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Destination: Tokyo - 20,000 Kilometers and Two Children

In the first of two articles, FR2DAY's own Susana Iwase Hanson gives her impressions of the Land of the Rising Sun following on from a recent visit. She has plenty of tips for those thinking of visiting Tokyo with young children and gives us the lowdown on the must-do sites of this colourful and most enchanting of cities.

Japan is a challenge for most foreigners simply because it's not very tourist friendly. If you do not know how to speak or read Japanese, it could seem like a maze or worse. However, rest assured because these days the Japanese have made significant improvements in their communication skills (i.e. in English) especially where public transportation is concerned. The maps may not all be in Roman letters but if lost, you'll surely find a friendly train-station worker or suited businessman/woman who will be happy to help you.

With two little girls, two and five years old, it was a challenge to come up with ideas on how to entertain them in a country where they did not understand the language. But with relatively low crime rates and a seemingly smiley and polite demeanor, the Japanese were welcoming enough, if sometimes overly polite, to my kids who felt very popular with all the attention they got. In any case we felt safe enough to explore the city via public transportation: trains, subways, and the odd taxi. We took the kids to Tokyo Disneyland, Ueno Park and Zoo, and various children's parks in Hibiya, Ryogoku, and malls in Shinjuku, Toyosu (Lalaport), Aoyama, and Asakusa (pictured below).

We stayed in the sumo capital of the world, Ryogoku on the Eastern side of Tokyo. The Dai-ichi hotel has stunning views of the area and is one of several recent high-rise buildings to be constructed here. A standard room for two may cost you 130 euros a day but much less if you book as part of a vacation package. If you are a sumo-fan, this area would be ideal to visit as there are trainee wrestlers in their yukata (summer kimonos) walking in and out of shops, and you may even be allowed to peak into the windows of their training sessions. There are chanko-nabe restaurants on every corner, serving up the traditional Sumo meal of thinly sliced meats, fish, vegetables and rice in vats of boiling broth - perfect for the very hungry and perhaps rotund types but it is not the finest sample of gastronomic cuisine. Sumo wrestlers are ordered to take naps straight after gorging on this dish in order to gain the weight needed to look the way they do.

Tokyo Disneyland was an absolute nightmare. We thought we'd chosen a calm day: afterall, it was Monday and not a public holiday. We did not know, however, that the weekend before was when many schools had their "sports day" which allowed them to take the following Monday off - the result of which felt like the little persons' mass-invasion of the land of Mickey and Goofy. I had never seen so many people in one place in my life. We paid the equivalent of about 140 euros for the four of us to enter the park (under 3s go free). But there were two and three hour queues for every ride and even the shops, where people spent many thousands of yen just to posess a stuffed Donald Duck, had thirty minute queues to pay. With little children this would have been torture at best and so we gave up after two hours of walking around, some acceptable fast food for lunch and headed back to the train station in search of less crowded entertainment. It would be good to note though, that on any ordinary work and school day, this Goofy entertainment would have been more tolerable with far fewer people and minimal waits for rides.

The nearby mall (walking distance from the park and on the East side of the Maihama station) was full of flowery clothing shops and outdoor restaurants with a view of Disneyland. We walked around, visited the grand fountain where the kids played on the smooth rock surface, and felt like the free entertainment was by far much more attractive and fun than the jam-packed Cinderella's castle. We finished off our day at a ramen noodle shop (there is one for every neighbourhood in Tokyo) and watched our kids slurp it up like true connoisseurs.

Tune in next week for the second installment of Susana's fantastic article. In the meantime, why not acquaint yourself with some Japanese expressions to use on your friends and family?! We are told that you need to pronounce the vowels like you would in Spanish...

Otearai wa dokodesuka? – Where is the toilet, please?
Gochisoh sama deshita – Thank you, I’m finished (with my meal)
Nihongo hanasemasen – I do not speak Japanese