This thread and the Itineraries Galore thread have been great while planning our trip for the first week of April. We are traveling with my two sons who are 13 and 16. This is my plan. My sons live in Israel, we live in Singapore and Bangkok, so our jet lag and novelty interests will be slightly different than those coming from NA Looking for thoughts.

Tuesday

• Arriving late on the 31st of March to Haneda and heading to the Hyatt Regency in Shinjuku. Too late for the Metropolitan Building.

Wednesday

• Breakfast likely at Denny's near HR. I'm Diamind but assume HR won't let both rooms into the lounge.
• Tsujiki to walk around and take in the market. No plan to go at 4AM for the auction.
• Lunch around the market.
• Hama-Rikyu garden
• Water taxi to Asakusa
• Sensoji Temple
• Kappabashi Dori
• Back to Shinjuku to see the Swallows? Or Dinner
• Tokyo Metropilitan Building next to the hotel

Thursday

• Edo Wonderland OR Kamakura OR Disney SEA (worth doing both Edo Wonderland and Kamakura ? Distinct enough from each other? I know one is real and the other is a park...)

Friday

• Tokyo Edo Museum
• Akhihabara
• Lunch
• Odaiba Shopping
• Hotel to refresh
• Shibuya by 18:00 for Passover Sedar at the JCC

Saturday

• One of the options we didn't do on Thursday

Sunday

• Meiji Shrine
• Yoyogi Park
• Shibuya or Ginza (should we move Odaiba here and do Joyopolis and the Toyota and Sony attractions as well? Then of Friday maybe spend time walking around Ginza instead?)

Monday

• Morning is free. Need to leave for 18:30 NRT flight by 2PM or so.

Some questions:

1. I'd like to pick up some miracle fruit at Namco. Where would you fit this in?
2. I've only ever been to Tokyo on business. Will we have any issues brining the boys into a Yakitori joint in the evening for dinner?
3. Still confused over Pasmo vs Suica. Any difference for what we will be doing?
4. Our arrival into HND is late and likely we would need to wait some 40 mins for the last airport limousine bus. With 4 people and our bags, taxi should be pretty reasonable option, yeah?
5. Any advice for avoiding pork based soups when ordering Ramen and the like?
6. Anyone know what the cuisine is called which is essentially all steamed food? Was at a place like this with colleagues years ago but can't recalle the chain or cuisine.

1. I'd like to pick up some miracle fruit at Namco. Where would you fit this in?
   Pretty sure you don't need to go to Namco. Apparently you can find dried miracle fruit at Don Quixote stores - by the cashier counters where they sell candy etc. Also sold near diet supplements in drug stores, apparently. IIWY, I'd try a Donki and/or a drug store in Shinjuku. Failing that, ask your concierge to call around.
2. I've only ever been to Tokyo on business. Will we have any issues brining the boys into a Yakitori joint in the evening for dinner?
   No.
3. Still confused over Pasmo vs Suica. Any difference for what we will be doing?
   None.
4. Our arrival into HND is late and likely we would need to wait some 40 mins for the last airport limousine bus. With 4 people and our bags, taxi should be pretty reasonable option, yeah?
   Yeah.
5. Any advice for avoiding pork based soups when ordering Ramen and the like?
   Avoid any shop with a "tonkotsu ramen" banner. Avoiid "charsiu" ("chashu").
   Carry a note that says that you don't eat pork. My suggestion is "豚肉や豚の骨を使った料理は食べません" but someone else may come up with a a better version.
6. Anyone know what the cuisine is called which is essentially all steamed food? Was at a place like this with colleagues years ago but can't recalle the chain or cuisine.
   I can only think of Chinese cuisine with mainly steamed foods (Dim sum). The Japanese name for thiss is "Yamcha".
   The Japanese word for steamed is "mushi"
   And Japanese steamed rice is "okowa"
   
   EDITS - You could ask for "seiro ryori" (steamer cuisine). Somehow it strikes me as unlikely that this is what you're talking about, but I could be wrong. Here are a couple of places that specialize in seiro:
   http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a331609/menu2/
   http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g35ta8y30000/
   
   The second one has some pork dishes (and pork in the name of the restaurant) but it should be possible to order a non-pork menu.
   
   I have a feeling that many Dim sum / Yamcha dishes must be treif too - containing shellfish / pork etc.
   

Enjoy yourselves!

Thanks for all the info. And this is exactly what I was referring to!

