A Family Adventure: Navigating Japan with Kids

Choosing the Right Stroller

Visiting Japan with kids can be an unforgettable experience, but selecting the right stroller is crucial for a smoother journey. Japan is not particularly stroller-friendly, so it’s important to choose wisely. While many train stations provide elevators, they are often inconveniently located, requiring additional effort to locate them. During our trip, we brought two strollers that were easy to fold, allowing us to swiftly navigate stairs and crowded areas. This flexibility made our travels much more enjoyable, especially when exploring bustling city streets.

These are the ones we use:

Baby Jogger City Tour Stroller – (Amazon)

gb Pockit+ All-Terrain – Amazon

Our baby jogger is super sturdy, and sometimes when we were feeling a little lazy, we’d just bring that one instead of two strollers! We’d squeeze both kids in when the older one got tired. I won’t lie, it wasn’t the most comfortable situation for them, but it was worth it to avoid lugging around two strollers.

Of course, when we absolutely had to, we’d bring both. We love our GB Pockit stroller because it’s so easy to carry. When we weren’t using it, we could just fold it up and pop it in its bag, and then use the same bag to carry extra stuff, like shopping! Since it was more of an optional stroller, we mostly used it for our older kid (even though it’s not really designed for a 7-year-old!). It worked okay – not amazing, but good enough. My 7-year-old weighs about 26 lbs, and sometimes we had to ask him to stand up because the stroller would get a little stuck. But honestly, we preferred dealing with those little hiccups to dragging a huge stroller onto the metro, bus, taxi, or Uber. Traveling light was our priority!

Finding Essential Supplies

One of the unexpected challenges we faced was sourcing diapers for our 3-year-old. While we found some supplies in stores like Don Quijote, Lawson and 7-Eleven did not consistently carry them. In Kyoto, it was even harder to grab those essentials. My advice? Always carry an extra set of diapers in your travel bag.

Transportation and Eating on the Go

For transportation, we opted not to purchase a rail pass and relied on the Suica card, which allowed us to easily board the metro. It worked great for both us and the kids. On the food front, Lawson and 7-Eleven became our go-to spots. They offered plenty of kid-friendly options like cereal, pancakes, and fruit – even rice balls that the kids loved. Don’t forget to pack snacks and drinks in the strollers to keep hunger at bay and maintain a joyful atmosphere. And always bring a good stock of your children’s medicines to avoid any language barriers at pharmacies.

Our adventure included highlights like TeamLab, Studio Ghibli, and Universal Studios, where our kids especially enjoyed Mario Park. Upon reflection, Japan has been an enriching experience for our family, and keeping our children comfortable in their strollers allowed us parents to enjoy our trip too!