Ōsaka and Kyoto with kids. Day 5: Yodobashi and the Nozomi Shinkansen

Our Day

Checkout time for us was 10:00, and our Nozomi tickets were for just after 12:00. Our plan was to grab a quick breakfast in the train station, stuff our luggage in a locker, do some shopping in Yodobashi, then pick up our luggage and head to the Shinkansen. It almost went as planned, except we didn't realize how absolutely confusing Umeda and Osaka station were. 

Our daughter has adjusted so well to Japanese life that this is a perfectly acceptable breakfast to her!

Yodobashi

Yodobashi is a shopping center just across the street from Osaka Station. It has everything from clothes to electronics to toys, so we thought it would be a good place for our kids to spend the last of their money and pick up souvenirs. Again, we needed a little more time than we had, and our day probably would have been a little smoother if we skipped this step. 

Osaka Station

We headed back to the train station and this is where things got a bit crazy. My husband split off to get our luggage, and we agreed to meet at the entrance to the subway. What we didn't realize is that there were multiple ticket gates. I dashed to the information desk with my kids in tow, trying to get directions to the landmark my husband could see. They couldn't help us. We had to give up when we both realized we were wasting too much time, so I floundered my way through buying subway tickets for the first time (it's exactly the opposite from train tickets; you're supposed to put your money in first and then choose how much you want to pay, and buying mixed adult and child tickets is not as straightforward. I ended up having to buy each ticket separately), and we caught the next train out.

Happy ending: our family reunited at Shin-Ōsaka and we made it to the Nozomi with two minutes to spare. We were out of breath and so relieved! The rest of our trip back home was entirely uneventful. We all settled back to watch the movies we brought with us and enjoyed a quiet ride. Footsore but happy, our first trip to Ōsaka and Kyoto was behind us.

Ōsaka and Kyoto with kids. Day 4: Ōsaka

Quick Japanese Pronunciation Tip

Why do I keep writing "Ōsaka" with the bar over the O? The correct pronunciation in Japanese has you hold the O for two beats. Sounds weird if you do it in English. Sounds weird in Japanese if you don't.

Our Day

For our last day in Ōsaka we wanted to visit Ōsaka Castle, a cat cafe, and a children's science museum I read about online.

Google Maps tracked our day for us

Ōsaka Castle

Ōsaka Castle was easy to reach by train. We took the Ōsaka loop line and got off at Ōsaka Castle Station. It was a beautiful day and the cherry blossoms along the river were in full bloom.

Sightseeing barges offer a nice view of the cherry blossoms

Not too far inside the park we noticed a road train that would take us right to the castle, which sounded great since our feet were sore from all the walking over the past two days. The man who gave us our tickets spoke Japanese, English and Chinese and told us that the next train would leave in about half an hour, and we could get out of line if we wanted but seats were first-come-first-served. There weren't too many people around so took a few minutes to walk around and get some drinks, making sure to get back in plenty of time.

Choose to go to the castle or to another station

There are lots of different tour options at the castle. Many offer timed tickets so you can purchase now and have a guaranteed spot later, like the golden boat tours. We opted to guide ourselves since we couldn't stay very long if we still wanted to do the other things we had planned for the day.

Golden boat tours offer a unique view of the castle from the moat

It's difficult to get a sense of scale without people in the photo. Hi, little family!

It's easy to walk by this enormous rock, until you ask yourself how they got it there.

The castle grounds are wide and open, and attract entertainers and exotic animal handlers. We watched a juggling act, and came across a man with a hawk that was tame enough for the kids to touch!

Any day is made better with animals

Cat Cafe

We left the castle through the southwest exit, had lunch at Sukiya (a popular chain restaurant), and caught the subway to Nakazakicho, the station nearest the cat cafe we scouted out online. Neko No Jikan let us right in and had no issue with our kids interacting with the cats. Truthfully none of them were interested in being petted or playing, but as soon as we bought snacks for them they immediately changed their attitude.

Rough tongues tickle!

Suddenly decides he's a lap cat

One drink was included with our paid hour with the kitties, so I brewed a cup of Earl Grey and sat watching the outside world with the cats. The cafe overlooks a playground that has cherry trees and lots of birds. It was a nice way to spend a quiet few minutes.

Watching cherry blossoms fall and birds fly

Kids Plaza Osaka

Once our hour with the kitties was up, we walked about 10 minutes to Kids Plaza Osaka. Check out the link (in English) to get a better sense of the place. I can't really do it justice here. I think kids from 2-12 will enjoy it the most, but there is so much to offer than really anyone can have a good time here. There are interactive displays, a huge indoor playground, plus lots of quieter areas too.

