Aloha Everyone,

I am going with my family to Japan in mid-March. It will be me, my wife, and 2 kids ages 4 and 8. I have spent a great deal of time in planning where we go and where we stay, but I would love any input from the forum as to specific places to go along the way..must-sees that we might miss...really good food in areas we will visit. Basically if you can pass along any suggestions that might make our trip more enjoyable.

Of course I've been watching lots of JapanChannel on youtube and have fairly good concept of the Japanese cultural style. We're SO excited!
Living in Hawaii I see aspects of this all around me, so some things won't be too strange. Plus our whole family loves Japanese food...I even made okonomiyake last night for dinner.

We are getting 14 day JR rail passes (probably not Green service though, just regular service).

The itinerary below is pretty much fixed, but we can do day trips and other things nearby. Please pass along any ideas and suggestions you have to make our trip more fun.
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* March 15 Arrive Haneda Airport 11pm direct from Honolulu

* March 15 thru March 19 Stay at Prince Sakura Hotel in Shinagawa area

* March 19 travel to Nagano area stay at Ryokan Kamesei

* March 20 thru 21 travel to Nikko stay at Ryokan Honke Bankyu

* March 22 thru 25 Kyoto Hyatt in Kyoto town (day trip to Hiroshima on March 24)

* March 25 Guesthouse Yougendo in Nara region

* March 26 thru 27 Hotel Nikko Nara in Nara town

* March 28 and 29 Hotel Nikko Tokyo and then return
via Haneda midnite March 29.
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So did I do OK with my choices of places to go and to stay? I wanted to mix the traditional with the modern.
I used a lot of reviews on Trip Advisor and booked through 4 different wesites to secure the various rooms (Priceline, Expedia, japanguesthouses.com, and another one I can't recall). Prices for the whole family range from as high as 45'000? per night to as low as 18'000?..so pretty pricey (though food is included in high priced Ryokan) but we really want to see the country and enjoy ourselves. I scored at the Hyatt in Kyoto getting a nice large Western room for around 22'000 per night for the whole fam..that was a Priceline deal.

What about my 4 year old staying in the Ryokans? I'm assuming she (and all of us) will need to be on our very best behavior, yes? Is Disneyland in Tokyo very much like the ones in the US?

And I still don't see how I am going to ever be able to have sex with my wife on this trip! Super small rooms...ryokan with paper walls...how do Japanese people manage to "do it"?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

1 Ryokans might give you a slight disount if your children sleep in one bed /futon/ with their parent
2 You must make a reservation and you may even have to pay a deposit
3 You can order a western breakfast the night before unless you enjoy raw eggs, rice and seaweed in the morning
4 Love hotels are the place where Japanese get little privacy, but you have no place to leave your children. For five hour stay the price is 5500 ~ 6500 JPY and it's 8500~12 000 JPY per night for two people. Love hotels you can find in Shibuya
5 In Disneyland you may have to wait long time to get on one ride especially in the weekends

I live in Nara so I'll give you a little info about the area. For general sightseeing I think one full day is enough to see all the main sights in central Nara. If you get off at Kintestu Nara it's a 5 minute walk to get to the main temples and you can see pretty much everything on foot.

I'm not sure of the exact location you will be staying at but Nara doesn't have as much variety as Kyoto so I wouldn't spend too long here. It's a tourist town and the shopping isn't very good. That said, it's a beautiful place.

I'd suggest you visit Asuka if you have time. In March the weather should be very pleasent and it's a great day out. You can see the very early burial mounds that were erected before the capital moved to Nara. You can rent bikes and visit all the sights in one day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/listless/sets/

Check out my Flickr page set list if you want an idea of how some of the kansai area looks.

Other than that your list looks great. I went to Tokyo last year and Nikko. It was great fun and if I ever get the time (and money) I'll definitely go again.

Listless remove the link before you get blocked by the moderator!

Thanks very much to both of you!

Already looked through your flikr photos Listless...very nice! Stuff like this just makes us very excited. Very nice to hear the "scope" of Nara. That's one thing very hard to judge from a distance..a place is great to visit, but for 1 day or 1 week? I'll definitely check into Asuka.

And miko thanks for your suggestions..these look very helpful. We do like rice and nori for breakfast, but a Western breakfast might be nice too. Here in Hawaii there's frequently a "Japanese style" station at the large fancy hotel breakfast buffets. These have rice, miso, natto, etc.

Any more suggestions from the forum? This is helping already!

1/ luggage
Compared with westerners, who often travel with large suitcases, it's not common for Japanese people to travel with a large suitcase around the country. Consequently, there isn't usually a wide space to store large luggage in trains, and the coin lockers aren't large enough to hold them either. Keeping your luggage small is recommended when you travel around Japan. You might want to bring several small bags so that you don't have to carry a large suitcase.

2/ Shoes
Since it's a Japanese custom to take off your shoes indoors, you might have to take off your shoes often in Japan. Bringing a pair of shoes that you can slip off and on easily might be convenient. Make sure to bring, and wear, a nice pair of socks or pantyhose to avoid any embarrassment when you take off your shoes.

3/ The weather in March is:

City Average Max. Temp Average Min. Temp. Rainfall
Sapporo 38 F (4 C) 26 F (-4 C) 3.1 in (80 mm)
Tokyo 55 F (13 C) 41 F (5 C) 4.5 in (115 mm)
Osaka 58 F (13 C) 41 F (5 C) 3.9 in (100 mm)
Fukuoka 57 F (14 C) 43 F (6 C) 4.3 in (109 mm)