Why Tabinoko Exists
Planning a trip to Japan with kids sounds exciting, and it genuinely is. It also comes with a lot of questions.
Which neighborhoods are stroller-friendly? Which shinkansen seats work best for families? What do you do when your toddler melts down at a temple gate?
Tabinoko was created to answer exactly those questions.
I cover Japan travel specifically through the lens of families with children, offering practical guides, honest recommendations, and the kind of insider tips you only learn from actually being here.
Who I Am
I’m Tabinoko Papa, a dad of twins living in Tokyo. I moved here for university and never left, so that’s about 25 years now, mostly around Chiyoda, Shinjuku, and Nakano wards. By day, I work as a manager at the Tokyo office of a global company; Tabinoko is what I write in whatever time is left over.
My twins are 4 years old, and most of what I write comes from actually taking them places, not from researching what other families should do.
How I Actually Get Around
We don’t own a car. Day to day, that means the subway near our place, a bus if that’s the better option for where we’re headed, and a taxi or bicycle when the timing or the kids’ mood calls for it. If a JR station happens to be the easy option, we’ll walk to that instead. We’re out somewhere in Tokyo with the kids most weekends, so the transport advice on this site comes from doing it, not reading about it.
We get out to the wider Kanto area every couple of months. Further afield in Japan, we only manage about once a year, which is something I’d like to do more often. Part of the reason we don’t travel further more often is that we have a cat at home, and boarding her is more of a hassle than it sounds.
What You’ll Find Here
Tabinoko is organized around the full journey of a family trip to Japan:
Planning covers itineraries, budgeting, what to pack, and how to prepare before you arrive.
Getting Around covers trains, buses, IC cards, renting strollers, and navigating Japan’s transport system with kids in tow.
Fun & Experiences covers theme parks, kid-friendly temples, nature spots, and activities your children will actually love.
Stay covers family-friendly hotels, ryokan with kids, and what to look for when booking accommodation.
Eat covers where to eat with children, allergy considerations, convenience store snacks, and how to handle picky eaters in Japan.
Our Approach to Information
I rely on firsthand experience, official Japanese sources, and real local knowledge, rather than just what’s already floating around in English on the internet. I also use AI tools for research and early drafts, but every recommendation about what to actually do with your kids in Japan is something I’ve checked myself, not something a language model assumed.
When something changes (and in Japan, things sometimes do), I update the articles and note when the information was last checked. The full breakdown of how research, verification, and corrections work is on the Editorial Policy page.
Tabinoko currently has no sponsorships, paid placements, or affiliate partnerships. If that ever changes, I’ll disclose it here and on the relevant articles.
If you spot something that’s out of date or just wrong, please tell me via the Contact page. I read every message myself and aim to check and correct confirmed errors within about a week.
I hope Tabinoko becomes your go-to guide for every trip to Japan, not just the first one.
Tabinoko Papa