Our FIRST Time in Tokyo 🇯🇵 Exploring Shibuya, Harajuku & Hidden Gems | 25 Days in Japan (Ep. 2)

Our FIRST Time in Tokyo 🇯🇵 Exploring Shibuya, Harajuku & Hidden Gems | 25 Days in Japan (Ep. 2)

we are Susie Martin Julian and Leo a family of four from Seattle and this is our first big international trip together Most people would not even consider doing something like this with a 9-month-old and a almost fouryear-old In this episode we’re diving into our Tokyo adventure with visits to some of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods like Shibuya Harajuku and Shinjuku But it’s not all tourist hotspots We’re also on the lookout for hidden gems and kid-friendly spots that make Tokyo special for families But before all of that we’re wrapping up our time near Mount Fuji where we left off in the last video We’re coming Yeah we’re in the parking lot Well this is our last morning here in the Mount Fuji area And it is 8:11 and we are seeking food and coffee And it turns out to be rather hard to find in this area this hour Uh our hostel has food at 8:30 and the rest of the cafes around here open at 9:30 Konini is supposed to be open we think but uh the door was closed and locked The door was stuck We just didn’t know how the door worked All right Burugia Oh fancy Back at the hostel we set up our onthe-go baby seat which turned out to be indispensable in Japan because many places did not have baby chairs I also tried the hostel’s recommendation of ogura toast or toast with sweet red bean paste and butter I grew up eating sweet red bean paste so I absolutely loved it And to my surprise Julian did too Like Japanese toast Yay All right we’re departing this hostel It was actually a good stay here Very nice Hostel was good The location was good Beautiful Right against the lake It was a good ride on the plane The plane We made it over here We did the plane And then we landed And now we’re going back to Tokyo Yeah Yeah Yeah So we got to make a big journey We’ll explain as we’re going but um right now we’re going to catch the siding bus again due to no other options We have half an hour which is really like around the corner And then we’re going to catch a train Yeah eventually Yes So first we catch the siding bus then we catch the express bus then we catch a train to the apartment in Tokyo and possibly in between shuttle bus So it’s a mission Please First stop I see First mission accomplished We got on the bus First bus This gives us enough time to do what we need to do cuz it’s actually hard to get out of here And we’re on the opposite end of the lake It’s actually good that uh we’re on the far end of this bus route because the bus was pretty full when it came here People emptied out and then it’s at least half full now just from that one stop alone with everybody in their luggage We’re on a bus That’s right It was a 30-minute bus ride that went pretty smoothly No traffic Bus is packed In the end we arrived back at the main bus terminal which was busier than ever You having a hard time a little bit Yeah Waiting Waiting Yeah There’s a lot of waiting when we travel Yeah You’re doing well though Okay Juju I know We woke you up from your nap So we’re waiting for our next bus So we stopped by the Kawaguchiko crearyy and got some Mountain Honey pure milk ice cream I love that It’s very light It’s not very heavy and it’s really not that sweet Mine is going fastest Yeah really Mine’s going slow All right Fruit is our best friend when traveling with children Looks like here they have some local yamanashi icho or strawberries Bus has been a little late and uh the boys patience is definitely being tested but we think the bus is finally here Bit of a mad rush but we made it Bus was late after all that What if we catch it on time we’re here like an hour and a half early A lot of whining transpired Once we were on board it was a nearly 2-hour bus ride back to Tokyo and it flew by rather quickly When we finally got to the bus station in Tokyo it was time to tackle the train system again with a stroller That meant finding elevators which are difficult to find in most stations We’re here Yeah we’re there And where’s the elevator i don’t know Google Maps actually has a wheelchair accessible option that helps but there was one big issue Even though we had an international data plan through T-Mobile our phones barely had any data in Japan and loading a single map was painfully slow In retrospect I realized we should have had an e SIM which leads us to the sponsor of this video Aero is an app that lets you buy eims for over 200 countries and regions all from your phone There’s no more scrambling for local SIM cards no more crazy roaming fees and no more wasteful physical SIM cards Instead I just open the Aerolo app pick the country that I’m going to buy a data plan that fits my trip and activate the eim once I arrive at my destination and then I’m instantly connected to the internet So we just got to Canada We crossed over the border from Seattle and I downloaded Aerolo like immediately after and just in the few hours that we’ve