with kids in mind

A friend planning a trip to Japan had asked me how she might best entertain her children, 2 girls in middle school, while in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. (Osaka was also on her list, but I've never been.) She's on my mind today because she is probably in Japan right now... Here were my recommendations, in no particular order:

Take a day trip from Tokyo to Kamakura, and doing the trail walk to the Big Buddha (Daibutsu).

If you like aquariums, visit the Tokyo Sea Life Park in Kasai Rinkai Koen (don't know the one in Osaka);

Spend a day at Tokyo DisneySea. Nobody does Disney like the Japanese. The Tokyo Disney Resort has two big parks: Disneyland and DisneySea. Go to Sea. Less crowded, just as good, if not better. Do not try to go on a weekend though. Resort is in Urayasu, Chiba, just outside Tokyo - an easy day trip. Take the train to Maihama, then ride the Disney monorail to the DisneySea park. (A helpful map can be found here.) Don't miss the Indiana Jones ride. Enjoy the people watching.

If you're a fan of Miyazaki films (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, etc.) you'll love the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, next to Inokashira park in Kichijoji, a suburb west of Tokyo, I think it's 20 min west of Shibuya station on Inokashira line. You'll have to get tickets to Ghibli ahead of time, and choose an arrival time on a specific day; maybe ask your friend to get the tickets for you, at a kiosk inside any Lawson's convenient store in Tokyo. Sounds complicated but it's really not!

While in Tokyo you could do a spa day with the girls in Odaiba, at Oedo Onsen Monogatari, an indoor/outdoor hot springs spa, featuring "doctor fish" for your feet. You can have lunch there and load up on kitschy souvenirs in between spa treatments. Campy, fun. Also in Odaiba: the Sony ExploraScience Museum 

Do you and your girls like cats? Go to a neko cafe! There are quite a few, but I enjoyed two in particular, JaLaLa in Akihabara and Cha Ma Mo cat room on Meiji-dori near Omotesando-dori.

Also in Tokyo: KidZania. It's, um, different. Shy uncertain kids will be overwhelmed. Lots going on. Not a lot of English being spoken. But kids who are motivated and adventurous seem to get a lot of out it. You, however, might get a headache.

Showa Kinen park - a great big amazing place just outside Tokyo, west of Shinjuku. Enter at Nishi Tachikawa gate for easier access to the best parts: Rainbow Hammocks, Bouncing domes, Dragon Dunes, Misty Forest, Bonsai garden. Grab an English map when you get there. This one doesn't point out everything.

Need a zoo? the Ueno park zoo has pandas again, but Japanese zoos in general are depressing - big animals in tiny spaces, etc. The Tama zoo west of the city is an exception, I think. If you go, be sure to ride the Lion Bus.

While in Kyoto, don't miss the Fushimi Inari shrine, on Mt. Inari, just outside the city. A nice trek through some 10,000 torii gates, lots of statues of foxes (representing Inari, a fox deity, Shinto god of rice, I think). One of the local train lines takes you right to it. View this slideshow of pics or read the rave reviews posted on Tripadvisor.

Also from Kyoto, you could spend a day in Arashiyama (bamboo forest, monkey park) and/or a day in Nara, where at the famous temple Toda-ji, the kids can crawl through Buddha's nose for enlightenment.

While in Hiroshima, take a commuter ferry out to Miyajima island, if the weather is good. There's a famous big red torii - try to be there to see it during both high and low tide.

Almost forgot - the Hakone Open-Air Museum! It's terrific. One big sprawling sculpture garden. Climbing ropes for the kids inside the "castle of nets." A foot bath at the end, to soak your tired feet. This is a day or overnight trip from Tokyo. A few other things to do in Hakone (there's lots) mentioned in the Tokyo city guide side trips piece I wrote awhile back.

Dear LeAnne,

Some time ago you asked me for my advice: what were my "best tips" for a family with young children relocating to Tokyo? My boys were 5 and 7, around the same ages as yours, when we arrived at the tail end of 2007. So here's what I suggest:

1. Don't drive everywhere. Take advantage of Tokyo's superior mass transit system.  Not just the Metro and JR trains, but the buses too. They're clean, safe, and reliable, and will take you virtually anywhere you want to go. Study the maps and play around with Hyperdia.com to figure out the different lines. (Apparently there is a Hyperdia by voice app now, and Hyperdia Lite for Android phones.)

