Family Adventure in Japan

I’ve been to Japan before, but this time is different: I get to share it with Ericka and the boys. It’s been near the top of the family list for a while, and 2027 is the year. Most of our time will be in Tokyo, a city that seems to have been designed with kids (and kids at heart) in mind.

The fish markets

• Toyosu Market: the home of Tokyo’s famous tuna auctions since the move from Tsukiji. You watch from the observation deck very early in the morning, so it’ll mean an early alarm for everyone.
• Tsukiji Outer Market: the old market streets are still full of stalls. A breakfast crawl of tamagoyaki, grilled scallops, strawberry mochi and the freshest sushi any of us will ever have.

For the boys

• Tsukuba Space Center: JAXA’s space centre, an easy day trip from Tokyo, with real rockets and a full-size module of Japan’s section of the International Space Station. A must for Jaxon the Astronaut.
• Miraikan: the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Odaiba, all robots, space and hands-on science.
• The Railway Museum in Saitama: full-size shinkansen and steam engines to climb aboard, and simulators where you get to drive the train.
• teamLab: the immersive digital art spaces, where the art reacts as you walk through it (and wade through it, at teamLab Planets).
• The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka: Totoro and friends, if we can get tickets. They go on sale a month ahead and sell out fast.
• Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea: a day (or two) for the whole family.
• The life-size Gundam in Odaiba, the Pokémon Center, and as many capsule-toy machines as our pockets of coins allow.
• Conveyor-belt sushi, which might be the boys’ favourite meal of the trip.

Tokyo for all of us

• Senso-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo’s oldest temple, and the snack stalls of Nakamise-dori on the way in.
• Shibuya Crossing, and the view from above it at Shibuya Sky.
• Tokyo Skytree for the whole city laid out below, and Mt Fuji on a clear day.
• Meiji Shrine and the forest around it, then the people-watching on Takeshita Street in Harajuku.

Beyond Tokyo

• The shinkansen: at least one ride on the bullet train, which might be the highlight on its own.
• Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, about two and a half hours from Tokyo by shinkansen: Super Nintendo World, where the boys can race Mario Kart and punch question blocks for coins, plus the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. While we’re in Osaka, takoyaki and the neon of Dotonbori at night.
• Kamakura: the Great Buddha and the temples, an hour from Tokyo, with the beach close by.
• Hakone: hot springs, a pirate-ship cruise on Lake Ashi, the ropeway over the volcanic valley, and black eggs boiled in the hot springs.