been here I found it to be so helpful Google Maps has been loading so fast like so much faster than not having the eim And I really really wish now that I’d known about this in Japan because this would have been so helpful for just downloading maps for using translation apps So if you’re interested in trying out Aerolo for yourself you can use my code below to get $3 off of your first eim Thanks so much to Arrow for sponsoring this video Now let’s head back to Tokyo We just came down the mountain into Tokyo and it’s 83° in April At least we’re kind of indoors But yes we’re finding the elevators which is important right now because we have a lot of baggage Let’s see Backpack Yeah you’re carrying your backpack the whole time So proud of you This is the biggest station in the world again Shinjuku it’s a maze basically unless you live here and use it every day Big time tunnel system going around and very hard to find your perfect hole in it Um you know right now our station is on the other side and when you’re on the other side of the station that means there’s infinite amount of tracks between you and where you have to catch the train So you have to find which tunnel you have to get into to emerge at the place that you need to be How you doing Gigi good Yeah I had my popsicle ready You had your popsicle and you had a lollipop You took chocolate croissants Oh man Yeah Yeah I can see the evidence on your face This is a travel day Travel days are rough days So I like that Sometimes we need some treats Huh this is on the ground I like cuz I’m this daddy’s boy How you doing and this is why we are underground [Music] I know it cuz I’m daddy’s and mommy boy and we is and is my brother Leo what else you ready babers yeah Let’s go It’s hot Was a little uh stressful on that train because it was so packed and it wasn’t even rush hour yet But uh we’re close to the end At last we made it to our apartment Yeah this bed there I don’t know if I have enough space This was the bedroom that all four of us slept in It was a little tight And this is the rest of the living area where we spent most of our time Uh it’s more for sure Hi Are you happy neighbors little babies Look babes you have a chair Not too good here So first order of business now that we’ve arrived is to do a massive load of laundry The uh washing machine is out here on the balcony Okay So one two Ooh watch out You’re moving that couch there The noises keep scaring me Yeah that’s why I keep doing that cuz noises keep scaring him out there Noises They’re just cars Car make me afraid How you doing neighbors you happy well we made it and we’re settling in nicely Everyone’s happy to have a new home base for a longer period of time now Yeah this is our longest block at one place 8 days All right we have settled in and we are out to explore on foot for a bit and also put the baby to sleep cuz he is cranky He really needs it So we’re in the Nakono city They call it a ward around here It really is like a district of Tokyo because Tokyo is so massive that its district themselves are called cities and we’re in this one which is sort of adjacent to Shinjuku which is the main business area And one thing I really love about Tokyo is that as soon as you get off the main street and into these smaller streets it becomes so quiet like you’re in a village It’s amazing Even though it’s a city of 40 million people there are no car no car traffic Just bicycles and people walking Once in a while a car will come out and go very slowly Nobody speeds around here Me too You got to turn it the other way They’re bicycles I know bicycles cuz they are my favorite I didn’t want to get a new one cuz that new one’s going to can make me scared Yes you do need a new bicycle But I get a little scared So here’s something to show you Like these are town homes in Tokyo which again is the biggest city in the world And there’s micro gardens all over It looks pleasant And yes some people a lot of people live in very small apartments but a whole lot of people live in these town houses They are expensive but they exist And um some people do live a nice lifestyle here Actually though when you go to a place like Macau for example let’s go forward if you go to a place like Macau now it’s straight up miserable there because there everyone basically lives in a tiny apartment with a cage around it infested by mold while in Tokyo it is Asia it is humid it is not um so you can see decent living accommodations around here Well we were hoping he would nap on the bus but nope Instead he’s napping now He went right out The stroller has been great so far By the way this Ergobaby Metro Plus we didn’t even get the deluxe You can get this deluxe version for a bit more but this basic version has been great So we’re here in this neighborhood in Tokyo where we found the neighborhood park for the children cuz our boy really needed to play And I always say this the my marker for whether a country has the good kind of society is whether there are children outside playing on their own uh at a young age and the adults are not