The system is extensive, to be sure - you will be amazed at how many suggested routes Hyperdia will give you between the same two points - but in time you will learn the best ways to get yourself from here to there. Most importantly, you will feel more connected to your new city, and you'll gain a deeper appreciation for the local culture. There's nothing quite like emerging from Shibuya station on a glorious sunny day and crossing that big intersection, immersed in the colorful-yet-always courteous crowd, squeezing your kids' hands tight. It's a rush. You may think ohmigod what if I lose them in the crush but you won't because if you do get separated all they have to do is shout "MOM?!" and you will hear them, because here's the thing about Tokyo: the streets and sidewalks may be jam packed with people - the sardine can metaphor is appropriate above ground too - but they are also almost supernaturally quiet. Like somebody hit the mute button.

Bottom line is, time in the car is like time in a bubble. Which brings me to my next tip:

2. Don't dwell in the expat bubble! It's a trap many expats fall into, sometimes by default but often by choice. It's a missed opportunity. Don't make the Tokyo American Club your second home. Go to coffee morning - a great opportunity to pick the brains of those who've come before you - but don't lose whole mornings at Starbucks. Be adventurous. Leave the comfort zone. Make Japanese friends! Find one or two other curious, open-minded, ballsy people whose kids are also in school all day and plan day trips with them.

3. Try to learn Japanese. Even a few words are better than nothing (Hello, How are you?, See you later, etc.). Learn how to give directions to a taxi driver. (Turn right/left please, go straight, you can drop me off here, how much? Thanks). Learn how to order coffee and beer, and how to say Do you have an English menu? You may never be able to carry on a real conversation, but it's nice to be able to exchange a few pleasantries with folks.

island getaway

I highly recommend taking a ferry trip to Niijima, one of the Izu islands known for its surfing beaches and big stone heads. We had limited time, so only stayed about 36 hours, but it was the perfect time-out, a nice break from the craziness of these past few weeks, as we prepare to move back to the U.S.

Our little island getaway almost didn't happen. As we were exchanging our reservation slip for real tickets at the Takeshiba pier - not far from Hinode pier where you can catch a ride to Odaiba - we were advised that the boat would be departing on a "conditional voyage." Meaning, that we would go, but that rough waters might prevent us from docking, in which case we'd just turn around and go back to Tokyo (and get a full refund). Well that would suck, we thought. Oh well. All aboard!

As it turned out, we did dock, after stopping at two other islands, including Oshima, the largest of the Izu islands (it's closer to the mainland, has an active volcano and is more popular with tourists). About a 3-hour journey all told. Not unpleasant.

The nice lady from the Niijima Grand Hotel, where we had booked a one-night stay, met us at the pier with her minivan.  She seemed to run the place with her husband (the cook?) and son (porter/maintenance?).

We would've walked right past if she hadn't been looking straight at us and smiling, holding her hand painted sign. It was a 10 minute drive across the island, through a very long tunnel, to the place we would be staying.

Our 4-person tatami room, with surprisingly comfortable futons, small sitting area and deck with a nice view

The hotel lady seemed happy to drive us any place we wanted to go; in fact, we seemed to be the only guests (June is still the off season). But we rented bikes from her instead, since everything we wanted to see was close by.

We picked up this path not far from the hotel and it leads straight to Habushiura beach, on the east side of the island. Handily, it also runs right past a surf shop/restaurant where we ate lunch both days (the menu had plenty to choose from, including fried chicken, hotdogs, miso soup, rice, edamame and beer)

Down at the beach, there was a big white building that looked brand new. A lifeguard station maybe? Nobody was there.

 

Boys don't need much to entertain themselves, just a sandy slope to scale

 

Saturday evening before dinner we checked out the Yunohama Onsen, on the west coast, south of Maehama beach. It's co-ed, swimsuits required.

 

It was a shame the highest bath was closed the day we were there...

...but there are plenty of other ways to take in the waterfront view

At the Grand hotel, dinner was included in the room rate (charged per person, per usual in Japan) and it was quite a feast. Unfortunately, it was heavy on the seafood, much of which my kids wouldn't touch.