Bubble chamber

Just a note of caution: kids can quickly access other floors and rooms, and keeping them in sight at all times is nearly impossible. It's still a very safe area, and staff are visible and plentiful if you need help. Your best bet is to arrange a meeting spot because it's highly likely someone will get lost at some point.

Slide, climb, crawl, hang, go nuts. Lose your kids.

Try out musical instruments from all around the world.

We definitely wish we arrived here earlier because there was so much more that we wanted to see and do than we could in an hour. 3-5 hours would have been better, actually. We reluctantly left when the doors closed, and made our way back to our place for dinner and packing.

As we looked back on our trip we agreed that we all wish we had more time to spend, but that we were pretty satisfied with our itinerary and the things we got to see and do. Our mix of activities kept a good balance between things that were interesting for kids and things that the adults wanted to do. It was definitely a trip I would make again.

Ōsaka and Kyoto with kids. Day 3: Kyoto

Quick Kyoto Travel Tips

Train Stations

Google Maps does a wonderful job now of helping you get from point A to B with local and accurate train, subway and bus schedules. Kyoto is built on a grid system, so the tendency is for train stations to be grouped in pairs just a block or so away from each other, with one station servicing the east-west direction, and the other going north-south. If you glance around a train station and can't find the route you expect, check your map and see if there's another station nearby. Chances are you're at the wrong one.

A note about buses

If you think there's a remote possibility you will use the bus system, show your best tourist manners and purchase a day pass for around 600 yen from a train station or ticket machine before you board the bus. You can purchase a one-way fare for about 300 yen (one price no matter where you go in the city), instead. Either way, you really want the pass or ticket before you get on the bus because the buses stay packed from beginning to end, and it's infinitely better to flash your day pass or one-way ticket at the bus driver than to have to search for exact change and hold everything up.

Important info about Fushimi Inari Taisha

The path is open all year, day and night. This is a huge tourist destination, so avoid the peak hours of 9:00 to 6:00 if you want to miss the crowds. There are bathrooms and vending machines along the path, but only the bathrooms at the trailhead will be open after dark. The bathrooms have running water but no soap or towels. Also note that there are two train stations near the shrines, so double-check your map to ensure you head to the correct one. It took us 2 hours to hike the full trail, and we passed under 2,629 torii (there are more, but we didn't walk every path).

Our Day in Kyoto (Nishiki Market, Fushimi Inari Taisha)

With Universal Studios out of the way, we were ready for our day in Kyoto. We all slept well in our comfortable Air B&B so we woke bright-eyed and ready to catch our train. A few days before our trip we decided to book a food tour in Kyoto's Nishiki Market. The tour's website heavily stressed how important it was to arrive at the meeting spot on time. I'm really glad we allowed extra time for travel because when we checked our schedule with Google Maps, we discovered significant delays on the line we needed to use. The app helped us find an alternate route and we made it to the meeting spot with mere minutes to spare.

Nishiki Market Food Tour

Our guide was Jennifer with Arigato Japan Food Tours, which we found through TripAdvisor. Our group was small, with just our family and two people from Australia. We learned later in the crowded market how nice it is to have a small group! Jennifer did a wonderful job of guiding us through the market, dropping interesting historical facts and interacting with the vendors on our behalf.

We started our tour at Nishiki Tenmangū, a Shinto shrine. Thanks to Jennifer we learned about Kyoto's famously soft water, accessible at this shrine from a tap behind the purification area. The water really is deliciously cool and sweet. Bring your own water bottle and fill it up!

Tenmangū shrine. Bow slightly, toss a coin, ring the bell, bow deeply twice, clap twice, bow once more.

Nishiki market is between 300 and 700 years old, depending upon how you calculate it. Many of the shops have original old elements to them, and many of the shops have been owned by the same family for generations.   

Nishiki market, with it's distinctive roof

Aside from a variety of foods (from fish to beans, pickles to honey), there are clothing stores, shoe shops, and a very famous knife shop called Aritsugu that even sells left-handed knives.

Aritsugu. High prices, but artisan quality.

We were treated to plenty of samples on our tour. Jennifer did a great job of alternating between food and drink, so just as we started to get thirsty we were handed a nice cup of something.

Roasted flavored soy beans. Matcha usually isn't our favorite flavor, but these were delicious!

As a break from noshing on samples, our tour also included some more substantial seafood fare.