even here cuz that’s how I grew up in the ‘ 90s in the Balkans and it was safe Parents would simply say go out and enjoy yourself and you have freedom and you’re safe But um I wouldn’t do that where we live in the USA for a plethora of problems exist there that are simply let be loose You know there nobody solving them or anything like that So things have gotten haywire in the US But here in Japan you can still find that there’s a group of children over there playing baseball The adults are not here There’s a school nearby They go around these small streets There are no cars to hit them Stuff like that They’re safe And Japan is famous for letting the children go to school since they’re like 5 years old They take trains they do whatever And mostly probably they stick to their neighborhoods but as they grow older and things get more complicated they venture out further Exactly how I grew up but even where I’m from this doesn’t exist too much anymore Mostly for the sake of now car traffic is too much And um basically they’ve developed in a way that is not friendly for children Well this here even though it’s the biggest city in the world it still serves the children properly which is amazing On the other end of the spectrum I’d say that there’s a lot of older people who have been very active in the city Cuz you would think in a city you wouldn’t want to be an elderly person walking around but we’ve seen quite a few of them and uh they’re on the move They’re on the subways they’re riding bicycles like they’re keeping active and a lot of them are working We noticed that out uh by the lake as well Uh when you look at the people that are you know built on the doing construction fixing the roads like they’re they’re older Japanese people Like they haven’t really imported that labor Do slippery slippery mommy So look at the prices here This is a decent sandwich with bread and some kind of katu cutlet whatever that is Mhm Uh the price is interesting though 268 yen It’s one to 150 to the dollar So this is under $2 is what you’re seeing here for these sandwiches In America they would be $5 to $10 All right So formula which is the main thing we were looking for was a bust here Unfortunately uh they said drugstore pharmacy would have it but we did find wipes diapers and fruit This quest for formula and baby food is uh becoming exactly that a quest It’s not been easy Well we found the formula It ended up being at the drugstore There was just a misunderstanding Like we were standing right in front of the formula and they’re telling us we don’t have any And I’m like it’s right there So uh but we did find it Uh the only thing remaining right now is the uh puree the baby food So while we’re on this wild goose chase we’re finding these alleys Uh they’re just full of people and full of businesses Like it would take you forever to actually eat at all of these restaurants that we’re seeing All right so the store of life had what we need They have all kinds of formula and they have purees as well So and a little hack there’s found this out of the travel group but there’s this app called Pike and you can basically take any product and you just scan the barcode It’ll tell you it’ll translate like what the product is There that took a minute but see it says baby smoothie apple carrot It gives you the description Some of them also give the ingredients but just really helpful if you’re looking at a product and you don’t know like what it is We’re walking the alleys of Tokyo here tight Some bicycles but mostly just food traffic but it’s a lot And we’re looking for dinner now Julian is riding That’s what really has been wanting Um so we’re looking for a place to eat It will have to be completely random because there’s so many It’s impossible to get a an idea of what you’ll be really getting You just go by the pictures I guess and you don’t even know Oh look at that They’re grilling fish right here Juju You see that that looks like nice fish All right We ended up picking a gza spot where we enjoyed dumplings and small plates and Julian ate an entire adult-sized meal of curry noodles Well we ordered some noodles with some meat sauce Um it’s kind of a sweet sauce actually And um Julian just wiped it out and ate all of it He was clearly very hungry Well that was a delicious dinner So good Do you know how much it cost 20 bucks Two beer You know that two beer It was $32 32 Yeah with two drinks um four or five appetizers and one meal Mhm $32 In Seattle it would be a hundred easily right for all that food Yeah There we have two trains Gordon and Thomas Slow coach Slow coach Who was the slow coach it’s James It’s James 6:00 in the morning here in Tokyo I went out with the baby because he wasn’t sleeping So this is how I’m spending my morning I came to a shrine You having fun exploring Tokyo at 6:00 a.m instead of sleeping nice little path Lots of birds I see down there Eventually I’ll reach a big park which should be pretty well built up The river opened up a bit and now it’s greener and nicer wider I like this People are jogging in the morning