We took our 5 month old baby to Japan

We recently came back from an amazing 2 weeks in Japan with our 5 month old (Nov/Dec). The idea was this would be a last big trip focused on what we wanted to do, before our baby needs to eat, crawl, and be constantly entertained.

I couldn’t really find suggestions of what you could do with a baby rather than for a baby so I thought I’d pop some ideas in this post.

Caveat: We have a very chill baby. They don’t cry very much, but we obviously had to be prepared to take them out if we were disturbing others.

Tokyo

Sumo experience – Yokozuna Tonkatsu Sumo Lunch – So welcoming. We took it in turns to put on the sumo suit and challenge the sumo wrestler, and then got some great photos with all three of us. The waitresses LOVED the baby.

TeamLAB Borderless and TeamLAB Planets – I originally thought Borderless would be a nice sensory experience for the baby, which it was, but most of the time they were asleep and we had so much fun ourselves that we went to Planets too. Make sure to go to the EN Tea House in Borderless.

Karting – Yah Kart Asakusa – I know this sub hates the karts, but Yah Kart is electric so there is no annoying noise or smell, and as someone who comes from a very touristy city I thought it was a great activity. It’s a one hour route, so we took it in turns by booking sessions 2 hours apart.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observatory – We chose this view over the city because we didn’t need a fixed time slot and it’s free. Extra bonus was watching the Tokyo Night and Light illuminations from the plaza.

Kyoto

GEAR Theatre – Two Saturdays a month the matinee is open to under 4s. There is a screen in the lobby where you can watch the performance if you need to take the baby out. This felt like the riskiest activity on the list because some moments are loud and some are silent, but our baby was transfixed for an hour (and then went to sleep).

Samurai class and show – Samurai Kembu Theatre – This was towards the end of the holiday when we were getting over-confident and baby did get scared by the shouts, but we still managed to complete the class. They were very welcoming and gave baby a kimono for the photos. There was a family with kids in the same session, which made me feel less awkward having the baby there.

Hakone

Hakone Loop – cable car, boat ride, views of Mount Fuji and volcanic valley. November/ December are quieter months and it was very doable with a stroller, especially as we had forwarded our luggage straight to Kyoto.

Hakone Open Air Museum

Kobe

Kobe Herb Garden and Ropeway

Osaka

Kaiyukan Aquarium

General

• Ryokan or Ryokan-style hotel with an onsen, which you can take in turns to visit, or a private bath on the balcony. We stayed in one in Hakone and found it was the easiest way to have a fancier dinner.
• Temples and shrines
• Climb to the top of Fushimi Inari
• Autumn Leaves – some shrines illuminate their leaves at night
• Bright lights – baby was mesmerised by the lights in Shinjuku, Shibuya Scramble Crossing, Dotonburi in Osaka.

Food

Just eating in Japan can be an activity in itself – although someone has to have a good hold on the baby!

• Teppanyaki Kobe beef prepared by a chef in front of you
• Yakiniku (Japanese bbq that you cook yourself)
• Shabu Shabu (hot pot)
• Conveyor belt sushi

And if you do go with your baby, make sure to learn the word for cute – kawaii – because you’ll be hearing it everywhere you go!