Japan

DISCOVER JAPAN THROUGH MY GUIDES, MY FAVOURITE PHOTOS & MORE.

Welcome to Japan.

In November, as a family of three with our little toddler aged 2 at the time, we spent fourteen nights in Japan travelling through Osaka and Kyoto before taking the Shinkansen past Mount Fuji to what feels like the centre of the universe, Tokyo. As first time visitors, we of course checked off the most famous sights however some of our favourite moments were found on the quieter streets, in little coffee shops and neighbourhood restaurants as well as simply wandering without a plan.

What will you find here? Well, I’ve brought together all of my guides to Japan from places to eat, things to do and hotel reviews as well as plenty of inspirational photography. Whether you’re planning your first trip, just looking for inspiration or want to see a little more of Japan through my eyes, you’ll find it all here.

Tokyo

We finally hit our stride by the time we arrived in Tokyo; the jet lag had resolved and we had really got into the rhythm of Japan. Tokyo however was on another level. This metropolis is massive, cities within a city, yet despite the bright neon-lights and busy streets, it still felt completely calm and I absolutely loved it.

We spent eight nights altogether in Tokyo, staying in a few different locations so we could experience the city from a variety of angles. We even found time to sandwich in a three day trip to the happiest place on earth, Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Evelyn still remembers her trip to Disneyland so vividly and those memories will stay with us forever.

Kyoto

I was probably most worried about visiting Kyoto as a family as I was concerned about getting from place to place with a pushchair in tow, finding family friendly restaurants and things to do yet the ancient capital of Japan and its traditional side ensured that I actually loved Kyoto far more than perhaps Tokyo and Osaka. I needn’t have worried, we found it to be much more family friendly that we anticipated and had no problems with the public transport at all.

Osaka

Osaka was our first experience of Japan. A dream came to life as soon as we looked up and saw the bright lights of the iconic Glico ‘Running Man’ sign alongside the Dotonbori canal. Well, apart from the turbulence at the end of a 12 hour flight that saw Evelyn and another passenger projectile vomit everywhere and apart from the immediate culture shock of Dotonbori; it was loud, super busy and just chaotic. We somehow ended up in McDonald’s, Evelyn’s first ever time, as a kind of safety mechanism. However, a good nights sleep seemed to fix everything and Osaka turned out to be incredible though I could easily have spent much longer than just three nights.

Our Japan Trip

As I explained above, we spent 14 nights travelling through Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo with our toddler and this section is for the real life, personal stories that came with it. This isn’t necessarily the section that will help plan your trip but it might just bring to life what it’s actually like to tackle a dream trip such as this with little ones. I also thought that it would be helpful to share the photography gear that captured our adventures; a little behind the scenes look if you like.