Tokyo Disneyland is a must with the kids. The new Fantasy Springs features Rapunzel, Peter Pan, and Frozen attractions. Photo / Jesse Mulligan
Tokyo Disneyland is a must with the kids. The new Fantasy Springs features Rapunzel, Peter Pan, and Frozen attractions. Photo / Jesse Mulligan
If you’re considering a family holiday to Tokyo this year, Jesse Mulligan knows exactly where you should go, what you should see, eat, and experience
When my wife and I holidayed in Tokyo for the first time last year, we kept saying to each other “our girls would love this”. So, almost immediately after leaving Japan, we booked flights to come back again.
We printed Hazel and Daisy’s tickets and hid them under the tree in December. Then, after sitting through a lot of high-pitched squealing on Christmas morning, we set about the hard part: waiting six months until our departure date.
Any destination is different with kids in tow.
A married couple develops a travelling rhythm over several dozen holidays together, but children bring new dynamics.
You have to quickly teach them a lesson you learned the hard, slow way - that successful travel depends on treating your companions with extra kindness and goodwill.
In an unfamiliar environment, high-pressure decisions must be made. Some people will screw up those decisions. Usually those people will be Dad.
Jesse Mulligan takes his family to Tokyo. Photo / Unsplash
But we had an itinerary we thought would provide a good mix of Tokyo at its best: some high-key, big-ticket events alongside a few afternoons where our schedule would be free to browse vintage clothing stores, take pretty photos, and hunt down the souffle pancakes that had been haunting me on Instagram.
“What was the best part?” was a question we found impossible to answer after last year’s trip - of course there was life-changing sushi and picturesque parks and mind-bending architecture, but often the most affecting moment of the day was something as small as a stranger walking you to your train platform because you looked like you needed help.
“The culture” is shorthand for all this in-between stuff and we wanted our daughters, at 11 and 13, to experience that side of Japan as much as, inevitably, they would experience Tokyo Disney.
We stayed with local friends this time and bypassing, thanks to their generosity, the biggest expense for Kiwi families in Japan - accommodation.
While you’ll find most things surprisingly cheap (low inflation and a weak yen means the cost of a bento box has barely changed in 30 years), hotels and ryokan - traditional Japanese inns - are in high demand from overseas tourists and a domestic market that has finally returned to its pre-Covid normal.
Book as early as you can, shop around and be prepared to share a room together - and remember, public transport is fast and reliable here, so a hotel 60 minutes out of the city won’t be as tough as it sounds.
Public transport is fast and reliable in Tokyo. Photo / Liam Burnett-Blue on Unsplash
We were a little distance from Tokyo’s landmarks and not only did it not matter, it was the making of our holiday.
There’s little to do in the early mornings around the main tourist areas, so it really helps to wake up among a local community. Biking along the river, finding somewhere to spot Mt Fuji, watching the pre-breakfast sports trainings - these were some of the loveliest moments on our trip. I mean, you can’t all stay in our friends’ guest room, but don’t be put off by a commute, is my point.
“Why are we going to a baseball game?” was a question I was asked by all three members of my party as we wended out way through the northern suburbs towards Tokyo Dome.
“You’ll see when we get there,” I replied elusively, not exactly sure myself what we were in for.
I’d heard it was a quintessential Tokyo experience, even (especially?) for non-baseball fans, and the moment we walked into the sold-out, covered stadium and were handed our free supporter shirts, we got it.
Japan is very good at taking something American and twisting it lovingly into a perfect local version - both recognisable and unfamiliar at the same time.
One entire section of the stadium acted as cheerleaders for their local team, singing, chanting and clapping for the more than three-hour experience. Girls with backpacks full of liquid fired pre-mixed spirits into plastic cups for anyone who wanted them.
Dozens of vendors offered restaurant-quality food to enjoy with the game. The lights, the noise and the unique energy combined to make this a must-do experience, before the first pitch had even been thrown.
Tokyo Dome's baseball games offer a unique blend of American and Japanese culture. Photo / Jesse Mulligan
Did the girls enjoy it more than their daily trip to the 7-11? I dared not ask. Tokyo convenience stores (and vending machines) offer a mind-blowing range of snacks and sweets, and browsing the rows of weird and wonderful confections is a cheap, lovely experience (also a great place to pick up gifts for friends back home).
Our favourite was the salt and lemon lollies, but there are hundreds to choose from - after a few days in Japan my girls were like candy sommeliers. Because the city is so safe, we had no hesitation in letting them walk to the store by themselves or, on one occasion, join their host family’s children for a trip across the city to a pig cafe (look it up).
We missed out on tickets to Studio Ghibli (book early if you enjoyed films like Spirited Away and want to get a behind-the-scenes experience) but I did manage to get us all into Team Labs Planets, a digital art museum you’ll probably have seen on your social media feed.
It is quite wonderful in person - the visuals might be familiar but there are also soundscapes, scents and tactile sensations that make this much more than somewhere to upgrade your grid. Tickets are around $30 a head which seemed remarkable value for a globally unique, multi-sensory experience.