It’s a good spot I found I checked the map This is Suginami city that I’m in At least here by the river It looks to me like the countryside It’s incredible The baby’s finally out And there he is being an angel Now I’m not sure if this was your impression of Tokyo I’m finding stuff that is off the beaten path And the truth is the more I travel the more I’m interested in simply just straying and looking for how people actually live and sort of in my mind pretending that I live there that I’m tasting the lifestyle instead of actually just going to look for the big stuff and just lining up and dealing with the crowding And we do a fair share of that as well but not entirely And that’s why I booked almost a month here so that we have both You know we did go see Fuji in peak season which actually exceeded my expectations how busy it was Uh but right now we have this 8 day period in Tokyo where we don’t really have sites on our agenda too much You know we want to see the Shibuya crossing and the main part of Shinjuku etc that stuff has to be seen But I’m not going to seek out the crowded places right now It’s 7:30 in the morning and I’m walking the back streets and parks of Sugami City which I’m going to guess the average for foreigner never sees This is Shinjuku the heart of Tokyo the main business district and main train station It’s really really busy It’s kind of a pain to navigate because of crowding and the train station exits are infinite numbers but once you’re here it’s really fun and space and make and those So before this trip we uh educated Guju about Godzilla He’s seen many many of the Japanese Godzilla films And so yeah we need to find Godzilla for him Oh Juju look right ahead Look right ahead Do you see it i see Yeah Godzilla You found it It’s one of my favorites Yeah That’s right over here Reminds you of Godzilla Do you see it It’s up there Yeah What is it juju cuz the sea The sea He’s out on the land now Yeah It’s your idea Yeah We found you Godzilla Are you excited he came to see you Rain is roaring So if you can’t already tell the main objective of coming to this part of Shinjjuku was to find Godzilla But uh we’re walking around looking for more Godzilla So we were wandering some of these side streets or alleys of Shinjuku And it’s definitely the dirtiest part of Japan or Tokyo that I’ve seen so far Definitely feels like it’s a kind of a nightclubby area Probably very busy at night Found you something Not far away we found the Godzilla merch store of Shinjuku This is one of several places where you can get all things Godzilla That’s too big Can you look at me juju [Laughter] there’s a big one In the case of Julian that meant t-shirts and toys That style is cool Yeah I like that Godzilla Yeah So um we need to find which one you like Julian So um Juju I think we’ll get you the Godzilla son And then we’ll get you Mega Godzilla And then this two This one we can’t get right now cuz we have so many Yeah I’m going to get two Okay We don’t have enough rooms We’ll try to get more when we get home but right now I’m going to get two All right So we’re here at a park that is very busy and it actually had an admissions fee Shinjuku Den one of the main parks in town There are more but this one is very central and big and nice So very popular A lot of people here Even with the admission it’s totally covered with people So that makes sense why they charge Interestingly you could use your transit card to get in So that’s kind of nice actually Yeah cuz it’s faster and seamless that way You don’t have to stand in line to get a ticket This enormous park is known for its blend of three distinct garden styles: Japanese French and English It’s also known for cherry blossoms Wow Okay we saw a big uh crowd of people having picnic behind us but in front of us there’s even more people So apparently it’s the season for that And yes we noticing that the Sakura here is pretty much over Like there’s still some but it is definitely past peak So it is a good thing that we went to Mount Fuji to get our Sakura fill and also got Mount Fuji on top of that Looks like up ahead we have another cafe here I love how their cafes like they’re just like floor to ceiling glass so you can see outside So they just look like really nice places to hang out But yeah there are so many people in this park It is crazy What’s also cool is that you know they have your tourists here They’re obvious tourists but there’s also I think a lot of local people that are here as well Like most of these picnicking families I think actually live here So it’s a very busy park by you know not just by people visiting but also people who live here So but the hours are like 9 to5 Like everything else even the coffee shops and the grocery stores here we thought they open late in the town that we were in Um but it turns out that’s just a thing here in Japan It seems like they like to open a little later So just something to know if you’re an early riser A little hard to find coffee or food early in the morning Now one thing to note about this park is that it doesn’t