Family trip to Japan in 2026

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Rmani

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#322622 5-Sep-2025 12:04

I saw this thread Power adapters for Japan and that's when I realised we are also planning a family trip to Japan, along with a friend's family in April ‘26. There will be 4 adults, one 15-year-old and two 6-year-old.

Below is our current itinerary (courtesy of my friend) based on what we have read/seen in YouTube, etc., Happy to change based on the suggestions.

· Day 1 Wellington to Osaka (Arrival)

- Check in to hotel.

· Day 2 Osaka (Explore City)

- Sumiyohi Shrine, Umeda Sky Building, Nintendo Store, Osaka Castle, Round1 Stadium

· ⁠Day 3 Osaka (Kobe/Adventure Day)

- Group might split up checking out a combo of Godzilla/Naruto Park, Akashi Kailyn Bridge, Himeji Castle, Kobe. Probably renting a car

· Day 4 Osaka (Osaka Adventure Day)

- Minoh Falls, Tower of Sun, America-Mura, Dotonbori

· Day 5 (Osaka->Nara->Kyoto)

- Leave Osaka in the morning and go to Nara; Deer Park, Nakatanidou Mochi, Nintendo Museum, End up in Kyoto

· Day 6 Kyoto (Western Temples)

- Arashiyama Forest, Okochi Garden, Otagi Temple, Adashino Temple, Kinkakau-ji, Higashiyama Ward

· Day 7 Kyoto(Central Day)

- Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, Ninezaka, Ysaka Shrine, Gion, Nishiki Market

· Day 8 (Kyoto->Tokyo)

- Any last things in Kyoto and take train to Tokyo, walk around Harajuku; Go back to Ginza and hopefully TeamLab Planets, NTV Clock, Gundam, and Ginza Six Market

· ⁠Day 9 Tokyo (Mt Fuji Day)

- Day trip at Mt Fuji and return to Tokyo that night.

· Day 10 Tokyo (Asakusa & Akihabara)

- Senso-Ji Temple, Either Skytree or Asahi Sky Room, Kanda Myoujin Shrine; Akihabara Shopping

· Day 11 Tokyo (DisneySea Day)

- ⁠DisneySea

· Day 12 Tokyo (Shinjuku Day)

- Meiji Jingu, Tokyo Metro Government Building

· Day 13 Tokyo (Shibuya Day)

- Hachiko Statue, Scramble Square and Views, Nintendo Tokyo

· Day 14 Tokyo to Wellington (Departure)

- Any shopping (?); Departure

This is our first overseas holiday trip (Australia doesn’t count, right). So, would like to get suggestions/tips from people who have travelled to Japan. Like any preferred flights (read reasonable prices), best places to stay, deals in entry tickets, sim/e-sim, any travel cards (like snapper), how much cash to carry, must visit places, approximately how much should I allow for accommodation and sightseeing, etc.,

TIA.

Rmani

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#3411548 5-Sep-2025 12:56

Day 14: any shopping ? departure. All I can say is Narita airport is more than 50km from Tokyo and not the flashiest airport and I've never figured out what's the best way to get to the airport from Tokyo if you have a big family with kids and lots of stuff.

Haneda airport is the one to fly with but Air NZ not paying the fee obviously ...

MaxineN

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#3411552 5-Sep-2025 12:59

Get IC cards.

Seriously (named one should be available, as well as the welcome ones but you don't get the deposit back), if you get an IC card (especially the named ones) you can use them almost anywhere and they last for usually 10 years from the last transaction and you'll likely go back again. We're planning our third trip for 2026 and we will re-use our named suica cards.

You'll want pocket wifi and not esims due to the group size https://rental.cdjapan.co.jp/index_en_jpy_7-20.html (we used this and didn't get throttled and had 5G almost everywhere on KDDI/AU).

We used our Wise VISA card for 80% of our purchases, 20% of it was cash (we had a budget of 350000 yen and we still had left over from our 19 day stint).

Can recommend the LOST bar in Shibuya ;).

More importantly have fun and have a great trip!

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MaxineN

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#3411553 5-Sep-2025 13:00

Batman:

Day 14: any shopping ? departure. All I can say is Narita airport is more than 50km from Tokyo and not the flashiest airport and I've never figured out what's the best way to get to the airport from Tokyo if you have a big family with kids and lots of stuff.

Haneda airport is the one to fly with but Air NZ not paying the fee obviously ...

The Narita express is the best way to get to Narita. Do agree Haneda would be more convenient.

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Want broadband cheap and made for tech enthusiasts? Go look over at Quic. Use R177510EBNVXP for free setup at check out.

eracode

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#3411554 5-Sep-2025 13:03

MaxineN:

Get IC cards.

What are IC cards?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

MaxineN

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#3411559 5-Sep-2025 13:07

eracode:

MaxineN:

Get IC cards.

What are IC cards?

IC cards such as Suica, Pasmo and Icoca is basically how you save money on trains and not deal with tickets, can be used to spend money on food and drinks, it's an essential thing to have when in Japan.

You just tap and go.

Top up with cash.

If you have iPhones you can set your region to Japan and get Suica on your iPhone (although topping those up maybe another hurdle).

