The clichéd futuristic skyscrapers and hushed ancient temples are to be expected on a trip to Tokyo. If the timing is right perhaps too the pretty flutter of the springtime cherry blossom. But unless you’ve visited Japan’s capital with a child, you’re unlikely to have experienced the sheer joy of easing open the door of a Hello Kitty-themed hotel suite; a high-camp wonderland that feels like tiptoeing inside a five-year-old’s imagination.
Naysayers said that bringing our two daughters, aged six and twelve, on an eight-day half-term trip to Tokyo was a mad idea. The long-haul flight and time difference would be too brutal for younger travellers, they warned, and the costs sky-high, with a language barrier that would make navigating the city a headache rather than a holiday.
I begged to differ. Having visited Tokyo before, where I’d been introduced to the world of kawaii — the endearing Japanese pop culture that celebrates all things outrageously cute — I felt sure that the city’s colourful attractions would chime well with our children. In recent years, thanks to the cult of Hello Kitty and Pokémon and a surge of interest in the distinctive style of animé cartoons, contemporary Japanese culture has become a hit with a new generation of British children. Throw into the mix a big-ticket visit to Tokyo Disneyland, the second most visited theme park in Asia, plus a host of curiosities including hotels with robot staff, and my inkling was that we had all the ingredients for an epic child-friendly holiday.
Zoey Goto and one of her daughters in Tokyo
First, though, we have to brave the 17-hour journey. There are direct flights from the UK to Tokyo, but they are eye-wateringly expensive, so instead we choose to change planes in Seoul, South Korea, saving a wedge but adding a gruelling extra couple of hours in transit (if longer we might have spent a few nights there too).
Fuzzy around the edges, we finally touch down in Tokyo and venture through the metropolis. Seeing the cityscape through the wide-eyed wonder of my children offers a fresh perspective. “This is way more fun than London!” my youngest enthuses as we stop to snack at a kerbside vending machine serving steaming bowls of ramen noodles. One minute we are passing a Blade Runner vision of the future with sky trains gliding past billboard adverts that literally shout in booming voices to the crowd; the next we’re peeking down ramshackle alleyways at the glow of centuries-old tea houses.
Arriving at the upmarket shopping district of Ginza, we check into the Mimaru Ginza East aparthotel, where our Pokémon-themed family room features jaunty yellow Pikachu mascots bouncing across the walls, carpet, mirrors and crockery, enormous Pokémon plush toys, plus one of the musical lavatories that are ubiquitous in Japan.
Zoey’s family stayed in a Pokémon-themed family room at the Mimaru Ginza East apartment hotel
POKÉMON/NINTENDO/CREATURES INC/GAME FREAK INC
As the world’s most populous city, with more than 37 million residents, plus record numbers of tourists thrown in the mix (19.6 million visited in 2023), Tokyo can feel at times frenetic. We ease ourselves into its rhythm by opting for gentler activities over the first few days. “Not another art gallery!” comes the exasperated plea from my eldest, but she’s soon happily splashing barefoot through a prism of surreal room sets filled with ankle-deep water and floating flowers at the teamLab Planets museum — a photogenic and immersive art installation (adults £20, children £7-£14; teamlabplanets.dmm.com/en).
Following a pitstop at a venue in the Shimokitazawa district called Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory to fortify ourselves with sweet pastries shaped as the Studio Ghibli character Totoro (from £3; shiro-hige.net) — which are almost too adorable to eat — we leave the neon symphony of the city for a day trip to Moominvalley Park. An hour outside Tokyo by express train, this whimsical theme park pays homage to the white hippo-like creatures created by the Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson. Like the original Moominworld theme park in Finland, the focus here is on creative play rather than adrenaline-pumping rides. In the sky-blue Moomin House visitors can climb up the creaking stairs to peek into Moominpapa’s library, while outside in the leafy forest children play hide and seek in treehouses or watch stage shows performed in Japanese by Snufkin and friends (adults £17, children £10; metsa-hanno.com/en).
Once we’ve wrapped our heads around Tokyo’s colour-coded underground system, getting about with a prepaid Pasmo travel card (available to purchase from all Tokyo Metro stations) is surprisingly cheap and easy. Subway stops are announced in both Japanese and English, a welcome addition since my last visit. We’re soon whizzing around, stopping off in Harajuku (like a clean Camden) for a dose of extreme street style, which goes down a storm with my tween daughter.
This youth-focused district is filled with indie clothing stores and hole-in-the-wall eateries peddling rainbow candyfloss and hot dogs decorated with googly eyes, with teenagers in cosplay and goth outfits sauntering past, which ticks the box for both my children’s age groups.
Tickets to Tokyo Disneyland are half the price of Walt Disney World in Orlando
ALAMY
Rising at daybreak the following day, we join a throng at the entrance to Tokyo Disneyland, standing in line beside adults in head-to-toe princess and dashing prince attire. It’s the first time I’ve witnessed the cast upstaged by the visitors at a theme park, adding an endlessly entertaining guessing game of spot the staff member to our day of looping the loop on rollercoasters. Pleasingly our day pass for a family of four comes in at £160, about half the price of a similar visit to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida (we bought in advance but, strangely enough, the price doesn’t change if you buy on the day; tokyodisneyresort.jp).
