Go Big In Japan

When my husband first suggested that our next family trip be to Japan, I didn’t quite know what to think. It wasn’t really a location that I had considered before. As we talked more about the attractions and culture, I was soon on board for the trip. The idea of a vacation with both Tokyo Disney Land, and a jaunt to Mount Fuji sounded like a great adventure for our whole family!

My family with my brother-in-law (left) in front of Mt. Fuji

One of my big concerns with traveling to a foreign country is the language barrier. As a family, we try to learn key phrases to use in polite conversation ahead of our trips. One of the benefits of visiting Japan is that their signs are in both Japanese, and English. This helped us immensely with getting around the subway system, and our general ease of travel.

Tokyo subway system

Food market in Tokyo

My husband suggested we stay at a Disney hotel where many of the employees spoke English, and the food was closer to what we’re used to eating. This worked out great for getting around. The hotel was right by a train stop that brought us to all of the other transportation we needed to get around Tokyo.

Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel

We found Tokyo to be an extremely clean, well-organized, polite, and friendly city. It’s literally hard to even find a stray piece of garbage anywhere. You can easily see the thoughtfulness that the residents have for one another. An example of this is when we rode on the subway during the busiest part of the day. The train had the atmosphere of a library. Everyone turned the volume off on their phones, no one talked loudly, and many people slept.

Stairway in Akihabara

The people of Japan showed us so much kindness. Everywhere we went, we felt like we could ask questions of anyone. They were happy to tell us about their customs, or help us with finding destinations. Even if they didn’t speak English fluently, they would try their best to be helpful. We got to know a couple of families well during our stay. Since getting back from our vacation, they’ve even surprised us with a package full of goodies!

Some of the biggest highlights from our trip were: going to the top of the highest structure in Japan (Skytree), traveling up Mount Fuji and the top of Mt. Hakone, and visiting Akihabara (the electronics/arcade hub of Tokyo). We were also fortunate to befriend a kind Japanese woman who took us to several shrines. Many of these areas don’t have English translations, so we weren’t able to understand the writing. She explained all of their customs, and read us their meanings. Getting a chance to spend time with someone from the area really helped to answer many of our questions about life in Japan.

View from Skytree in Tokyo

Near Senso-Ji temple in Asakusa

We were surprised with some of the customs in the country. The majority of citizens are of Buddhist faith, but Christmas is widely celebrated. Western style weddings are also gaining popularity in place of traditional Shinto style ceremonies. We were told that over the years many Western traditions have been integrated into the Japanese culture. We found that Japan society was very complexed with many traditions blended together.

The memories we made in Japan will be treasured for a lifetime. As soon as we returned home, my kids were asking to go back. There were many more activities that we wanted to do, but didn’t have time for on our first trip over. We look forward to going back to Japan someday, and catching up with the new friends we made.

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Some tips for traveling to Japan:

-Rent a pocket Wi-Fi. These are available at the airport, and can be returned when you leave. The pocket Wi-Fi gives you internet access wherever you go making it easy to keep in touch with family/friends back home.

-If you’re traveling with your family and plan to stay in the same hotel room, keep in mind that most Japanese hotel rooms with two beds have twin-sized beds. You can find two double-sized beds at select Western branded hotels.

-The Navitime JapanTravel Route, Map app makes navigating the train and subway system a breeze. We used this app extensively during our time in Japan.

-Carry some cash. We found that while Japan does have cutting edge technology, many businesses do not accept credit cards.

Emily's travel articles can be enjoyed each month in Creek Living Magazine.