On Monday morning (June 18) we cycled into the village - there's Terry, a mini pickup passing him on the right - and then up and down the west side, where we saw stone heads. Lots of 'em.

We cycled on the path overlooking Maehama beach

 

 

 

Before midday we had made our way back through town and over to the east side for lunch at the surf shop and then another dip in the ocean. Back at Habushiura we spotted the young guy who works at our hotel sitting on a rock, taking in the view:

 

Apparently international surfing competitions are held here

 The boys wore wetsuits, not because the water was too cold, but to avoid getting scraped by rocks

 
Looking north

Facing south
Cliffs to climb!

 Outside the hotel, which needs an upgrade (new carpets for sure).

Mid Monday afternoon the hotel lady gave us a lift to the pier where we would catch the ferry back to Tokyo (we arrived on one side of the island, departed from the other)

Time to board

Fun facts:
-During the Edo period, Niijima was a place of exile for convicts.
-The heads are carved out from kogaseki, a.k.a. rhyolite, a silica-based pumice-like stone that is indigenous to the island. The only other place on earth where it is mined is Lipari, Italy.
-The people of Niijima gave Tokyo the 2-sided stone head that is now parked outside the Shibuya train station, next to the West bus terminal.
 
Logistics:
The Takeshiba pier in Tokyo is a relatively short walk from the Hamamatsucho JR station; I went to the ticket counter in person to look at the schedule and reserve seats. There appeared to be one jet foil departure a day, in the morning, with the earliest return the following afternoon.  Passengers are advised to call the pier's hotline at 6 a.m. on the morning of their scheduled trip to find out if all systems are go, which we did, and they were (we think, after listening the Japanese recording a few times) but we weren't aware of this We'll-go-and-then-we'll-see option.

I could see how the uncertainty could be a deal breaker for some, but you do get your money back, and canceling hotel reservations in Japan is never a big deal. For more info about how to get to Niijima and other islands, visit tokyo-islands.com. The jet foil is just one way; you can also fly there, from Chofu airport, and Tokai Kisen operates an overnight ferry, the cheapest option. Other ferries leave from Shimoda, in Shizuhoka prefecture.

Niijima Grand Hotel is located at 371 Niijimamura, Niijima-mura, Tokyo Prefecture 100-0400. (We had a native Japanese speaker call for us to book.)
 

Nakameguro, pretty in pink

Score! Dee & Tracey photograph the boys by the canal

with Nonna too

 Careful where you point that thing...

One of my favorite spots in all of Tokyo

The narrow lanes that run alongside the Nakameguro canal will be teeming with people this weekend now that the blossoms are out in (almost) full force. We were lucky to be there yesterday, on a relatively quiet Wednesday. The restaurants have already set up special takeaway operations out on the sidewalk and other food vendors (chicken shwarma truck!) have moved in for the occasion.

Yamagata Zao

Conor and Dylan, and what's left of the Ice Monsters, March 2012

This is a great place for families. We stayed at the Zao Astraea hotel, which practically sits on the Yokokura Slope, on the far side of the resort. It's well situated next to a series of short lifts that lead to the big gondola, or rope way, that takes you to the summit where you'll find a whole mess of Juhyo, the area's famous ice-covered monster trees. It's because of these monsters that this resort draws busloads of tourists, and they don't need to be carrying skis or a snowboard to gain entry to the top, and in fact it's those folks who get to go to the front of the line. So in a way we were lucky that by the time we made it to Zao, the second weekend in March, the scenery was past its prime, there were few tourists about and not that many skiers either. No waiting for the rope way from Juhyo Kogen station, or any other lift for that matter.

In photos, the Juhyo look pretty incredible, like something out of Lord of the Rings, all lumpy and twisted and hunched. In person, having shaken off some of the snow, the trees still looked pretty cool and Tolkien like. Doesn't this one (below) look like a wizard in a white cloak?

 

How they form: extremely wet snow from the Sea of Japan is carried by the Siberian jetstream over the Asahi Range, where it is compressed and cooled, turning into particle ice, which then slams into the central Ou Range and glues itself on to these Aomori fir trees. What we didn't see:

The boys were not that impressed with the summit until we pointed out the Jizo statue, buried up to its neck in snow, the tip of his sceptre poking out next to the offering box. If you pat the head of a Jizo, does it bring you good luck?

