Mummy Milli

This was Hubby and my second time in Japan, in planning this trip we really focused on what we loved the most about our first time there. Those four loves being food, culture, onsens and nature. This led us to skip over the big cities and head straight for the smaller towns. Having an 18 month old toddler in tow cemented our want to be out of the rush and dense populations of the big cities. If you are interested in more Japan tips I have a dedicated post Travel Tips – Japan with a Toddler.

Magome 

We thought we made a good choice with a toddler, picking the town of Magome which didn’t allow cars in the main street. In theory this gave Monkey the chance to roam a bit more freely and for our stress levels to decrease. The reality, which we didn’t know until we arrived, was that the road had large, half a meter wide and open, storm water drains on each side. Our stress levels, in fact, were quite high the entire time we were outside. Monkey was still new to walking and therefore wanted to walk everywhere and all the time. I am very thankful that he wanted to hold our hands and that we are short people who don’t have to bend down much while holding his hand. 

We figured out ahead of time that being a small town, everything closes early, which is absolutely true. The first night we planned for this and ordered dinner with the accommodation, which was a delicious dinner made up of many small plates. All of which little one wanted to touch at the same time, regardless of weather it was covered in chili, was a boiling hot soup or actually something he would be interested in eating that is now on the floor. We realised on day one (even though we sure had an inkling before) that these style meals just weren’t for us. So the next day we planned ahead and got a bunch of dumplings from the stalls and some salad vegetables for dinner instead. 

Day two was part of the Nakasendo trail. We did the hike from Magome across the Magome mountain pass to Tsumago, another post town. It was an 8km walk through mountains, valleys and countryside dotted with creeks, houses and shrines. We had read that there was a slight incline but the walk wasn’t too hard. What we found, was that carrying a 13kg toddler plus all we and Monkey needed, made for an added challenge.

These post towns look like they are almost locked in time from the Feudal era (well the buildings anyway), the shops within the buildings are modern and felt a little false in this town, as though it was only still there for tourists. Magome however felt more like a lived in, currently active town.

Shimonoseki (Fukaoka)

Luckily for us, Monkey had a big love of trains. This meant that he was often happy in the train stations as they were always coming and going so there was a lot to see. Being on the train was also a novelty for him. We had toys handy for the trains and we often kept him in the carrier where he could fall asleep easily and comfortably whenever he needed to. We would try to sit at the front of a carriage as this spot would give him the most space to play on the floor in front of us and had easy connections to the toilet areas which had more space for him to walk around without disturbing anyone else.

Our two days in Shimonoseki was originally us just finding a town to stop, along the long trip from Magome to Kumamoto but we were all pleasantly surprised with how much we loved it there. Particularly the town of Mojiko, which is only a boat ride or a walk on the Kanmon underwater footbridge, away. 

We stayed in a traditional (tatami mat) private room in a hostel that backed on to the strait which divided Honshu (the big island) with Kyushu. This meant we had first row seats to many giant boats going past. Little one was so excited, and we were too. It was amazing how deep this water must have been for such big ships to pass so close.  

When we left Shimonoseki we travelled to Fukuoka for the tonkotsu Ramen. Fukuoka is known worldwide for and it’s our favourite style of Ramen. The place my partner picked was a historic Ramen place, which was very popular so we made sure to get there over half an hour before they even opened. Walking in when it was finally open, being the first ones in, ordering through the kiosk and then having Monkey absolutely love (and therefor be distracted by) the Ramen all made for a great experience. 

Kurokawa Onsen 

An onsen is a hot spring either turned into or diverted into baths. Often onsen towns will have multiple springs with different properties coming up. 

We chose to spend a whole week just outside of Kurokawa Onsen as we found a great deal on an entire house. We really focused on staying in places with space as Monkey was learning to walk and we had stayed in some exceptionally small places on our pre-baby trip. This house however was split over three levels so it wasn’t as calming a stay we had hoped for. This seemed to be a trend during the trip.

Kurokawa Onsen had a special deal where you can go to three onsen for only 1300 yen. As we had a child and wanted to ensure we had at least some relaxing onsen experiences we took Monkey with us once each (he was free as under 2) and the other used the onsen in the same building alone. They would also take Monkey separately for half day so the other person could go to any onsen they wanted. Having an entire week to do this meant we could spread it over 3 days and not feel rushed. Please note that little children have a hard time regulating body temperature so they should be getting out and cooling down more frequently than adults. We were informed that the onsen in Kurokawa were all around 40 Celsius, so not the extreme heat we had experienced in Nosawa Onsen. 

We also took this time (and the car we hired) to visit Mt Aso, an active volcano. As Monkey had recently had pneumonia we didn’t want to get too close to the volcano and instead found a hike that gave us great views and was easily accessible. Along with other hikes around the area, some more challenging than others.

Our travel day this time consisted of dropping the car off, a plane to Tokyo, and then multiple trains to Hakone. It was a very long day, we were up and moving by 6am and we arrived in Hakone around 3pm. Our accommodation was in the first town where the train was, so although there was a bit of a walk from the station there weren’t extra buses/trains to take that day. While it is easy enough to get around in Japan I don’t think I would suggest such big travel days. 

I would like to note that we only paid taxes on these flights as we managed to use our points. If you are with One World I would suggest checking the cost of flights inside Japan. Although I prefer the train travel, I was surprised how budget friendly the plane was. I will have a post out soon with how we manage to keep travel as budget friendly as possible.

Hakone

We originally picked Hakone as it was close to Tokyo where we were going to be flying out of, and it seemed like it was a green space with views of Mt Fuji. 

What really made Hakone awesome was the Hakone Freepass. As it is a lot of money, it was something we ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ about for a while but it was so worthwhile as it really made the time easy and enjoyable. This pass is a two or three day pass and includes the ticket too and from Tokyo.  

We ended up only using it one way from Tokyo but it was still worthwhile. There are 5 different modes of transport in Hakone including cable car and the pirate ship and having the pass meant you could hop on and off without having to figure out cost and pay for a ticket for every ride you took- that could be 10 rides in a day if you were moving a lot.

Due to bad weather we found out they can discount your ticket if the pirate ship or the cable car aren’t working (you have to go to a ticket counter and ask). We managed to get on everything and loved it, Monkey loved it all too!

There are so many interesting things to see in Hakone, and I would highly recommend the Hakone Open Air Museum. There are large open spaces for children and an installation called ‘Woods of Net’ set up for children to be able to climb all over. For adults the art is interesting, some are interactive and the place is set overlooking lovely mountain views.

Travelling with small children is always full of ups and downs, just like life would be if you stayed at home with them. The novelty of being in a country we really loved and wanted Monkey to experience, sure helped get us through the trickier parts of the trip and overall it was such a fantastic experience.

If you are thinking of heading to Japan with small children, please reach out with any questions. I also have a ‘Tips for Japan travel with a Toddler‘ post if you are looking for more information.