It's a huge convenience and again essential. Yes you could do all of this with tickets but you'll spend more and waste more time and may build stress trying to navigate the ticket machines.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

Want broadband cheap and made for tech enthusiasts? Go look over at Quic. Use R177510EBNVXP for free setup at check out.

johno1234

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#3411591 5-Sep-2025 13:33

Install Google translate on your phone so you can use your phone camera to read and translate any Japanese text.
If you have ESIM phones get Airalo or similar ESIM setup otherwise get a data SIM at the airport. Then you can communicate and track other with WhatsApp or similar.

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dfnt

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#3411592 5-Sep-2025 13:39

How much were your flights out of interest?

I was looking at late March into April and it was $8900 return for 3 of us via Air NZ, so noped out of that.

Quic referral link https://account.quic.nz/refer/276294 free setup code R276294EBWOBK

maoriboy

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#3411600 5-Sep-2025 13:55

With the age of your kids, Tokyo Disneyland would be the better option. DisneySea, while cool, does not have as many rides catering to younger kids and (IMO) is aimed at older teens/adults. Andy's bar in Yurakucho is a good spot for local grub. Tokyo Skytree is pretty impressive and a great view on a nice day. The statue of Liberty in Odaiba is weirdly funny and worth a look if you are over that part of Tokyo (Gundam building is there as well I believe). Senso-ji I would skip as it isn't anywhere near as impressive as any of the temples you have already visited and I can bet you'll be all temple'd out by then!

April is also prime cherry blossom viewing time. There are several websites that update you on the progress of the blossoms. Find out if it matches your itinerary, or just scope out some good places to go, and enjoy. Tōshōgū shrine is pretty cool as well and is day trip from Tokyo. It's the 3 wise monkeys shrine and also has a sacred white horse which is donated by the NZ govt.

There are so many cool things to do in Japan, and not enough time to do them. Enjoy!!

wlgspotter

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#3411602 5-Sep-2025 13:59

Have you thought about where you are planning to stay when in Tokyo? We have stayed in Ueno in the last few trips to Tokyo and loved that area. And besides, Ueno is quite easy to get to/from both Tokyo Airports - Haneda via the JR Yamanote Line connecting to the Monorail to Haneda via Hamamatsucho station, or directly to Narita Airport via Tokyo Skyliner Express. It is also close by to Asakusa (about 3 subway stops away on the Ginza line).

IC Cards (for use on public transport) - whilst it is convenient, it is not totally essential. And there are apparently no savings on savings on using an IC cards vs purchasing tickets are stations etc. IC cards are realyl for convenience in that sense - no fumbling with cash and queuing up at ticket machines to purchase tickets. And as someone mentioned if you have iPhones you can then load the digital suica (or icoca) IC cards on the phone and top up using Apple Pay. But note that each person requires an IC card (i.e. iPhone) as you cannot share between persons, and for the digital versions on iPhones you cannot get discounted cards for children, so for the 6 years old you'll need to get physical cards from the airport/stations to enjoy discounted children fares.

In terms of whether to go with SIM/eSIM vs Pocket WiFi, we used to rent a pocket WiFi, it is convenient as you pay one device and can share amongst your group, but problem is your group obviously needs to stay together. We have since opted for local SIM cards / eSIMs for the last couple of trips. One option is you could look at renting a Pocket WiFi, and have the "main traveller", i.e. you, carry with, with the partner using data roaming on your NZ mobiles etc as a backup, assuming the children will always be with at least one of the adults. This way if you ever have to split up then at least the groups can remain in contact still...

And yes, above all, ENJOY your travels.

SpartanVXL

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#3411613 5-Sep-2025 14:17

IC cards are quite convenient for anything that doesn’t take visa (use wise for that) and especially for public transport. Think of it as a AT hop card that you can use a lot more places, anywhere with a IC symbol.

Do note that the virtual ones you can add to iphone/android have(had?) an issue with digital foreign payment methods so you wouldn’t be able to top them up at all. The physical ones you cannot top up with credit cards and have to use cash. Ideally you add to apple/google wallet and charge it from there but Visa and the IC card haven’t resolved it in a loooong time. Mastercard worked occasionally. Wise uses Visa so it won’t work.

Since Wise is available you won’t need much cash at all. Maybe 10000-30000円 on hand if you are accounting for the kids. You can withdraw from 7/11 convenience shop ATM’s. As you are in major cities you will unlikely to need it as Visa will be accepted.

Pocket wifi rentals work well with bigger groups, unlimited data and cheaper than getting esims for everyone. Get low data esims if people will split up more often than not.

Osaka has Universal studios theme park, not sure if you want to go there if you’re already going to disney sea.

Narita airport is a bit far from tokyo central, express bus is usually the cheapest way but you can’t take oversized luggage with you (you can the other way narita -> tokyo). I learnt that the hard way, had to drag my groups snowboards thru the metro/JR line all the way from tokyo station to narita because I was the only one who could navigate solo :)

If you’re renting a car be aware of toll costs and parking fees. Renting is usually not that expensive but if you’re planning to drive much then account for those as they can add up. If it’s tourist destination then there will usually be a transport option available so rental is usually not needed except for out in the country.

