Semi-invisible Gaijin

2021の我が家のこと

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

年もおしせまり、何かと忙しい頃となりました。
一年があっという間にすぎましたが、今年も皆さんはお元気に過ごされましたか？
うちは、去年12月に新しい家に引っ越しましたが、やっと我が家らしくなって来ました。２０２１年の我が家のことを伝えします。
家族のこと
長女の麗樺は今年１５歳になりました。Burnaby North Secondary SchoolでGrade 10（高１）の生徒です。今年は、楽器を休んで、合唱団に集中しています。
次女の喜莉珂は１３歳です。6月に、Westridge Elementary Schoolを卒業し、9月から、姉とBurnaby North Secondary Schoolへ通学しています。Grade 8（中２）になりました。土曜日もまだバンクーバー補習授業校にオンラインで通学しています。
2月に家の初代ハムスターの宗助は永眠しました。寂しいですが、３年半生きたので、長寿だったと思います。
5月に、二代目の銀河を迎えました！とても元気で、いつも頬袋は食べ物でパンパンです。
5月末に英里は交通事故に遭いました。4台の玉突き事項だったので、骨折などの大怪我ではなくて良かったですが、車は廃車に。軟質組織の損傷の為にまだリハビリしに理学療法に行っています。大変ですが、今の家は階段はないのは良かったです。
そのため、思ったより早く、新しい車を買いました。
マーシャルはまだパンを作っています。

旅行のこと
コロナ禍で、今年は旅行にあまり行きませんでしたが、マーシャルは3月に日本に行きました。14日間待機した後、５日間バタバタで色んな用事を済ませました。会えなかった人ごめんなさい。
長女の麗樺と次女の喜莉珂は、8月に、初めて子供2人だけで、モントリオールの叔母さん(マーシャルの妹)キャロラインに会に行きました。10日間で色々体験したようで、楽しかったそうです。妹に感謝。
その他
今年、天気はずいぶん気温差が激しかったです。
６月末に熱波があって、42℃まで上がりましたが、家は冷房が有りませんから、一時期に両親の家に避難しました。
ブリティッシュコロンビア州は山火事も有りましたが、今年、バンクーバー周辺はそんなに影響を受けませんでした。
その後、11月に大雨が有りました。近くの町が洪水となりましたが、家は特に何の問題もなかったです。12月に一日二日雪が降りましたが、積もらなくて良かったです。
まあ、コロナ禍なので、ほぼ家にいますが、１年を振り返ると色々な事がありましたね。
皆様の安全とご健康が守られますよう心よりお祈り申し上げます。

どうず楽しいクリスマス、良いお年をお迎えください。

マーシャル、英里、麗樺、喜莉珂（＋銀河）

2021 Summary

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

Dear Friends and Family,

Another year has passed and we hope that you have been well. It's time again for another update on the Wong/Matsumoto family.

We moved at the end of last year and finally our house is getting to be a home.

Family
Reika (15) is now in Grade 10 at Burnaby North Secondary. After three years of trumpet, she's decided to take a break and focus on choir this year.
Kirika (13) finished Grade 7 at Westridge Elementary School in the spring and is now also going to Burnaby North with her sister. She continues to attend the Vancouver Japanese School online on Saturdays.

In February, our hamster, Sousuke, of three years pass away. It was a sad day, but he lived a long life, for a hamster.
We welcomed Ginga, our new hamster, into our house in May.
Eri was in a car accident at the end of May. She wasn't seriously hurt, but the car was a write off. Since then, Eri's been going to physiotherapy to help with the soft tissue damage. Thank goodness our new place doesn't have any stairs.
So we had to buy a new car sooner that expected. Slowly making our way into the electric vehicle economy.
Marshal continues to make sourdough bread.
Since September, he's been going to a gym regularly three days a week in the mornings. He feels he's been in the best shape of his life.

Travel
With the pandemic, there wasn't much travel this year. Marshal did manage make his annual trip to Japan for around 3 weeks in March/April. He had to quarantine for 14 days in Japan, so that really cut the trip to about 5 days of freedom. He then had to quarantine for two weeks (actually 15 days) on return to Canada.
Reika and Kirika went to visit their Auntie Caroline in Montreal in August. It was their first plane trip alone, without parents or supervisors. But they made it there and back safely and had many adventures with Caroline.
Other
The weather in British Columbia has been a bit crazy this year. First there was the heat wave at the end of June. Our place doesn't have air conditioning, so we had to escape to Marshal's parents during the day for a couple of days. At least our place was still cool enough to get a little sleep.

There were the wildfires after that. Luckily, it didn't affect the lower mainland that much. The air quality was only really bad for a few days.

Then in November there were the rains from a series of atmospheric rivers. This caused flooding and mudslides in cities nearby, but luckily we were unaffected.