have a playground Look at this What do you see here but there are many paths for children to explore and a large open field that’s designated as a kids area We found another part of this park that is just full of kids and families and they’re just playing around So we’re letting Julian let loose Julian and Leo really cuz Leo’s here sitting in the grass Uh we’ve noticed that there’s not a playground here for the kids But uh here in this open field just the kids are kind of entertaining themselves A lot of them brought balls of bubbles so they’re just playing and just running around Julie’s just running in circles so it’s nice to let the kids let loose for a little bit From Shinjjuku Gyoen it’s about a 20-minute walk to another popular part of Tokyo Harajuku This is so not that calm park Total opposite of that park we were just in This may be one of the biggest crowds that I’ve ever been in Yeah So Harajuku to my understanding is kind of like a teenage culture place but because of that it’s a famous culture in the case of Japan it draws a lot of tourists as well and just all together a lot of people so it’s always crowded like this crazy style I think most crowded of all places 1976 it says wow Harajuku was full of shops mostly catering to sweet treats everything looks So delicious It was really hard to decide where to stop But we finally settled on chocolate covered strawberries How was it mine is like a strawberry cream crepe wrapped up Is it good [Music] i’m sure you’ve heard of these animal cafes Um we do have like cat cafes in Seattle but not heard of a pig cafe until here Quite the line for it We also saw someone holding a sign for a uh a hedgehog cafe It looks like that’s a puppy cafe for Shea Very big torture for the baby We’re not giving him dessert until two years old or carbs even like grains no starches So he’s just looking with his mouth a gap But we got to get it though right the matcha banana ice cream That’s what I was really after was some kind of soft serve today So pure matcha And uh it’s not at all sweet It’s actually perfect And it’s actually very light too It’s like soft serve So Leo was down here and I was like I swear he’s going up for the picture of the banana because he actually recognizes it And I think he is He’s trying to get the banana If you have any idea what Wiggle Wiggle Zip is apparently this says the flagship store where happiness is happening Yeah Curiosity got the best of us so we stepped inside and we ended up purchasing a few things for Julian We can even begin here in Japan Turns out there’s also Instagram famous photo spots in here too The street is the craziest It’s called Majidori I think it’s the main street pretty much I mean there are several but this is one of them for sure And crowds are like like I don’t know what to like on them It’s like Coachella but civilized Yes more so A lot more than Coachella which is a freaking filthy sessful This is serialized Yes Maji Dori connects many well-known parts of Tokyo including the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing which is our current target But first we stopped for a quick break to let the kids play Want to let him cruise Are you my ball no Are you my ball that’s my father That’s your father crashed We crashed Yeah Then they moved backwards a little bit We’re now approaching the Shibuya neighborhood famous for the scramble crossing the busiest crossing in the world for foot traffic Um it’s where a lot of young people come hanging out kind of college student age or a little older But there’s many other people obviously and um tons of food tons of everything It’s probably their favorite place to go out right here Let’s do it The Ward of Shabuya is probably best known for the Shabuya crossing the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing This intersection is famous for stopping all vehicles and allowing pedestrians to cross in all directions during each 80 cycle with as many as 3,000 people crossing at a time So I did Shabuya Crossing for the first time while wearing a baby and carrying a dirty diaper I can’t find a trash can but hey it’ll be memorable right meanwhile our other child probably won’t remember anything about Shibuya Crossing Besides the crossing Shabuya is packed full of shops and restaurants If we thought that Harajuku was crowded Shibuya feels 10 times more packed with people Uh doing a Japanese style on the street grow fish and beer after the kids are done falling off their chairs These chairs at first I thought they were so cute and um really clever to you know reuse these crates but Julian took a little tumble off of it and he’s okay but it was a little scary at first So not exactly ideal for children And then Leo we tried to use our little baby seat on this thing and it just it’s too short So we’re having to Here is the main course Yes I like how it’s like a volcano erupting salmon egg This is our first uh sushi meal or raw raw fish Really it’s not sushi I’m utterly enjoying just by juggling a baby in my lap So these are good We got some ramen noodles for Guju He