Suica made getting around Japan easy for our family. Here’s how we set it up in Apple Wallet before we landed, how it worked with our 5-year-old, and the tips we’d give a friend before their first trip.

We spent the last week of May and first week of June in Japan with our 5-year-old. Here’s what the heat, humidity, rainy season, and one typhoon were really like, plus what we were glad we packed.

Kyoto had so many good gluten-free options that we ended up trying more places than we’d planned. Here’s an honest review of every gluten-free place our family ate, from fully gluten-free okonomiyaki and crepes to gluten-free ramen and soufflé pancakes, plus the hidden gluten to watch for.

Eating gluten-free in Tokyo wasn’t nearly as hard as we feared, but only because we planned. Here’s an honest review of every gluten-free place our family ate, from the best ramen of our whole trip to fully gluten-free tempura and soufflé pancakes, plus the hidden gluten to watch for.

Is Japan a lot of walking? Yes. We tracked every step of our 14-day trip with a 5-year-old and averaged about 18,300 steps a day, with five days over 20,000. Here are our real day-by-day numbers, why Japan adds up so fast, and what helped our son keep up.

We flew to Japan carry-on only, and our son needed far less than we packed. Here are the 10 kids' carry-on essentials he actually used on a long flight, and what we'd leave home next time.

After two weeks in Japan carry-on only as a family of three, here are the three things to leave at home, the three we'd pack again without question, and one tiny tip that makes repeating outfits more fun.

We went back and forth on buying a Japan Rail Pass, then booked individual tickets instead. Once we had our real numbers, we did the math: here's what we actually spent versus what the pass would have cost.

A free printable Japan activity pack for kids and toddlers, with a scavenger hunt, train log, station stamp page, snack ratings, easy Japanese words, and a daily travel journal to use on your trip.

We read every gluten-free convenience store guide before our trip, then barely used them. Here's what we actually bought at 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart, why we stuck to so little, and how to read a label even if you don't read Japanese.

It took us way longer than we’d like to admit to actually understand the Hakone Loop before our trip. Here’s the step-by-step version we wish we’d had, plus what we’d do differently.

We sent our bags ahead three times on our 14-day Japan trip with a 5-year-old. Here's how luggage forwarding (takkyubin) worked, where we used it, how to arrange it at your hotel or a convenience store, and why we'd call it our biggest travel hack of the trip.

We stayed at Hotel Villa Fontaine Grand Haneda Airport with our 5-year-old before flying home. Here’s how it connects to Terminal 3, what the room was like, and who we’d recommend it to.

Short answer: yes. After 14 days in Japan with our 5-year-old, here's what worked, what was genuinely hard, and everywhere we stayed and booked.

We spent 3 nights each in Kyoto and Osaka on our 14-day Japan trip. Here's our honest, category-by-category breakdown - vibe, cost, food, crowds, and more - to help you decide which city (or both) is right for your family.

Osaka was one of the easiest stops on our whole Japan trip to feel at home in. Here's where we stayed, an honest breakdown of the city's four main areas, and vetted family-friendly hotel picks in each.

Is Miyajima worth an overnight stay with kids, or is a day trip enough? For us, staying the night was worth it, since we got to see the floating torii gate at both low and high tide. Here’s where to stay on the island and the mainland, the family-friendly hotels we found, and how a typhoon rearranged our plans.

Trying to decide where to stay in Kyoto with kids? Here’s our honest breakdown of the four best areas (Kawaramachi, Gion, Kyoto Station, and Arashiyama), family-friendly hotel picks in each, and where we actually stayed.

We booked our Hakone stay chasing the classic Mount Fuji view, and got fogged out instead. Here’s where to stay in Hakone with kids: the four main areas, family-friendly ryokan and hotel picks in each, and what we’d do differently next time.

Where we actually stayed in Tokyo with kids, plus 5 more family-friendly hotels we cross-referenced against real guest reviews - from budget-friendly to Disney-adjacent.