Having dined on Mickey Mouse-themed spring rolls and Baymax burgers, shaped as the lead of Big Hero 6, it’s a short stomp to the nearby Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay. Thrillingly there to greet us at the check-in desk is a menace of talking animatronic dinosaurs. Fearsome teeth gnash and terrible claws paw the air, before a mechanical voice politely asks to scan our passports, spitting out fob keys to our room, which has a miniature speaking concierge robot by the bedside.
Many moons ago a Tokyoite confided in me that no visit to their city was complete without a trip to Sanrio Puroland, aka Hello Kitty Land, so on our penultimate day we heed their advice. Despite this being a midweek school day in Tokyo, the indoor theme park — which opened in 1990 — is abuzz with adults dressed in frilled petticoats and knee-high socks, sporting supersized hairbows and clutching dolls. My children are ecstatic, breathlessly darting from meet and greets with Hello Kitty and My Melody to the fuchsia pink café. We lunch on katsu curry and rice embossed with charming smiley faces that transform an otherwise mundane meal into something quite magical. With the current weakness of the Japanese yen, the total bill for our meal and drinks for four scrapes in at under £30, a significant drop since my pre-pandemic visit, and far less than a family lunch trip at home to Pret (entry from £18; puroland.jp).
Sanrio Puroland, aka Hello Kitty Land, opened in 1990
Had we finally hit peak kawaii? Not by a long shot. Leaving the revelry of Sanrio Puroland, we cruise over to the Keio Plaza Hotel Hachioji for our Hello Kitty sleepover. In the summer of 2023 this hotel in the western part of Greater Tokyo unveiled four hyper-themed Sanrio character suites, becoming an instant hit with visiting families and selling out months in advance.
• 16 of the best hotels in Tokyo
• Tokyo travel guide: When to go, what to do, and why you’ll love it
With the deft tap of a bubble-gum pink key on the hotel door, we enter our room to discover every detail meticulously considered, from the Hello Kitty toiletries and limited-edition keepsake toys to the branded wallpaper splashed across the walls and ceiling in every conceivable shade of rose. It’s the best hotel room she’s ever seen, gasps our six-year-old, before making herself comfortable beneath the glorious frills of the twinkling canopied bed, her mind already on the Sanrio-themed breakfast buffet awaiting us.
In that moment all thoughts of the arduous journey home to come evaporate. As we settle down to watch an episode of Hello Kitty on the widescreen TV, it’s clear that I’m enjoying this holiday every bit as much as the children. Our overstuffed bags wait by the door, crammed to bursting with prized packets of Japanese-exclusive matcha KitKat bars, limited-edition animé figurines and kawaii soft toys.
In Tokyo, it seems, we’ve discovered a cute utopia where it’s not just children who are allowed to be children — so too are the adults.
Zoey Goto was a guest of the Japan National Tourism Organization (japan.travel).
The Mimaru Ginza East apartment hotel has a night’s self-catering for four from £390 (mimaruhotels.com); Keio Plaza Hotel Hachioji has B&B doubles from £274, and room-only Hello Kitty suite for four from £250 (keioplaza.co.jp); Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay has B&B doubles from £82, B&B family room for four from £89 (hennnahotel.com). Fly to Tokyo
More family-friendly things to do and places to stay in TokyoGhibli Museum
Tickets to The Ghibli Museum quickly sell out
It’s fastest fingers first when trying to secure entry to this popular museum in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka, with tickets released at 10am on the 10th of each month on a first-come-first-served basis. Once inside, you’ll find a theatre adorned with murals showing Studio Ghibli’s animated films, including classic shorts such as Koro’s Big Day Out and Mei and the Kittenbus. Rotating exhibitions of hand-drawn illustrations, stage-set play areas and a café tucked into a magical pine forest all make for a very special day out (adults £5, children £3; ghibli-museum.jp/en).
Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo, The Making of Harry Potter
The Making of Harry Potter in Tokyo is less crowded than its London counterpart
TOMOHIRO OHSUMI/GETTY IMAGES
Potterheads will be spellbound by this wizard attraction, which opened in 2023 to become the largest indoor Harry Potter theme park in the world. It features many of the greatest hits of its London counterpart — including the Great Hall and higgledy-piggledy Diagon Alley — but thanks to a larger footprint there’s a wealth of interactive experiences and less crowding. The tour is bilingual, in Japanese and English. Come for the scaled-up stage sets of the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts’ moving staircase (both larger than their British cousins) and stay for the butterbeer popcorn (entry £32 adult, £26 teenagers, £19 child; wbstudiotour.jp/en).
Sunshine City Prince Hotel
The new Moomin-themed suites at this smart hotel in the Ikebukuro district are the perfect way to round off a visit to Moominvalley Park.
Details B&B doubles from £129 (princehotels.co.jp/sunshine)
Park Hotel Tokyo 
Each room of the Park Hotel has been decorated by a prominent artist
KON-KON INC
If the children resist a visit to an art gallery, let the art come to you with a stay at this luxe hotel in the midtown district of Minato City, which includes a floor where each room has been decorated by a prominent artist. The Otafuku Face room by Aki Kondo is a particularly fun choice.
Details Room-only doubles from £119 (parkhoteltokyo.com)
Have you taken your children to Tokyo? Let us know about your experiences in the comment below
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