How to Get the Most Out of a Family Trip to Japan

Visiting Japan is guaranteed to be a memorable activity for all families. But traveling to Japan poses unique challenges that you won’t encounter with most western countries. This is doubly true if you’ll be bringing your family along. Indeed, having children to watch over adds an extra dimension to the experience of traveling to a foreign country. That’s why it pays to have a good idea of what to expect and to be able to make the necessary preparations. To help you do just that, here are some important suggestions so you can get the most out of your family trip to Japan.

Book a Pocket WiFi Router in Advance

If you’re traveling to Japan with your family, renting a pocket WiFi router offers some vital advantages over other popular alternatives. When compared to installing a local sim card or activating roaming services on your phone, a pocket router can give you a more generous amount of data. Also, companies that rent out pocket WiFi devices also tend to offer faster speeds. And most importantly, you’ll be able to connect multiple phones, tablets, and laptops with just one device.

All in all, the above factors make a pocket WiFi router indispensable for trips to Japan. And if you’re looking for the best deal, you’ll have a plethora of providers to choose from. Just type, “best pocket WiFi Japan” or any similar phrase into your search bar, and you’ll immediately get a reasonable list of solid options. Just make sure to rent one in advance by three days or more.

Prepare Ideal Clothes and Footwear

Don’t make the mistake of trying to pack everything you need at the last minute. It’s best to have an organized list of your personal travel documents and other valuables. But some of the other more important things you’ll surely need are the appropriate clothing and footwear during your stay. Remember that Japan has a temperate climate with four seasons, so it’s best to double-check what type of weather you should expect during your stay.

Generally, it’s also best to pack a comfortable pair of shoes for each member of the family. Since commuting by taxis is prohibitively expensive, you and your family will be relying mostly on trains to do much of the traveling. But despite Japan’s highly developed transportation system, you’ll still end up doing a lot of walking. This is why everyone should ideally walk around in a cozy pair of sneakers. And for added convenience, children are encouraged to wear slip-on or hook-and-loop sneakers. This is to make it easier to remove them and put them on, in case you’ll be visiting places that prohibit shoes.

Plan Out Where You’ll Be Eating

You won’t be faulted for trying to experience as much of the local cuisine during your stay. After all, you won’t always get easy access to authentic Japanese food such as negima yakitori in your life. However, having children with you can definitely throw some complications into the mix. This is especially true if you’re bringing along picky eaters.

One way to minimize difficulties is to check out the restaurants near your place of stay and the places you’ll be visiting. This greatly increases the number of options you’ll have once you arrive at your destination. And if all else fails, Japanese convenience stores thankfully sell a wide variety of excellent food so even the pickiest of eaters will be able to find something to eat.

Download Entertainment Onto Your Devices

Putting it simply, Japan is a very quiet society. While in public places, even children are encouraged to stay silent as a sign of respect for other people. However, kids raised elsewhere may find it harder to adjust. To avoid stern looks from the locals, it might be ideal to fill your devices with content that your children can consume. These can come in the form of downloaded videos, TV series, movies—or even mobile games. If you didn’t download videos in advance, the children & family movie section of Netflix would also work. However, you may need a VPN to hide your Japanese IP address and spoof one from your home country to access English shows.

What’s important is that your children will have something to distract them or keep them busy while you’re on the train, waiting in line, or other similar activities. As a bonus, this also makes long flights more tolerable if you’re flying with a low-cost airline.

Make no mistake, traveling with your entire family can be more challenging than traveling alone. But you can minimize the stress you’ll experience by focusing on the above tips. And in the end, the right amount of preparation will go a long way towards helping you better enjoy your trip to Japan with your family.