loves the noodles And right now he’s eating the the pork or as we call it for him ham That is good I’ll try to give him some fish I’m very interested in the fish You could try some fish Look at this 9mon old He turned nine months on this trip Gobling down the the tuna It’s like a little raw in the middle actually It’s like rare He’s going for it His brother too just Oh yeah Are you eating it is it good yeah it’s good It’s called tuna Mhm Remember the friendly tuna in Pinocchio they’re eating it We’re rolling We’re going back Whole dining area is now packed So many people here Glad we sat down to eat when we did Shibuya is also home to one of the busiest railway stations in the world Shibuya Station And that’s exactly where we need to go to catch our train back to our Airbnb So we’re here at uh Shibuya Station one of the many entrances and we are trying to figure out where the elevator is because we have a stroller So there’s some construction happening around the station which is probably not helping in our quest to find the elevator So we are still hunting for this elevator It’s uh feeling like a wild goose chase and uh doing it while in a place with a foreign language and with two kids Luckily the kids are happy right now cuz that would just add another layer of stress to everything But okay Oh finally There we go Elevator sign We think we found it Okay that wasn’t easy but we think we made it to the first train There’s another one the same We started the next morning off not with coffee but with noodles Very good noodles Whatever they are we need to take a picture on the outside to remember them So that was really really good I guess that was called Abura Soba And we were expecting soba but it was definitely not sobba noodles It was more like a ramen style noodle Yeah it was a wheat noodle But um it was so good though Yeah it was kind of like at least the kind we had was similar to a carbonara with a raw egg and parmesan and butter but it also had fish egg and some other Asian flavors So it was just superb in the end Very good Only $10 Yeah And I want to make it at home Well so because we spent most of yesterday out in other neighborhoods we’re going to spend at least the morning or the first half of today here in Nakono City which is actually where we’re staying And so we’ve done everything on foot so far Uh got our noodles tried to do some shopping but a lot of the stores are still closed So we’re coming over to the city park the central park to hopefully find a playground or somewhere where Julian can run around And it is nice and sunny today Not a cloud in the sky It’s actually probably going to get a little too hot for my taste today All right we found a playground It is uh not really Central Park It’s actually off of Central Park Bring him to a playground All he wants is dirt So we ended up in this area called the Proud City Oagaya Forest Looks like a brand new development largely residential but yes the landscaping here is really incredible They did a really good job planting all these plants here It’s very green Yeah So this walking path walking/ biking path a lot of people are biking too Looks like there’s a river down there And still so green Look at these trees I like grass so much Yeah that was your first word was grass One day you just said grass Pudding Nave Pudding Nave After a short walk we ended up at our target a children’s traffic park that Martin had discovered days earlier So this was our destination today a uh really nice outdoor playground for Julian But it’s not just any playground as you might be able to tell Like they do have the sand pit they do have the swings Um but there’s like a train that they can play on There’s this really nice little climbing pit And there’s also over there I don’t want to film kids up close but there’s like kids that can rent bikes here for free or things with wheels and they can learn how to ride them in a safe driving course here which is really nice So there’s a little bit of a drama because Julian has this balance bike that’s wooden and it’s actually really cute and he really really loves it The problem is he’s outgrown it and um really needs a new one but he’s showing a lot of resistance to that He really does not want a new bicycle And so he’s making that point here too He says “I don’t want a new bicycle.” But uh we’re going to see if we can get him on one because I do think he wants to A lot of times he says he doesn’t want something when he actually does So let’s see if we can get him on a bike or something with wheels here So basically this is like a little um replica of like a real city with all these lights and uh traffic rules here So the idea is that kids can rent bikes or things with wheels and they learn how to ride properly in a city environment He just ran by me So I’m going to guess that he’s not going to want to try the bike So we’re spending the bulk of this afternoon here at this park for Julian And uh now that he’s awake Leo as well uh just to give them some time and some space to uh stretch out and play You know travel is is