Octopus stuffed with a quail egg

The adults on our tour were able to enjoy samples of traditional Japanese sake. Higher-end shops will mark their entrance with a cedar ball like this one. Jennifer explained that the ball is made at the same time as a fresh batch of sake. The ball is green to begin with, but gradually turns brown over the course of a year. Sake is best when fresh and doesn't age well, so this cedar ball indicates older sake, and a new batch is probably on the way.

Brown cedar ball = older sake

Japanese cuisine tends to go easy on the spices, until they don't. 7-spice powder is often used in soup dishes. Less commonly known is a spice blend called biribiri in Kyoto, or piripiri in other parts of Japan. Piripiri means "numb" and this special spice blend (made from the berry-sized sichuan pepper) has an unusual numbing quality to it. Some blends are much more spicy than others, and you can sample them here. The one in the green package is my favorite. At first it's rather citrusy, then it transitions to very salty, and then your tongue begins to tingle and go a little numb. It's great on eggs, and I like to use it in Thai dishes. 

Stop by this shop for some interesting spice adventures

Random fact: Kyoto has laws to keep its city looking traditional. Not only are there limits to building height, there are color laws to follow. You won't see neon in Kyoto. I don't just mean the lights and signs, either. Safety equipment also follows the more subdued color scheme.

Safety cones can't be too bright in Kyoto. Vermilion is as crazy as they're allowed to get. 

Our tour of the market came to a close, and after all that food, it was time to eat! Our guide took us to a traditional Japanese restaurant called Umenohana (plum blossom). Tofu is a specialty in Kyoto and we were about to find out why. It turns out that soft water is the most important element to good tofu, so if you have tried it before and hated it, come to Kyoto and try it again. It's smoother, sweeter, creamier, and just plain delicious.

The starter for our 7-course meal. A tofu square with sweet yuzu-miso sauce, and a mixed salad.

After our lovely lunch we were set free from the tour. We returned to the market to browse through everything more thoroughly, and to purchase some of the items that caught our eye on our first time through. All in all, it was an interesting place for our family to visit. Even with a picky eater ("I don't like fish!") and a member with dairy restrictions, we all still really enjoyed ourselves and saw and tasted some very interesting things.

I don't know who can afford to pay $200 for dried sea cucumber, but it's not us.

Fushimi Inari Taisha

This is a pretty famous spot in Japan. If you've ever seen what looked like a tunnel of vermilion gates, you've seen this place. There are a wealth of famous places around Kyoto to pick from, but this one is open 24 hours a day and that fit well in our schedule. Plus, our kids just love to go up. There's a lot of up here.

One of many buildings at the base of the hill.

The path up the mountain is long and full of stairs of uneven height. Naturally our kids loved it. There are side paths and some alternate routes available, so get your bearings at the handy maps placed at the junctions and near the bathrooms. Did I mention it's a long hike? More than once we came to a new map and it looked like the "You Are Here" dot hadn't moved at all!

My son's face after hiking for 15 minutes, and the dot hasn't moved.

Our family loves animals, so we were lucky to be hiking when they fed the temple cats for the day (right around 6:30 p.m. if you're hoping for the same experience). There was only one who would let us approach, but that's all that our kids needed to make their day. We played "spot the cats" the rest of the way up the hill.

Nice kitty!

There was a very nice view of the city at the mountain's midpoint. We didn't linger too long because there was more up to go!

Kyoto by night

Thankfully the path is lit at night, but from the outside. Every gate casts deep shadows on the stairs, so tread carefully. Unless you're a kid, in which case you jump and slide as much as possible to maximize the fun. And scare your parents. Pro tip: there is a part of the path where you have to go up in order to go down. There are signs posted saying, yes, this really is the right way, so it's not just you. Trust the signs to guide you. You will reach the bottom again. Promise.

Our kids pausing under gate 1,894, I think...

Ōsaka and Kyoto with kids. Day 2: Universal Studios Japan

If you're reading this for Universal Studios Japan tips, your cheat sheet is coming up first. If you're reading this to vicariously experience our day through us, you can skip to the "Our Day" section.

Cheat sheet

Brief overview regarding tickets

Every ride at Universal Studios Japan has an express pass/ timed ticket line, and a regular line. The express pass is expensive, almost as much as the cost of admission. They're valid the entire day and for multiple trips on the same ride. Timed tickets are your cheaper option, but you have to seek them out, they're only valid for a certain time interval, and only once per ride. The timed ticket kiosks are in rather random locations (sometimes close to the ride, sometimes in another area entirely). Have all admission tickets for all wanna-be riders with you when you approach the kiosk. Park employees will be on hand to guide you through the options. You will have a list of time-spans to choose from. When your time comes, head to the ride and show your timed-tickets to be allowed through the short line. It will significantly cut your wait time. Popular rides often have wait times of 100 minutes, but toward the end of the day (even without an express pass or timed ticket) all but the most popular will have wait times around 45 minutes.