Anyone have any comments on Kamakura vs Edo Wonderland... Disney Sea worthiness? Other parts of the itinerary?

expenses
 

Hi,

There are some great flights at the moment to Tokyo. I am thinking of taking our 13 year old twins, but wondering what I should budget for a week, excluding accommodation. Any recommendations?

Here are some random ideas:

The Sony place in Ginza has new high tech things on display to play with, IIRC on seven floors.

Kids might like tempura as it's basically french fried food. Yakatori is a great choice. There are also restaurants where you pick a combination of meat and veggies from a display case at the entrance and then grill it yourself at the table; I remember once going to one of these in the summer that was like an outdoor beer garden on top of one of the famous corporate headquarter buildings. There are also cook-it-yourself restaurants where the method is closer to stir fry.

Imperial Palace? Tour of Tokyo? The two big ferris wheels? The eco-dome (not sure what it's called--you see it along some bus routes from NRT)? Take the monorail to the Big Sight and take escalators to the top--this seems to be possible and free if it's open for an event? Nearby there seems to be some sort of family fun arcade.

I love to go into the food halls in department store basements to see the variety (things not eaten in the USA) and especially the shocking prices such as the hundred dollar melons with ribbon in satin lined wooden boxes or even the boxes of perfect fruit (including white strawberries) at gift times.

Some girls might like going to the jewelry floor of Wako department store in Ginza or window shopping in the watch stores (check the prices--I recall an emerald and diamond one for $400,000) of the Imperial Hotel Arcade. Check out all of the Frank Lloyd aspects of the main building. In fact, how about afternoon tea there in the lobby cafe or in a similar hotel? The lobby is great for people watching, and you're very likely to see some women in kimonos.

Be at one of the famous big department stores (such as Ginza branches) at opening time to observe the bows by staff.

Visit a Sumo stable or watch a match, even if just on TV.

If you have time for an excursion, Nara for the temples and charming little deer. [Apparently lime disease isn't a problem in Japan as everyone pets the friendly deer and feeds them. They walk up to you and will nuzzle pockets in search of food, but they're small enough not to be intimidating. IIRC there's even an underground passageway downtown near city hall that was built to help them cross a busy street.]

For a somewhat fancy lunch or dinner, consider the "floating" suspended restaurant in the art museum in Roppongi; the architecture of it and the building itself is interesting, IMO more than some of the exihibits.

I've never been, but there are a couple restaurants/cafes where you borrow a pet.

Sushi from the conveyer belt.

It's old technology now, but see a bullet train. Be in a subway station at rush hour when the pushers are working.

Around Christmas and New Year's, enjoy the holiday decorations in major department stores, buildings, and generally on the street in areas like Ginza.

Some kids might enjoy brief visit to a store that sells caligraphy.

As you walk around the city, pay attention to the traditional police boxes, including the one at the famous Ginza intersection.

The Japanese stock exchange has some displays, all labeled in English, to educate consumers in the Japanese approach to personal finance on a very basic level. Be prepared to laugh at some of the "facts." It's mostly electronic trading so there isn't much action on the stock market floor, but you can see the big ticker.

When you're exhausted from walking, take a river cruise through old Tokyo for an hour or two.

Japan Travel Budgets: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2410.html

The low & medium budget ranges seem fairly accurate, but for high ... well, one could easily break the bank on ¥30,000+ dinners every day of the week.

IMO you don't often see kids in expensive restaurants in Japan, and they wouldn't appreciate the food and atmosphere, especially if many small dishes are served. In fact, I see kids more at tea in top hotels than in the hotel restaurants for lunch/dinner.

If you've raised them with this attitude, then perhaps they wouldn't.

With our own kid (and I am sure she is no way unique), there has always been a direct and unquestionable correlation between the price of the food and the size of her appetite, particularly in Japan, and particularly when many small dishes are served.

---
jazzah
The absolute lowest you can go for budgeting in Tokyo is (price per person):
Meals - you could realistically have lunch and dinner (and a snack or two) for 4,000yen a day, can be done for less (really squeezing it), obviously you could spend a lot more.
Transport; budget between 400yen and 800yen a day - depends on your itinerary
Cheapest way to buy a weeks worth of activities is to get the Grutt Pass - it allows entry to a huge array of museums and attractions for 2,000yen
https://www.rekibun.or.jp/grutto/pdf...o_pass2015.pdf