We've had a couple of days of snow so far, but nothing that has stayed. Nor have we gotten any freezing weather, for which we are also grateful, given all the rain.

We haven't really done much this year because of the pandemic, but looking back, it still was an eventful year.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season and into the new year. To quote Dr. Bonny Henry, "Be calm, be safe, be kind."

The Wong’s / Matsumoto’s
Marshal, Eri, Reika, Kirika (+Ginga)

Chatei Hatou

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

I finally made it to Chatei Hatou in Shibuya, after hearing about it from The Random Show with Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose. Kevin talks about an “old beans" coffee which is a pour-over that takes 20 minutes, and I’ve been meaning to try it ever since.

The closest exit is the 13a elevator from Shibuya station on the Fukutoshin line. It’s on a side street and the very small and unassuming sign almost made me miss it. It’s all in kanji, which made it harder. The kanji for “Hatou" is “羽當"




The inside is very bar like. A long counter with the back wall lined with cups and saucers. The lighting is dim. All the male staff are in ties and the female staff in bar staff uniform (white collared shirt, black vest and apron).

Since I was alone, I was seated at the counter, which gave me a view of the workings of the brewing process. The main barista, a middle-aged man with an almost expressionless face, did most of the drink making. His helpers took orders, prepped the food, boiled the water and washed the dishes around him.

Attention to details

Each of the drinks were prepared in a meticulous process. All the brewed coffee was carefully hand poured, with the beans ground just before brewing. The paper filter was folded just right. Hot water was used to heat all serveware (carafes, cups, teapots, etc.) before the coffee added. Milk and coffee for the cafe au lait were heated in long handled pots before being poured, simultaneously, into a cup with whipped creme.


Cold drinks had their serveware chilled with ice and cold water before liquids are added. The iced cafe au lait was served in wine glasses and has the cold coffee floated on top of the milk using a curved bar spoon. They were then chilled in the fridge again before serving. Ice cubes, for iced coffee, etc., were broken into smaller pieces with an ice pick.

Aging Coffee

The Japanese menu didn’t have an “old beans", but there was an “Aging Coffee", which was the most expensive coffee on the menu. I ordered that and was told that it would take 15 minutes. Jackpot!

The barista told me that he could make it less bitter if I wanted, but I told him bitter was fine. Instead of a paper filter and ceramic cone, the barista put the grinds into a cloth filter with a handle. He tapped the handle a few times with a wooden dowel to settle the grinds and then used a pointed end of the dowel to swirl a small well into the middle of the grinds.

For the pour, it was a literal trickle. Dribbles of hot water dripped onto the grinds while the barista made gentle swirling motions with the pot. The motions were ever so gentle. At one point, the barista was looking away to check in the other staff. The gentle swirling motion continued, but no water came out of the spout until he returned his attention to the task at hand.

The coffee grinds expanded as the hot water soaked in. With all the grinds soaked, the barista turned to serving other customers’ orders for a bit. Upon returning, he continued the gentle swirling motion and slowly coffee began to drip into the carafe below. Back and forth, the barista would go between dripping water onto the grinds and making other drinks. It was mesmerizing watching him work with economy of motion. Each movement deliberate and with meaning. Not rushing, but not too relaxed either. No banging or beating like you hear in an espresso bar.

By the time the brewing was complete, the grinds had grown from below the top of the filter to bulging a centimetre above. A slow dribble took the coffee into the carafe, which the barista then poured into a demitasse cup.

The coffee was smooth with just the right amount of acidity. I drank in black, like I do with all coffee, and it wasn’t bitter at all. It was well-rounded and had a great finish. No astringency at all. While not an espresso, it tasted like how I imagine a perfect espresso would taste like. It was gooooood… and matched the maple chiffon cake perfectly.



Blend Coffee

I wanted to stay longer to watch and to write, so I also ordered a regular drip coffee, the Hatou Original Blend. Again, it was a smooth cup of coffee that I could drink forever.

Details

Chatei Hatou (茶亭 羽當)
1 Chome-15-19 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 150-0002
〒150-0002東京都渋谷区渋谷1-15-19

11AM - 11:30PM

  • Cash only
  • No non-smoking seats


Visiting Tokyo with Kids - Getting around Tokyo - Buses

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

After trains, another option for getting around Tokyo is via buses.