A word about Harry Potter 

To even enter the area, you have to wait in line as if it were a ride. You cannot enter the wizarding world at your whim, which means you can't even get to the shops or snacks or walk around inside unless you've passed through the entry point. We used a timed ticket to get in. After you get in, you'll have to wait in more lines if you want to ride any of the rides or take any of the tours. Even if you don't ride any of the rides there, it's still an incredible experience. The facades look amazing, the shops are full of interesting items, the snack carts are different from the rest of the park, and the area is full of things to see and do.

Entering the Wizarding World

Ride heights in the park 

Most commonly 122 cm and above is required. The milder rides require 92 cm and up. For the advanced rides you need to be at least 132 cm.

How scary are the rides

Some can be very scary. I don't recommend the Backdraft experience for young or sensitive children because there is a long sequence of very scary scenarios involving real fire and explosions. All of the rides in the Snoopy/ Hello Kitty area are fine, and the Wizarding World area and the Hippogriff ride are lots of fun for kids.

I was very impressed with the Backdraft experience, actually, but it was way too intense and frightening for my kids

The app

There is a Universal Studios Japan app that we did find helpful. If you can read katakana you will probably be able to navigate it just fine. (Katakana is relatively easy and can be learned with a few hours' practice, and what better motivation could you have?) When you are inside the park you can access wait times for all the rides, find your location relative to the rides you want to go on, see what time events and attractions are scheduled, find restaurants, and get height requirements for each ride.

Universal Studios Japan app for iPhone

Food

Restaurants, carts and kiosks are scattered all throughout the park. Popcorn and churros have the longest wait time. All of it is expensive. Technically you are not allowed (cough cough) to bring in your own food or drinks. Nobody checked our bags. Just sayin'.

Our Day

We wanted Universal Studios to be our first stop on our trip to get the anticipation over with for our kids. My husband and I aren't big theme-park fans because we don't like waiting so long in line for something that is over so quickly. It feels like we're spending money for the joy of waiting in line, which is stupid. Our kids are definitely on the opposite end of that spectrum, because they can divert themselves by pestering us about when we'll get to ride the rides, so they're fully entertained.

Wonderland, with Hello Kitty, Snoopy, Sesame Street, etc.

Even though we went on a Thursday, the park was packed and the lines were long (welcome to spring break in Japan). We arrived about 2 hours after the gates opened so that we could start the morning without alarm clocks and rushing. Our strategy was to take a relaxed approach to the day and hopefully hop on the popular rides just before the park closed for the day. By the end of the day the wait times did lessen by an appreciable amount, but not for all of the rides.

Wonderland

We used the Universal Studios Japan app to help us track wait times. Since the Wonderland area had the shortest waits, we headed there. Our son was embarrassed to no end when we wandered into Hello Kitty's Ribbon Collection. Some interesting fashions in there but it's mostly geared toward the most hardcore Hello Kitty fans. You get to meet Hello Kitty and have a picture taken (¥2000 for 2 pictures).

I knew we needed to get on some rides to appease the kids (it's what we came for, after all), so we spun ourselves silly on the Cupcake Dream ride.

Hello Kitty's Cupcake Dream was good fun for all of us

We rode the carousel next, and then we decided to try to find a bigger thrill. We wanted to go to the Harry Potter area, but we didn't realize that we needed to wait in line just to reach it. We decided a timed ticket would be better than waiting 80 minutes, so we tracked the ticket machines down, noted we had 2 hours to kill, and headed off for other entertainment.

Backdraft

While walking around we saw that Backdraft had a really short wait. I asked the attendant in Japanese if it was scary and she assured me it wasn't. Spoiler alert: it was. It really really was. It's not a ride, it's a show, but it's more than that. First they lull you with clips of explosions from well-known movies while you wait in line. Then you enter a room where you stand and listen to an introduction from Ron Howard (dubbed in Japanese). Our kids started to complain that they were bored, even though they could understand the Japanese better than we could. We were guided to a second room where they talked about explosions, gave us a brief safety warning, showed a clip from the movie that started to make our kids nervous, and then they lit a few things on fire. So far, not too impressive. Finally we were guided to a third room. Again a short safety reminder, and a quick minute later they started the fires. Just fake smoke and lighting effects at first, so we started to roll our eyes. Then some loud pops from fireworks and more smoke Okay, not great but not bad. Then a bigger explosion, more fireworks, more smoke, and that's when the pyrotechnics really got going. We could feel the heat from where we were standing, even though we were a good distance away. Flames billowed out in a gravity-defying river from the back room. Smoke started to rise to the ceiling. Things on the set started to collapse and crash. I knew that everything was rigged and carefully controlled, but to a kid it looks like mortal peril and chaos. I won't spoil the ending for you, but it got scarier. Our kids were wrecks afterward, and it took a while to calm them down.

