Top 25 Things To Do in Japan With Kids

11 Get spiritual at Japan’s most sacred space

You’ll be pushed to find a more atmospheric or huge resting place for Buddhists anywhere in the world than Okunoin Cemetery at Koya-san (Mount Koya). At dusk it is a walk through a deep dark wood; you can almost feel the spirits drift in and out of the grove of ancient cedar trees. According to Buddhist beliefs, Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism is resting in eternal meditation here. We found his mausoleum at the end of a pathway lined with 200,000 tombstones that create a sea of tranquility. Like most attractions in Japan there are some quirky things to do, including trying to lift a large rock from behind a grated window to see if we are without sin. Sadly we are not. We also looked deep into a well to discover whether we would live a long life. Phew, we saw our own reflections!

12 Feed the deer at Nara

Personally I avoided this one although everyone else seems to get stuck in. The deer are a legendary part of the identity of Nara; capital of the Nara Prefecture. Folklore says a deity historically rode one so up until WWII they were officially sacred here. Killing them was a capital offense punishable by death. Now they are national treasures that people try to kill only with kindness. They are mostly in the park but you’ll also find them in the streets and there’s a it’s rumour they occasionally turn up in restaurants and public toilets. So what’s my problem? While no animals are harmed in the making of this tourist attraction, and locals make a living selling the senbei rice crackers, it didn’t look much fun for anyone involved. It may have been down to the August heat and the amount of tourists with ice creams and rice cakes, but we saw a few toddlers in tears as their clothes were shredded by deer jaw. We opted instead to take a few quick snaps before heading on into the stunning temple. (See next suggestion)

13 Squeeze your way into enlightenment

Todai-ji Temple, or The Great Eastern Temple, at Nara is one of Japan’s most famous. The main hall or Daibutsuden is the largest wooden building in the world. And it is home to one of Japan’s largest statues of Buddha. At 15 metres tall it is truly awesome. Get a good view from outside before venturing in to look more closely at its bronze charm. As usual there is a lot to do in this temple. You can go through the rituals of ringing and clapping at the shrine and making an offering. When we were there, just before the festival of Obon, you could inscribe your dead loved ones names on commemorative lanterns. But the most fun thing to do is join the queue of people trying to squeeze themselves through a hole in the Great Buddha’s support column to ensure a place on the wagon to enlightenment. Actually I will rephrase that. The most fun thing to do if you are small is to join the queue. My kids got through easily and so did many of the Japanese. But I would probably still be there waiting for either enlightenment or a tow truck to remove me from the pole if I’d had a go.

14 Worship at the Hello Kitty altar

I don’t know this for a fact but I reckon Japan must be the only country in the world to sell religious bling with Hello Kitty posing outside a temple. You can buy these spiritual souvenirs at many temples and stalls outside temples in the form of key rings, prayer cards, fridge magnets, mugs etc. It’s kitsch and cute and my devout mother loved her party bag of gifts. Why hasn’t the Catholic Church caught onto this phenomenon?

15 Fill up on terror in a haunted prison food stop

Theme restaurants are massive in Japan. You can play games with a maid, you can drink fake blood with a vampire, have an Alice style tea party or do some Ninja moves over dinner. We chose to enter the haunted prison that is The Lock Up. This Kyoto restaurant provided one of our most entertaining family dinners ever. Just getting to your seat involves negotiating various bodies, (live and dead) and one of our party being trapped into wearing handcuffs. The upmarket fast food is perfect for kids and all filed under ‘strange.’ From test tube drinks to witches finger food, and terrifying cream cracker challenges, it is a riot of colour in the dark. But beware going to the toilet on your own. You don’t want to be caught out when the siren goes off and the zombies arrive.

16 Make a crane for peace at Hiroshima

Hiroshima is a must on any itinerary to Japan. The Peace Memorial (otherwise known as Atomic Bomb Dome) and surrounding sculptures, shrines and museum are a sobering business, but important to digest and understand. The story of Sadako Sasaki is a good way of engaging the children in the memorials and the issues. Having found out at the age of 12 she had leukemia, Sadako embarked on a mission of making 1000 origami paper cranes to fulfill a wish to live, according to an old legend. She may have died but she does live on in spirit as millions of people make, send and personally deliver cranes to the memorial site. You can learn how to make one, or buy some ready made and leave them as a statement of your family’s empathy for Sadako and the many other families who were affected by the Hiroshima bomb.

17 Bathe in an onsen

An Onsen is a public Japanese outdoor bathing place, usually based around a natural hot spring. There is an etiquette at an Onsen. Men and women bathe separately and you must be scrupulously clean before submerging yourself into the deliciously hot depths. It is vital that you follow the rules if you don’t want to incur the wrath of Japanese bathers. As any on site instructions will probably be in Japanese you are best consulting a guide book for advice. If it all sounds scary then don’t worry, you’ll soon get the hang of it, and it will open up a whole new world of relaxation while in Japan.

18 Have a sleepover in a Ryokan

The Ryokan is the traditional Japanese bed and breakfast. It’s a real novelty for children and it is surprisingly comfortable to sleep on the floor. And cleaning up in the morning is so easy. Like any accommodation choices, there are a wide range of options from budget to luxury and some can be quirkier than others. We stayed in places ranging from a cheap hilltop ryokan with its own Thai restaurant to a rather more luxurious resort hotel on the coast.

19 Visit a Torii gate or 1000

If you do just one shrine in Japan, (we recommend you do at least a few to make some sense of it all) make it Fushimi Inari-Taisha with its thousands of temples stretching to the heavens and enlightenment. It’s a long old hike up Inari mountain so leave enough time to do it (at least two hours, and more if you have little ones who are likely to tire) But on the other hand, leaving it late in the day avoids the crowds and the light on the vermilion gates as dusk falls is utterly magical. But it’s not the only Torii gate worth your attention. On the island of Miyajima, you can walk out to sea at low tide to visit Itsukushima shrine. Miyajima has for a long time been regarded as one of the top three most beautiful spots in Japan.

20 Be young again

Purikura booth make you and your friends look super kawaii. (cute) Still with me? You will be when you realise that you could pop into a booth and come out looking 10 years younger. That’s better than Superman! Well, younger on paper anyway. Purikura booths smooth out the lines, open up the eyes and generally prettify you to the point where you look like Hello Kitty. The only drawback is queuing behind all the school kids and their mothers.

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