Japan family travel
Japan is the trip to take with your children.
It goes well when you know where to base, how to pace the days, and what to book ahead.
Written by people who live in Japan.
Why LuNi Travels
The most trusted name in Japan family travel.
Trust here is earned the slow way: by being there, by checking, and by saying plainly what we would do.
First-hand
Written by parents who have lived in four Japanese cities and spend about two to three months a year traveling the country.
Been there first
An attraction guide is written only after our own family has been there.
Checked at the source
Hours, prices and rules are checked against the official source, and checked again.
Said plainly
Where a famous place is hard going with children, the guide says so, and says how to plan around it.
I've spent a little over two decades working with children, ten of those years in Japan.
LuNi Travels is where all of that goes, so you can plan your trip the way I plan ours for Luca and Nico.
Why Japan
Why Japan, and why with children.
Japan asks far less of a family than its distance suggests, and gives back more than most parents plan for.
Safe in a way you feel
Lost property is routinely handed in to the police, wallets and cash included. A parent can stop scanning the crowd.
Easy to move through
Trains leave on time, major stations are signed in English, and a tap card means no tickets to work out.
Ready for the small emergencies
Convenience stores are everywhere, many of them open around the clock, and suitcases can be sent ahead to the next hotel.
A different trip at every age
A five-year-old remembers the trains and the food. A fifteen-year-old remembers the independence. One country holds both.
An itinerary lists the places.
A plan says how the day will go at four in the afternoon, with a tired six-year-old and a teenager who wants more. That is the part we write.
A planner can book Japan.
Knowing which room sleeps four, which exit avoids the stairs and which famous stop to skip comes from doing it with children. We have.
It is the trip we would choose first, and the one we keep choosing.
Start planning
Make the big decisions first.
Good planning is less about fitting everything in than about making the pieces work together.
CitiesStart with the city the trip is based in; the others hang off it.
ItinerariesA week, ten days or two weeks, each route paced around the child.
Where to stayThe neighborhood decides more of a family's day than the hotel does.
Getting aroundTrains, the rail pass question, and bags sent ahead to the next hotel.
When to goApril or October for most first trips; summer and the year-end rush need a plan.
Why JapanEasier than its reputation, once each day is planned around the child.The cities
Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka first, then Hokkaido, Kyushu, Okinawa and the cities in between.
The LuNi Travels atlas. Select any pin or city name to preview the destination and open its guide.The LuNi Travels atlas. Tap anywhere on the map to see that area’s cities, or browse the full list below.
CollectionsEvery guide for one place, gathered on a single page.
Beyond the pins
Off the Map: the editorial series
Itineraries
Two bases for a week, Tokyo to Osaka in ten days, three cities in two weeks.
Where to stay
Pick the neighborhood before the hotel: it sets the train rides, the dinners and the early nights.
Getting around
The trains are rarely the hard part; carrying the luggage between them is.
When to go
The month sets the heat, the crowds and the prices before any itinerary does.
Why Japan
Why Japan suits a first trip abroad with children, and the order to plan it in.