Family Shows

We hoped to balance our scary experience with something funny and silly, so we went to the Monster Rock and Roll show. Everybody had a good time with that one. The costumes and set were good, and all of the performers sang and danced well. It helped our kids feel better after having the pants scared off of them.

There was just enough time for one of the outdoor Minion shows. All in Japanese, and fun.

Minions singing, dancing, and changing costumes

Harry Potter

Then it was finally time for our main event: Harry Potter! We showed our Timed Ticket and went right in. Well, sort of. There's actually quite a long path to follow before you get to the Wizarding area.

Not exactly the Deathly Hallows

Once you're in that area, it's really quite impressive. All of the park employees are dressed in wizard robes and other costumes. The shops are all akilter and look like the movie set. Even better, they're filled with some really interesting merchandise.

Perfectly crooked

Zonko's Joke Shop

If you stop in Ollivanders, you can spend ¥5000 and purchase a "working" wand for yourself. All of the wands are the same price, but they look different. You can purchase wands used by different characters, from Snape to Harry Potter to Bellatrix Lestrange, or choose wands by what material they're made from. 

LOL, not the best pic of my husband, but check out those wands!

Choose a wand that has a spell map (available in Japanese or English), which shows you spell-casting areas inside the Wizarding World. There are also instructions for how to perform each spell. At each location a park "wizard" will guide you through the steps, and different effects will greet you depending on how well you cast your spell. 

Hogwarts Castle is especially well done

Finally, we got in line for a roller coaster. Flight of the Hippogriff only had a 45 minute wait by this time, which is quite short for this ride. It had just enough thrills to please both our kids, without being too scary. We rode one more time, and then it was time to head out for the day to beat the crowds. 

Getting a good look at Hagrid's hut as we wait in line for the Flight of the Hippogriff

If you're researching for your own trip, I hope this post is helpful. I tried to learn all I could before we went, but I still had a lot of questions. If we were to do it all again, I would find all the rides that allowed a timed entry and get our times locked in. Other queries, like "which rides are too scary for my kids" could only be answered from first-hand experience, unfortunately.

Lastly, try hitting the Mos Burger (outside of the Universal Studios park) on your way out if you have kids who like toys with their meal. Their toys have a high replayability factor and will make a nice souvenir of your trip!

Ōsaka and Kyoto with kids. Day 1: Nozomi Shinkansen

We went to Ōsaka and Kyoto for a 5-day family vacation. It was the first we've been on in years and for being out of practice I think it went rather well. Naturally there were quite a few things we didn't get to, but we wanted to enjoy things without feeling stressed about schedules and so we didn't pack our days too full.

We found an Air B&B in Ōsaka that looked good. It turned out to be a great fit for us. It was near a train station, so there was constant noise from the tracks, but not so bad that we couldn't sleep. And having easy access to the trains meant we spent less time traveling and more time enjoying! The apartment was newly built, and everything was sparkling clean. It had a nice balcony view too, but we didn't get to use that much!

Osaka at night

We purchased our Nozomi Shinkansen tickets about a week ahead of time, just to make sure we got seats together. The Nozomi trains come frequently enough that this is a step you can probably skip if it's not peak season. A little tip: you'll get two tickets for each person. One ticket is for the Shinkansen, and the other is to get you from the Shinkansen to somewhere else inside city limits. That confused us, but the ticket attendants showed us to insert both tickets to get through the Shinkansen ticket gates.

Our chariot, the Nozomi Shinkansen

We arrived near dinnertime. Meals are always a challenge. One person has texture issues and won't eat rice or fish (in Japan that's knocks out about 2/3 of the menu). Another has to avoid dairy, which is surprisingly difficult in Japan. For our first night we rather desperately barged into an izakaya, just wanting to find a place where we could sit down to a varied menu. It was expensive, but I don't know if there's anything that caters to kids better. The portions are small, the menu is varied, and you order from a tablet that has pictures all over it. (Now that I think of it, I'm wondering if it was designed by kids.) The catch is that you have to order drinks and there will be smoking. And it's expensive, as I mentioned. We splurged a little more than we normally would, and ended up with an ¥8000 bill.

Happy and full!

All in all, a good first day of our vacation! We fell asleep right away in our comfy beds!