The same Jizo in summer:

From the top there we skied the Zangezaka Juhyogen course, and ended up doing a stretch of moguls that turned out to be part of a black diamond run - a first for the boys.

The other side of the resort had some decent runs as well. We found a ski school for Conor and Dylan at the Zao Base lodge Jupeer, next to the Uenodai Slope (marked No. 5 on the resort map). Their instructor, Yoshida, whom we called Yoshi-san, spoke excellent English, though we paid a premium for that - 15,000 yen for 2 hours, private.

Before he could get started, though, he had to coax them out of this ice cave.

To get to Zao, we took a JR train from Ebisu to Omiya (40 min on either the Saikyo or Shonan-Shinjuku line) then transferred to a shinkansen on the Tsubasa line. From Omiya to Yamagata takes about 2 hr., 15 min., and you stop at Fukushima along the way (the city, not the troubled nuclear power plant). Here's what looks like a taxi waiting area outside Fukushima station:

After arriving at Yamagata station, you can take a coach bus directly to the resort, only 980 yen per adult, 490 yen per child for the 30- to 40-min journey. Take the East Exit to bus shelter No. 1, and a guy in uniform will put your luggage in the cargo hold and point you to the ticket office. (I'm sure this was way more comfortable not to mention cheaper than if the four of us had tried to cram into a not-quite-big-enough Japanese taxi.) The bus dropped us at the Zao Onsen bus terminal, a small place with restrooms and vending machines and an info desk. We called the Astraea hotel, and somebody sent a van to collect us and take us 5 min. further down the road.

 Killing time at the bus station

We slept in Western style beds - four singles in one spacious room - and our package deal - 21,800 yen per adult, 15,900 yen per child - covered the room for one night, lunch and dinner on the Saturday, breakfast on Sunday, 4 hot coffee tickets redeemable at any restaurant on the mountain, and lift tickets for 2 days.

Dinner was Japanese Cuisine 101: tuna and salmon sashimi with shredded daikon and chiso leaf; broiled eel in a brown sauce glaze, stick of ginger root lying on top; cold soba noodles swimming in sweet soy with rings of green onion; fatty slices of raw pork on a bed of cabbage, ready for boiling in the shabu-shabu pot placed in the middle of the table; a basic white fish and shrimp, fried tempura-style; and plenty of pickles and white rice. The boys would only eat the pork shabu-shabu and rice, so Terry and I let them have at it, as there were enough other dishes to go around.

And then there was the onsen. I'm sure there are more traditional onsen to visit in the area - the resort is called Zao Onsen after all - but our hotel had its own, and it was more than suitable (I'll never forget the ladies kneeling by the famous but tiny village bath in Nozawa Onsen, using plastic basins to do the required pre-soak cleansing, as there was no place else to go - these hotel onsen really spoil you, with their individual shower stalls with big bottles of shampoo and body soap). Anyway, ahhhhhh... there's nothing like soaking sore muscles in a mineral bath after a day of skiing. That's something we'll surely miss once we leave Japan. (Funny, you get used to the nudity - women are with women, men with men, so it's no biggie.) Bathers had two options: a basic rectangular pool facing a big picture window with mountain view, late afternoon sun streaming in; or the pool lined with big rocks, exposed to the open air, also facing the sunshine. I chose that one, because it put me within an arm's reach of the snow and the trees (there was some fencing for privacy, but if you stood up you could see a parking lot). Usually these baths are way too hot for me, but the rocky one, steaming against the chill of the outdoors, was manageable.


Hotel Astraea 
Tel: 023-694-9603
info@aoastraea.com
Note: Only few on staff speak limited English; best to have Japanese speaker make contact.
Zao Onsen Tourism Association Tel: 023-694-9328
Zao Ski School at Jupeer, Uenodai slope, Tel: 023-694-9381, English language lessons available

Tip for viewing the ice monsters: If you're not staying at Hotel Astraea and are coming from Yamagata station by car, you can park near the Zao Sanroku lift station, marked No. 1 on the resort map, and take that up to the Juhyo Kogen station, and on to the summit from there.