It is popular but numbers are limited and there is plenty of space - the only time we felt cramped was in the shoe lockers at entry and exit.
🍄 teamLab Planets (Tokyo, Toyosu) Recognised by Guinness World Records™ as the Most visited museum (single art group).A Large-Scale New Area "Athletics Forest" to Debut in Early 2025！ 🍄 チームラボプラネッツ(東京・豊洲)がギネス世界記録™️に認定！単一アート・グループの美術館として世界で最も来館者の多い美術館に。 2025年初頭には大規模な新エリア「運動の森」が誕生！
Tokyo’s “new” fish market at Toyosu is just one train stop west of Team Labs, and is recommended.
Unfortunately I accidentally took our family one stop east, and ended up at Toyosu Cross Market, a massive food hall and shopping centre that became one of the finds of the holiday.
While the rain poured down outside we wandered through tourist-free versions of big name retailers like Uniqlo, Daiso, and Tokyo Hands, then ate ramen next to office workers and finished our meal with perfect pastries.
Inside the same mall you’ll find Kidzania, an interactive city for kids aged 1-14, where they can apply for jobs, earn local currency then spend it. One of Dad’s better screw ups.
Team Labs Planets is a multi-sensory digital art experience. Photo / Jesse Mulligan
If you are keen on fish market vibes, look up Tsukiji. There’s no tuna auction here anymore but the vendors that surrounded the old market are still here, selling ready-to-eat snacks and meals to a happy breakfast crowd.
It’s open first thing, so it’s a great place to visit at the start of your holiday when you’re still on New Zealand time. Because it’s a tourist destination, you’ll likely find the sashimi a little expensive, but the omelette is worth queuing for.
And, yes, we did eventually go to Tokyo Disneyland. Well, actually we went to Tokyo Disneysea (just next door - fewer princesses/more rollercoasters), which was as busy, as fun and as exhausting as you probably imagine.
At the end of the day we each chose different rides as our favourites but our top threes were very similar - you can’t do everything so I recommend you consult a ranked list online and choose the best ones.
Mickey Mouse and friends at Tokyo Disneyland. Photo / Roméo A. on Unsplash
Note that the new and incredibly popular Fantasy Springs extension has just opened with new Rapunzel, Peter Pan and Frozen(!) attractions, so most website listicles won’t account for these. Peter Pan was an incredible 3D experience - my favourite ride of the day - and Frozen was booked out from the moment the park opened.
To ride the rides you want you’ll need to download the resort app and use a combination of (some) luck and (mostly) acumen to book standby and priority passes to jump the hour-long queues. Do plenty of research and aim to lock in your timetable as soon as you enter the park and the ticket options open up.
Unusually for me, we’ve hardly discussed food. I’ve written previously about Tokyo’s beautiful mix of high and low - a $3 train station sandwich at the right time can taste just as good as a Michelin-starred sashimi platter.
Our favourite moments were of the former kind: a pick-and-mix lunch from one of the famous department store basement eateries; a curry-gelato combo at a back-alley restaurant in a hipster suburb; a platter of sushi at a stand-up joint next to a random subway station (well, not too random - we travelled 90 minutes across town to revisit the perfect place we discovered last time).
Japan's public transport is efficient and reliable, making travel with kids easier. Photo / Jesse Mulligan
In these moments we saw the best of Tokyo: the kind service; the attention to presentation and detail; the fun that comes from alternating between a traditional Japanese dish and a favourite Western meal remixed by one of the world’s great culinary cultures.
It was our daughters’ first big overseas trip, and we wanted to show them that there is more to the world than life in New Zealand.
It was just a few busy, crazy days, but with any luck their Tokyo memories will stay with them forever.
Buy a public transport “Suica” card on arrival at Narita Airport - you can load cash onto them so you don’t have to buy tickets every time you take a train across multiple services; these cards are very difficult to find in the city so, even though you’ll be in a hurry to leave the airport, grab one while you can.
Rubbish bins are rare in Japan - you’re expected to take your trash home with you. If you buy a takeaway coffee you can usually hand it back to the place you bought it from, but an empty bento box can be surprisingly hard to discard.
You’re probably aware that shoes are taken off before coming indoors, but did you know that bags shouldn’t be put on the floor? As a traveller you’ll likely have a backpack or handbag with you - look out for the baskets provided at restaurants to place your belongings in to avoid causing offence or, more likely, confusion from those around you.
Trains can be busy, especially at rush hour. Do as the locals do: wear your bag on the front of your body and back into the train where possible if things are looking squeezy.
While luggage lockers are regarded as a security threat in most international cities, Tokyoites still love them. You can hire varying sizes at just $5-8/day in most major rail stations but make sure you have a little cash on hand to operate them (while your credit cards will work well in Japan it’s generally a good idea to have real money at all times - every 7-11 has an ATM, and almost every street has a 7-11).
Checklist
TOKYO, JAPAN
GETTING THERE
Air New Zealand flies non-stop to Tokyo daily with fares starting from $830 economy one way. The flight time is about 11 hours.