hard on all of us And so especially with little kids it’s I think important to give them time and space to do things that are fun and important to them Uh so it’s not just you know all about us and what we want to do as adults but it’s important to do that for the kids too so that they don’t you know really hate travel or they’re just they’re able to still maintain some of their normal routine in terms of playing and being outside um while being in a different environment So that’s something that we try to do on all of our trips and also why we’re trying to pick destinations that have these slower paced areas where we can just you know go for a couple of hours and let the kids run around and you know feel safe about it and also be in a good environment for all of us adults as we sit around and you know keep an eye on them And so I think this is a good area for today because it’s working out for even the the wee little one here This is not this is not an optimal place for him but you know it’s better than nothing We found a place that kind of works for him right now because he’s in the cruising stage and crawling stage He really wants to be active and move around So we’re giving him some time and some space to do that You stand up You’re doing a lot You’re drooling We ended the day at Nakono Broadway one of the prime attractions in Nakono City It’s a shopping complex for collectors mainly of anime and manga I don’t know what that is to be honest which we admittedly don’t know much about That’s a red one So we’re exploring the store I think it’s called Mandarak or something And I don’t totally understand it because um I’m not into the culture But um what I’m seeing is the prices are very high So I’m guessing it’s collectible items If you look at this stuff 800,000 yen for that robot and so on I I think they’re vintage collectibles to justify the price like that You have three little pigs over here 44,000 yen I think that’s about $300 And I found these too here 100,000 for this old Astro Boy Yeah So it’s for collectors to justify this kind of pricing Very expensive train models here 600,000 models too More train models They look like fine replicas or something like that There’s another train 24,000 for that one 3,000 yen for the bus That’s most affordable Coming up in the next episode we start off in the heart of Tokyo with a visit to Ginsa and Tokyo Tower Then we head off the beaten path to explore one of the city’s largest national parks From there the adventure continues with stops in Oda Kamakura Itito and Atami as we leave the city behind and see a whole new side of Japan

Thanks Airalo for sponsoring this video. Get $3 off your first eSIM purchase with our code: GEMINI3 – https://try.airalo.com/GeminiDiscover

In this family travel vlog, we leave the Mount Fuji region and begin our Tokyo adventure—our longest stop on our 25-day trip through Japan with kids. We start by saying goodbye to the Lake Kawaguchiko area and make our way into Tokyo, where we explore some of the city’s most famous spots—including Shibuya Crossing, Shinjuku, and Takeshita Street in Harajuku. But we don’t just stick to the tourist trail. We also venture off the beaten path to discover kid-friendly activities, local neighborhoods, and hidden gems that most travelers never see.

If you’re looking for ideas on what to do in Tokyo with kids, how to navigate the city as a family, or just want a real look at what traveling in Japan with young children is like—this episode is for you.

📍 Destinations in this video:
Lake Kawaguchiko → Tokyo
Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Local parks, shops, and stroller-friendly spots

📌 Watch Next
🇯🇵 25 Days in Japan with Kids Video Series 🇯🇵
Join us on our 25-day family adventure through Japan!
We’re a family of four from Seattle, exploring Japan for the first time with our two young kids. From the bustle of Tokyo, to the beauty of Lake Kawaguchi, and seaside escapes of Kamakura and Atami, we’re sharing the highs, lows, and unforgettable moments of traveling Japan as a family.
📍 New episodes bi-weekly
🎒 Family-friendly tips throughout

Ep 1 – https://youtu.be/CfjaC6wVz70
Ep 2 – This episode
Ep 3 – Tokyo Hidden Gems & Odaiba – COMING SOON
Ep 4 – Kamakura
Ep 5 – Ito and Atami
Ep 6 – Tokyo (Senso-ji) – COMING SOON

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We are Suzi, Martin, Julian, and Leo, travel family vloggers based in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Here we share our adventures traveling as an adventurous couple and now a small family with a young baby. Join us as we explore the United States and beyond!

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0:00 – Intro
0:39 – Leaving Lake Kawaguchi
6:33 – Arrival to Tokyo
8:42 – Tokyo Airbnb
14:32 – Baby products search
18:07 – Suginami City morning walk
20:20 – Godzilla in Shinjuku
23:15 – Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
26:00 – Takeshita Street, Harajuku
29:47 – Shibuya Scramble Crossing
34:01 – Nakano City exploration
36:23 – Children’s Traffic Park
39:52 – Nakano Broadway