Family

With children, Japan is easiest along the Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka route, in spring or autumn, with stops of two to four nights in hotels and ryokans (traditional Japanese inns where you dine and sleep) that welcome children. The first decision is where to stay: several places in the Umika selection set a minimum age, while others have rooms for four to six, children's meals and a playroom.

Minimum ages first

Six addresses in our selection restrict children's ages:

At Benesse House, the Park is the building for families with young children; the Beach building is closed from 4 January to 4 March 2027, and the whole hotel from 12 to 18 January 2027. At KAI Miyajima, the stone sauna is for children aged 12 and over.

Where to stay with children

The other places in our selection welcome children. These ones say so on their pages, with rooms and services for families:

In Japanese-style rooms, you sleep on futons, mattresses rolled out on the tatami in the evening.

The ryokan bath, the onsen (hot spring bath), is shared and separated by sex. A private bath lets a family bathe together: Gora Kadan has an open-air one, bookable for 40 minutes at no extra cost, and at Hakone Ginyu every room has its own on the terrace, with 100 m² Japanese-style rooms for a family. Our onsen guide explains the etiquette.

Nara and its deer

Nara suits every traveller, children included. In Nara Park, 660 hectares, deer roam freely; an 8th-century tradition called them messengers of the gods, and until 1637 killing one was punishable by death. They are used to being fed and nudge visitors with their noses when hungry. Deer crackers are sold throughout the park; the prefecture's tourist office advises keeping food and leaflets out of sight, as the deer sometimes mistake paper for food.

The day is done on foot, on flat ground except for the climb to Kasuga Taisha shrine. The Great Buddha Hall of Tōdai-ji opens at 7.30 am from April to October and at 8 am from November to March: arriving at opening time beats the tour groups and, in summer, the heat. Nara is 34 minutes from Kyoto or Osaka-Namba by Kintetsu express, so you visit without changing hotel.

Osaka and Hakone

In Osaka, Patina faces the castle park. The castle keep museum opens from 9 am to 6 pm, for 1,200 ¥ (about 7 €) per adult, with the underground museum of the Toyotomi-era ramparts. In the evening, the Tombori River Cruise takes 20 minutes along the Dōtonbori canal and its giant signs, from 11 am to 9 pm, for 2,000 ¥ (about 12 €) per adult.

In Hakone, the transport loop is a day out in itself: mountain railway, cable car, then a ropeway of 18-seat cabins over the steaming crater of Ōwakudani, where you eat kuro-tamago, eggs blackened by cooking in the thermal mud, and finally a pirate-ship boat across Lake Ashi, 25 to 40 minutes for 1,700 ¥ (about 10 €) per adult. The Hakone Open-Air Museum shows some 120 sculptures across about 70,000 m² of gardens, from 9 am to 5 pm. Hakone's volcano is at alert level 1 of the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency), to check before going up. The ropeway closes its Ōwakudani-Sōunzan section from 7 to 24 December 2026 and its Tōgendai-Ōwakudani section from 12 January to 26 February 2027.

Further afield, two visits work well with children. In Takayama, Hida no Sato, an open-air museum village of more than 30 buildings including thatched farmhouses, opens from 8.30 am to 5 pm for 700 ¥ (about 4 €), and Takayama Jinya, the former shogunate office, is free for under-18s. On Miyajima, the 100 ¥ (about 1 €) visitor tax does not apply to pre-school children.

Trains, luggage and the Japan Rail Pass

The shinkansen, the bullet train run by the JR (Japan Railways) companies, links Tokyo and Kyoto in about 2 hours 10 minutes. The Japan Rail Pass, sold only to foreign visitors, costs half the adult price for a child aged 6 to 11: 25,000 ¥ (about 141 €) for the 7-day ordinary pass on the official site, 27,000 ¥ (about 153 €) through an agency; from 12, the adult price applies. Our rail guide explains when the pass pays off: a Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka trip includes only one long JR journey.

Luggage matters more with a family. On the Tōkaidō, San'yō and Kyūshū shinkansen, a bag whose three sides add up to more than 160 cm needs a reserved seat with an oversized baggage area; without a reservation, it is charged 1,000 ¥ (about 6 €). The carrier Yamato delivers luggage to your hotel the same day from its counters at stations and airports.

Each child travels on their own passport, under the rules of their country: our entry requirements guide covers arrival in Japan.

Which season with children

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable: in April and October, 17 to 24 °C in the afternoon almost everywhere. Cherry trees flower on average around 24 March in Tokyo and 26 March in Kyoto, according to the JMA; our seasons guide gives the current year's calendar. In August, Kyoto and Osaka average highs above 33 °C, and sightseeing happens in the morning and evening. The rainy season runs on average from early June to mid-July. During Golden Week, on 29 April and from 3 to 5 May 2027, including Children's Day on 5 May, Japanese people travel too. In these peak periods, all Nozomi trains on the Tōkaidō-San'yō shinkansen run with reserved seats only: book as soon as sales open, one month before the journey.

For a trip for two, the Honeymoon page shows the other side of our selection.