We just got back from a great trip to Japan with our kids (2 adults 2 kids ages 5 and 9) and would like to share our trip report, and hopefully provide inspiration for other families looking for a less hectic destination than the usual Tokyo/Kyoto itinerary.
Our aim was to explore the above areas at a slower pace with less crowds. I had originally planned to train and bus it but in the end decided to rent a car for more flexibility.
Day 0
We flew into Komatsu airport, picked up our rental car and drove it 45min to our hotel in Kanazawa: Onyado Nono Kanazawa. Great modern Japanese chain hotel, attached car park, shoes off from reception onwards, public onsen, little perks like free ice lollies after onsen and late night free soba noodles. Location is super, just a couple minutes walk from Omicho market. The market itself was closed by the time we got into town, but we managed to walk into a nearby izakaya for dinner, great food and super value.
Day 1
Prebooked kimono rental and photoshoot at Kokoyui. This was pretty expensive and maybe I could have found a better deal if I rented the kimono and found a photog separately. But the overall experience was super, the kids loved dressing up and my daughter and I got our hair done up too. They cabbed us to Kenryokuen where we met our photographer and we strolled around taking a ton of photos for the next hour or so. The garden is beautiful and full of sakura and ancient pines, it was quite busy but it was still possible to get landscape shots without any people in it. And the kids felt like little celebs with a lot of Japanese people calling them kawaii 🙂
We finally called it when our stomachs were growling (the photog was happy to continue actually, there wasn’t a hard time limit), returned our kimono and explored Omicho market. Omicho market is huge and lots of yum food and snacks. A basket of local strawberries was 400yen which is way cheaper than my hometown.
Day 2
Explored Higashi Chaya along the river with a ton of sakura
Had ramen in a random ramen shop
Made hammered jewellery in a random jewellery workshop (walked in after lunch)
Checked out the ninja weapon museum and dolls museum – great staff, very kind and talked us through all the exhibits and even let us handle some of the artefacts
Had izakaya dinner (fuwari) and walked to Kanazawa castle park for the night illumination event. Rained HARD but I guess that helped thin the crowds and the sakura were even prettier in the evening rain. Well earned onsen after that walk.
Day 3
Set off earlyish to Ainokura. I was hesitant about visiting Shirakawa-go as I didn’t want to go shoulder to shoulder with bus tours, so we went to Ainokura which is more remote. Tiny gassho village with a museum and a washi paper making workshop, but despite there only being 10 other tourists, the workshop was already booked out until after lunch (and each session is only about 10 min). We went to another village for lunch and decided to pop into shirakawa-go. Much livelier, larger village and a lot of little shops and temples and paths to wander around. Really enjoyable and although there were more tourists for sure, people were more spread out so it didn’t feel overly crowded. I’d love to go back during winter.
We drove on to Takayama where we had rented a house (Machiya Ichika) for 1 night.
We had okonomiyaki for dinner which the kids loved.
Day 4
Strolled around the morning market by the river (kids loved feeding the fish) and went to the ninja cafe for lunch. I probably wouldn’t go there for the food (shiruken toast, anyone?) but the ninja experience for the kids was great, they got to dress up and learn to throw shiruken, use blowdarts, swing a katana, and generally cause mayhem under the guidance of the cafe sensei. There were some grown ups doing the experience too and looks like everyone had fun.
After lunch we wandered around the old town where the kids found yukata and haori from a secondhand store. We ended at the retro museum and the Showa-kan which are two very similar places (can get combined ticket). The kids and husb loved all the old random toys but both places were piled full of things so dust was inevitable and my allergies went nuts. This night we stayed at ryokan Oyado Koto No Yume, a pretty upscale onsen hotel with a large family room and lovely staff.
Day 5
We went to the Takayama traditional culture and Crafts square where artisans demonstrate traditional crafts such as weaving and wood carving. Our kids did a bamboo light making workshop and they were delighted that they were allowed to use power drills to make their designs (yes, even the 5 year old- under supervision of course). They both made beautiful lamps that now have pride of place in their rooms.
After another ramen lunch, we drove to Kamioka about 1 hour north for GATTAN GO, a rail biking experience. I had booked in advance, but as the weather looked terrible I was able to cancel the day before and rebook for a later slot hoping the rain would stop in time. Basically this is a cycling activity where the bikes are fixed to an abandoned train track. You can do a town course or canyon course, we did the town course which was about 50min total. Everyone had fun even though it was COLD (like 5degC). The route goes through a couple of tunnels which are super dark and exciting, then the view of the town and sakura emerges and it’s really lovely. There are bus tours available from takayama for this activity, for those without cars.
After this, a long drive to Nagoya Station where we dropped off the car and checked into the Marriott associa hotel.
Day 6
Morning: Higashi Betsuin temple market, held every day with an 8 in it (so 3x per mth). Really cool relaxed atmosphere, lots of food trucks and independent makers.
Afternoon: Nagoya science museum, with a detour to an amazing kimono shop about 1 block away that does ceremonial gowns for those turning 20 years old. Lovely staff that let us admire all their beautiful fabrics.
Evening shopping marathon in uniqlo at Nagoya stn
We used our ICOCA cards and got the kids discount one day subway passes which is only available on the 8th of each month.
Day 7
Legoland- great place, not much queues, kids loved all the rides, highly recommend for ages up to 10 yrs (I did notice a couple of bored tweens)
Day 8
Big rain, explored Osu shopping district- didn’t really enjoy it, our kids aren’t into thrift shops. Did check out Osu Kannon temple and another random 500yr old temple next to the arcade. Evening chilled in hotel with pizza and Godzilla movie
Day 9
Last minute power shop at tokyu hands and takashimaya at Nagoya stn before taking an afternoon flight out of Chubu airport (which btw terminal 2 is tiny, not much to do after you pass immigration).
Summary
Kanazawa: lovely town, quite walkable, but taxis are abundant too. Lively but not horrifically crowded. Kenruoku-en gardens were amazing, the bit near Higashi Chaya by the river is lovely
Shirakawa-go: definitely recommend, although I don’t know if it would be even busier in the morning when there are more tour buses. After lunch it felt fine.
Takayama: really nice village, even more walkable than Kanazawa, very touristy but didn’t feel like a tourist trap, if that makes sense! Gattan Go rail bike was a highlight, so fun.
Nagoya: Nagoya station was so convenient for food and shopping. Highly recommend Legoland and the science museum for kids.
Yes, I know we didn’t do Nagoya castle, maglev museum, the float museum, higashiyama walking course, samurai district, ninja temple (admission is 8+ only), etc etc etc.. it’s fine. We had time to wander and experience and make core memories. We will be back. 🙂
by Standard-Eyes88