Family

The practical definition here is somewhere children can be children: aquariums, zoos, hands-on museums, theme parks and outdoor spaces with room to run, as opposed to sites built around quiet and not touching things.

Money works differently in this category than elsewhere on this site, because almost everything is ticketed and almost everything has child pricing. Expect tiers split around elementary-school age with under-threes or under-fours commonly free, but treat the exact cut-offs as a per-venue question rather than a national rule — they vary and are the thing people most often assume. An aquarium or a decent science museum is usually in the low thousands for an adult and roughly half that for a child; municipal zoos and city parks are often a few hundred yen or free.

Time: budget two to three hours for an aquarium or museum and a full day for a theme park, and be aware that the effective limit is the youngest member of the group rather than the opening hours.

Access is the thing to check before travelling. Modern aquariums, science museums and large parks are stroller-friendly, with lifts and changing facilities. Older buildings, temple grounds, castle keeps and hillside sites frequently are not, and stairs without a lift are normal at older facilities. Nursing rooms and changing tables are reliable at newer large attractions and much less so at small or old ones.

One more: Japan is unusually good for this category at the low end — neighbourhood parks with serious play equipment, free science centres, small city zoos — and those are spread across regional cities rather than concentrated in the capitals.

Pick for the youngest person in the group and let everyone else be pleasantly surprised. That single rule prevents most bad days out here: the itinerary that works for a seven-year-old is punishing for a two-year-old, and the reverse is merely dull.

Then apply the indoor rule. If the weather is at all uncertain, and particularly in the rainy season or in high summer heat, an indoor attraction is not a compromise but the correct choice — heat exhaustion in an August afternoon is a real risk for small children and the shade at Japanese outdoor sites is thinner than visitors expect.

Third criterion: prefer something with an interval structure — feeding times, a show, a scheduled demonstration — over something that is only a display. It gives the visit a shape and a reason to sit down, and it is why aquariums outperform zoos for younger children almost everywhere.

Fourth, and specific to travelling: check the stroller and luggage situation before you commit. Large attractions have lockers and lifts; the small hillside site with the good view has neither, and discovering that with a pushchair at the bottom of ninety steps is a day-ruining moment.

Finally, do not over-plan. One ticketed attraction plus a park is a better day with children than two ticketed attractions, and the park is usually the bit they talk about afterwards.

Assuming a child price without checking the cut-off. The tiers vary by venue and the boundary is often the difference between free and full price.

Booking an outdoor day in July or August. Midday heat and humidity are genuinely hard on small children, and shade is scarce. Move outdoor plans to early morning and put the museum in the afternoon.

Taking a stroller to an older site. Castle keeps, temple grounds, gravel paths and hillside sites are stairs and loose surfaces. Check first, or take a carrier.

Arriving at a theme park at eleven. Queues build through the morning and the day is effectively decided in its first two hours.

Relying on finding a nursing room. Reliable at large modern attractions, unreliable everywhere else, and worth confirming before travelling any distance.

Planning two ticketed attractions in a day. With children this almost never works. The second one is usually endured rather than enjoyed.

Forgetting that many places close one day a week. Municipal zoos and museums have a closing day like everything else, commonly Monday.

Not bringing a change of clothes to a water-play park. Summer parks with water features are ubiquitous and the children will get wet whether or not it was the plan.