I have already mentioned some bus options with respect to getting to Narita airport. In this post, I will be talking about local buses that run regular routes with stops every few blocks. Within Tokyo, the main bus system is run by the metropolitan government and is called Toei Bus, or more colloquially ToBus (都バス)

Why would you want to take a local bus if the train system is so go. Well, sometimes the bus is the most direct route, and with kids, that can be important. For example, to get from where I lived, Toyosu Station (Y-22), to Tokyo Station by train requires one transfer and use of two different train lines, the subway and JR. So imagine you are going with kids in a stroller. There is one set of stairs down to get from street level to the concourse level at Toyosu station. Another couple flights of stairs after the turnstiles to get to the platform. Then once you get to Yurakucho station, the transfer station, there is a flight of stairs up from the platform, and then another flight of stairs up to ground level. Once you’re past the turnstiles in JR Yurakucho station, it’s another flight of stairs up to the platform level. Finally, after you go one stop to Tokyo station, it’s another flight of stairs down to get to ground level. Not to mention that Yurakucho station and Tokyo station are busy stations during the day and Tokyo station is huge!

With a bus, it may take twenty minutes, but you just sit and watch the city go by.

Some buses may have stairs, but in my experience, most of the local buses in Tokyo are level buses with no stairs, more for the elderly than for children though. Another warning is that the buses are not that wide or designed well for strollers. So it might be easier to fold up the stroller and just have your child on your lap.

Using buses

There are generally two ways that buses fares are calculated, flat-rate or by distance.

Flat-rate - get on from the front

Flat-rate is the easiest. You pay one fare to get on the bus and can get off at any stop. These buses are easily recognized because you get on at the front of the bus and pay at the machine right by the driver. If you have a SUICA or PASMO card, it’s easy, just tap and go.

You can pay by cash and usually there is a change machine for 1,000 yen notes. Sorry, you probably can’t get change for 5,000 yen or 10,000 yen notes, so break it beforehand.

Leave the bus from the back door.

By-distance - get on from the back and take a ticket

By-distance buses usually board from the back door. If you are paying by SUICA or PASMO, tap the card on the machine by the door. If you’re paying cash, take a number ticket from the machine that should be there. If you’re at the first stop, they may not give you a ticket. There will be a board at the front of the bus with boxes labeled “なし" (which means “nothing"), 1, 2, 3, and so on. Below these labels will show the fare that you have to pay when you get off, depending of what number ticket you have.

For example, let’s say you get on the first stop and don’t get a ticket. The bus starts moving and under “なし" the fare may change to “130", indicating that if you get off at the next stop, you need to pay 130 yen. Further down the route, the “なし" fare may become “210", and the “1" fare becomes “130". So if you are holding a “1" ticket, you pay 130 yen when you get off and if you don’t hold a ticket, you pay 210 yen. So if you ever lose you ticket, you automatically have to pay the maximum fare to that point.

If you’re paying by SUICA or PASMO, just tap when you get off and it’s all taken care of. If you’re paying cash, drop your ticket along with the correct fare into the collection box. I don’t think the drivers check very much, but they do have a screen that shows how much you’ve dropped in the box.

Child fares

While each bus company may be different, but usually child fares are half the adult fare and for children elementary school age (6 to 12). Check the bus company website or ask the driver about “kodomo ryoukin" (子ども料金)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Visiting Tokyo with Kids - Getting around Tokyo - Trains

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink


Tokyo is a big city with a population of approximately 9 million people just in the 23 wards. That population swells during the day as people from outside the 23 wards come in for work. Simply put, you are dealing with a lot of people. Luckily, Tokyo has one of the most developed and efficiently run public transportation systems in the world.

Let’s start with the trains.

Trains will likely be your primary form of transportation while in Tokyo. There are approximately 30 train and subway operators in the greater Tokyo area running approximately 120 train lines. Fear and complexity is probably one of the first things you’ll feel when look at a train map of Tokyo.

Fortunately for you, you live in the era of Google Maps and almost all train information is connected to the internet. So if you know which train station you are at and which train station you want to go to, you can usually get directions on which lines to take and where to transfer at. If you are traveling around central Tokyo within normal hours (6AM to 9PM) trains usually run often enough that even if you don’t get on the train that Google Maps tells you to get on, trains run often enough that you probably won’t be delayed more than 10 to 15 minutes.

In an effort to be more tourist friendly, most train stations are now labeled was a letter-number combination which identifies the line and station. No more needing to remember how a station is spelled or how it’s written in Japanese. For example, Toyosu station on the Yurakucho subway line is now station Y-22.

Train Operators

There are 30 some operators of trains and subways in Tokyo. This used to be really confusing because you would have to buy a ticket from each operator if you were using lines from multiple operators. However, this has been greatly simplified in the last 10 years with the introduction and integration of the SUICA and PASMO IC card systems. More on these later, but I want to introduce a few major train lines as some of the pass options discussed below are restricted to specific operators.
  • Japan Railway (JR) - the Japanese national railway system
  • Tokyo Metro - The main subway system in Tokyo
  • Toei Subway - The subway system operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan government

Train Fares

There are two major classifications for train companies: Japan Railway (JR) and other operators, like Keisei, Tobu, Seibu, and the subways. I only bring this up because you may be considering purchasing a JR Rail pass. A JR Rail pass, obviously, can only be used on JR lines, which are sometimes not the most convenient stations for where you want to go. A JR Rail pass is great if you want to see more of Japan, if you are focused on Tokyo, I have some other recommendations or options.