Also as a large group try to divvy yourself up into groups of 4 or less. Japan gets very cramped and more than four people tends to congest. Restaurants you will definitely need to book well ahead if going all together. If you don’t get a esim with JP phone number then you will highly likely not be able to reserve yourself, online restaurant bookings not catered to tourists all require a JP number even if in english. If you don’t have someone who can speak JP with a phone number you can try to ask hotel reception if they will do it but not guaranteed.

wellygary

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#3411618 5-Sep-2025 14:26

MaxineN:

Batman:

Day 14: any shopping ? departure. All I can say is Narita airport is more than 50km from Tokyo and not the flashiest airport and I've never figured out what's the best way to get to the airport from Tokyo if you have a big family with kids and lots of stuff.

Haneda airport is the one to fly with but Air NZ not paying the fee obviously ...

The Narita express is the best way to get to Narita. Do agree Haneda would be more convenient.

Assuming your arriving into kansai airport (KIX), this is also about an hour train ride away from Osaka proper, so just factor this in after being stuck on a plane for 10 hours (this could be a bit brutal on the 6yr olds)

We've just dragged a 12 and 14 year old to and around Europe and back and travel days can be tough, airports are busy noisy places and are just generally stressful especially when you are herding a group,

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Blurtie

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#3411626 5-Sep-2025 14:37

We've just done this trip as a family of 4 (5 and 10 year old boys).

We did Tokyo (5nights) > Osaka (3 nights) > Hiroshima (1 night) > Tokyo for the final two nights. Don't have too much to add to your itinerary as it's all highly personalised and reflects what you want to do.

We enjoyed USJ (recommend express passes for the theme parks if you can... lines are insane) and walking round Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza. It was really hot when we were there, so we just did stuff in the morning then went back to our hotel in the afternoon.

Yes to IC cards - if you have an apple device you can load one up in your apple wallet - topping up is a breeze as it'll use what ever CC is loaded on your wallet - no need to go to a machine like you do with a physical card. I'm an android user and borrowed an iPhone for the trip and glad I did. You should get one for everyone (under 6s are free on public transport there, so we didn't need one for our 5yr old but got one for him anyway so he wasn't left out - just didn't use it), need to fill out a form at a JR station if getting a Suica and provide ID for the kids - they printed our kids names on them which was cool. Or you can buy paper tickets at the machines.. You can use the IC at vending machines also...

E-sim - we used ubigi - worked fine for us - can share a referral code if you're interested.

For flights - we just flew with AirNZ as we were keen on a direct flight with minimal transfers - flight times were pretty good, day flight to Tokyo (Narita) arriving at 6pm local, return was overnight - departing at 8pm..

In terms of getting to/from Narita airport - we just used the airport limousine bus to/from our hotel. We were lucky our flight arrived a bit earlier than scheduled so managed to get on the last bus to our hotel.

Shinkansen (if using) - you can prebook these yourselves via smart-ex or go to the JR station and book on either on the day or day before. The website and emails you get is a bit dated.. but it's legit. Just check you're not going to be there at the peak holiday periods in Japan i.e. spring blossom or golden week... if you are, then the recommendation is to prebook. I booked via smart ex and you can designate your IC to your tickets, so made it so painless when we got to the station. You'll need to book special seats on the shinkansen if you're taking large suitcases with you - or think about using a luggage transfer service between the cities.. We shipped our large suitcase to Osaka the day before our departure and it was waiting for us in our hotel room in Osaka when we got there. For our overnight stay in Hiroshima we just packed our smaller carry on suitcase with what we needed and sent the large suitcase back to Tokyo. Definitely a plus not carrying it around! Our hotel sorted it out for us.

In terms of cash - we only made one withdrawal of 50k yen from an atm at our hotel and used CC or IC the rest of the time. I think we had 10k cash left which we just gave to a family member to repay them for getting us tickets they purchased for us in advance.

Have a great trip! Happy to help out with any questions - but I found reddit was pretty handy source of info..

Blurtie

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#3411628 5-Sep-2025 14:40

dfnt:

How much were your flights out of interest?

I was looking at late March into April and it was $8900 return for 3 of us via Air NZ, so noped out of that.

I think that's the busy Spring blossom season.. For reference, we picked up some grabaseat flights in August for around $5.5k for our family of 4...

SpartanVXL

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#3411635 5-Sep-2025 14:56

@Blurtie did you use the wise card via apple pay to top up a virtual suica? It has been broken for a very long time and you had to always use cash on physical card. No way to top using physical credit card either as even convenient stores the topup/charge machine wouldn’t take credit card.

Side note but if you use the virtual IC you can’t get a refund. If you get a physical card you can return it and get the balance plus deposit minus a fee at train station IC machine. At least for Pasmo, if you wanted the cash back and didn’t want the card to keep as a souvenir you could do that.

Blurtie

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#3411637 5-Sep-2025 15:00

Nah, didn't have my wise card loaded on apple pay. Had my amex instead and all worked well. My partner had an ANZ Visa on hers and that worked fine for topping up the virtual suica.

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