), karaoke (private room) e.g big echo. Check out if any fireworks are happening (OMG!!)
There is an awesome roller coaster on top of a regular business building. There are some great rooftop coasters in central Tokyo or great bigger ones outside the city.
I might be the number one Lost in Translation shooting location expert in the world :p Watch the film and I will know every single Tokyo location.
If you play Gran Turismo, you can hire a bike and ride Akasaka Route 246 track…track is regular roads.
I watched that movie in shinjuku. Mrs altomic and I lined up for an hour and ended up sitting in the aisle. You could hear the other foreigners in the audience from the laughter when untranslatable jokes occurred. Sound track by Air, Kevin shields (my bloody valentine, Brian setzer, etc is such a great album)
Vending machines … they sell beer, cigarettes and underwear … what more could an 11 year old boy want.
It took me several trips to Japan before I found a love of climbing mountains. Very easy to do with all the trails, challenging and thoroughly rewarding. One which stand out for me is the mountain behind Himeji, Mt Shosha. It has a cable car to go up to the peak but it is so much more beautiful to climb in the afternoon. It ranks just behind marrying my wife and having my children as the best day of my life. I did it with my sons and it was amazing. We got lucky enough to visit when the mountain was on "holidays", which meant no cable car and no one at the peak. We passed two people within the first fifteen minutes climbing and then had the mountain to ourselves for the next three to four hours.
Mount Takao in Tokyo for me was an incredible challenge, walking from the base to the peak and back again. It was more mentally challenging than Mt Shosha, but would be a great bonding experience as well. I did it alone, which also was amazing, being essentially with your own thoughts for many hours. I got back on the train afterwards and thought, "What's that smell?" It was me. The poor Japanese people. Mt Mitake is a different but also wonderful experience, as was climbing the mountain behind the Philosopher's Path in Kyoto.
It might not be as awe-inspiring to your son, but having been to Tokyo quite a few times it really took going up Tokyo Tower before I could realise the enormity of the city. Pay the little bit extra as a tourist with a passport and skip the huge lines. You're going to have the time of your life.
^^^ this +++
Nobody said Studio Ghibli yet? Hard to believe.
My 11 and 8 yro (and 13yro) found it excellent, and I found it delightful. You need to book tickets the day of their release for the month you intend to visit, as they are in very high demand.
Other highlights for the 11yro were the train museum at Kyoto, the capsule vending machines on every corner, and he was fascinated by the fake food samples.
The monkey sanctuary in Kyoto was a hike up, but quite worth it. An owl cafe, or animal of your choice.
We did the Mario Carts in Tokyo and it was awesome!
As an adult and choose to drive, you need to get an International Licence. Which is an additional cost.
But for your 11-year old son, I don't think they'll let him drive, so would need to sit in the"golf cart". They did this to a pregnant lady in our group.
Pick the 5pm or thereabouts, the sunset is fabulous.
Contact them via Facebook, very quick response and in good English!
I am all over this 🤘
Sorry what do you mean? You dont like it? It's all over like a dog's breakfast?
It means i booked it straight away!
Hope you are going to Kyoto… my family and I had the best time hiring bikes and riding around Kyoto on our own. It's very easy (our kids were 5 and 8 at the time, no problem at all). Plenty of interesting things to see along the way.
This is where we hired the bikes from:
http://www.kctp.net/pc/en/
Good bikes, helmets, and maps, and off you go…
Robot Restaurant. Unless either of you have epilepsy.
Miyajima Island near Hiroshima (with the big red "floating" gate). Tame deer hanging around. A 3 hour walk up hill to the observatory - or take the cable car.
Shinkansen maintenance facility. I visited one when I lived in Sendai. Pretty cool to see how shinkansens are overhauled. They are done so often and punctually.
In Tokyo , over the last 20 years, they have built monstrously gigantic under ground tunnels for flood prevention as well as backup utility lines. These criss cross the "centre" of tokyo. I saw a documentary about it years ago. Near the mouth of the edogawa river there is an underground cistern to absorb monsoonal rains coming down from the river and flooding the reclaimed land. The cistern is the size of football field and approx 75 metres deep. HUGE! Observing these mega structures would be pretty awesome
I recommend going to one of the best amusement parks in the world: Fuji Q Highland. A Shinkansen (high-speed train) should have you there in no time and your young fella would love it. Check it out here: https://www.fujiq.jp/en/attraction/
What are the dates you'll be in Japan?
The great thing about Japan/Tokyo that it has everything, it's best to focus on the stuff you're interested in instead of doing what other people enjoy/recommend.
Should see what events are on during that time. eg, Tokyo game show is at the end of Sept, Tokyo Motor show is at the end of Oct.
So, what are your son's and your interest?
With dates and interests we will be able to see if there are any events you can check out.
Hi I have a 12yo and he enjoyed these places in Tokyo last year :)
Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/gp/pokecen/megatokyo/
Hatobus Tour
https://www.hatobus.com/int/en/
Kidzania
http://www.kidzania.jp/tokyo/en/
National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
http://www.kahaku.go.jp/english/
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan)
http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/en/
Science Museum
http://www.jsf.or.jp/eng/
MEGA WEB
http://www.megaweb.gr.jp/about/english.html
Oedo Onsen Monogatari
http://daiba.ooedoonsen.jp/en/
Tokyo Legoland Discovery Center
https://tokyo.legolanddiscoverycenter.jp/en/
Kura Sushi Restaurant
http://www.kura-corpo.co.jp/en/
Cupnoodles Museum
https://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/en/yokohama/
JAL Sky Museum [Japanese]
https://www.jal.co.jp/kengaku/
Factory Night View Adventure Cruise [Japanese]
http://www.reservedcruise.com/adventure/
Of course,
Disney Land & Sea
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tds/
Akihabara is a must do. Heaps of awesome game arcades and shops to explore. It's amazing in the day and even more so at night. Just make sure to keep him off the top (adults only) levels - cartoon nudies everywhere.
Harajuku is pretty cool too - lots of wacky fashion and teenagers dressed up.
Tokyo Tower was an easy trip and good to see the scale of Tokyo.
And of course there's always Disneyland.