Keisei Skyliner & Metro Pass

If you are flying into Narita, one option is the Keisei Skyliner & Metro Pass which is a Skyliner ticket with a 1-day or 2-day (consecutive) pass for the Tokyo Metro subway system. This is a good option if you want to pile in a lot of travel in a couple of days. If not, I would plan out your travels and consider whether it makes sense financially for you. Tickets for adults average around 200 yen per trip, so you need to make around 8 trips to make the 710 yen 1-day Metro pass worth while. With the combo option, you save 510 yen, so essentially you’re getting the day-pass for free. So it might be worth it for the 1-day Metro pass.

Pay as you go with a SUICA or PASMO IC Card

My recommendation, while may not be the cheapest on a per-trip basis, but allows for the most flexibility (which is important when traveling with kids) is to buy a SUICA or PASMO IC Card and charge the card with how ever much you think you will use. There is a 500 yen deposit for the card which you can get refunded (less a refund processing fee) at the end of your trip if you don’t want to keep your card. I would probably put at least 3,000 yen for an adult card if you are staying 5 days in Tokyo and moving around. You can always charge more later

Both SUICA and PASMO can be used on almost all train lines now. You can also use it on most of the public buses that run in Tokyo. Just tap and go! Beyond that, you can use them to pay at many convenience stores, vending machines and coin lockers. So if you have some funds left over at the end of your trip and don't want to bother with a refund, just buy some snacks at a convenience store!

The one disadvantage is that you will need to get a registered child card for children between the ages of 6 and 11 (i.e. elementary school - grades 1 to 6) to get the child fare. Only adult fare cards are sold at the machines so ask at the ticketing counter to get a child card. They may ask to see the child's passport as proof of age. Children under 6 are free on the trains.

Traveling to Tokyo with Kids - Kidzania

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

The first few posts have been focussed on tactical aspects of traveling in Tokyo. There are a few more posts on that topic, like on transportation within Tokyo, but for this and most of the following posts, I will cover one thing to do in Tokyo with your kids.

Today we cover Kidzania!

What is Kidzania?

Kidzania is model city for kids. The city consists of various pavilions, like a grocery store, fire station, veterinarian, hospital, dentist, airport, construction site, pizza shop, etc. Kids can “work" (i.e., perform some guided activities) at most of the pavilions and get paid in “kidZos", the currency of Kidzania. The KidZos can be spent at other pavilions like the department store to buy items like pencils and erasers, etc. A 50 kidZos traveler’s cheque is included in the admission price which should be enough to buy one item at the department store. You’ll have to get the traveler’s cheque cashed at the bank.

There are also some bigger ticket items to be purchased. But you’ll probably have to get your kids to open a bank account and deposit the kidZos for the next time you come (you’ll get a bank card). Of course, they can store the kidZos in a box under their bed if they want.

Shifts

There are two shifts, one from 9AM to 3PM and one from 4PM to 9PM. For the older kids, doing a full shift allows them to get at least 5 to 6 activities done. With careful planning, and a little luck, you can probably get up to 10 activities done in a full shift. Each shop will have an information board at the front. If the line up is long, you can reserve one shop in advance and be told when to come back for your turn.

If you got some younger ones who won’t be able to handle a full shift, you can try the 2-hour “Star Flex Pass". Just a warning that 2-hours may not allow your child the opportunity to experience some of the more popular pavilions as the wait time to the next opening may be more than 2 hours. They could try some part-time jobs which only take 15 minutes. Staffing and the number of activities are adjusted based on how many people have reserved. (My wife worked at Kidzania for a period of time.)

I won’t go into great detail about admissions and activities as Kidzania’s English website is quite good, but I will provide some hints.

  1. Activities are for kids only. Parents are usually not allowed to participate. So let them do there own thing. No helicopter parents. Just take lots of pictures.
  2. Make reservations in advance. If you’re planning far out ahead, you can save 20% on the afternoon shift if you book four months in advance. Check out the 2nd shift advance ticket on the admissions page.
  3. If you want to get the most time out of your shift and get to do some of the popular activities, get to the mall at least one hour before your shift and get a spot in line (so before 8AM for the morning shift). During peak season, like summer vacation (End of July to End of August), Golden Week (April 28 to May 5), spring break (Last two weeks of March) and end of the year, you may want to get there even earlier, like 6AM. You can enter through the front door of the mall. There will be a line, I can almost guarantee it.
  4. If you are in the afternoon shift, you can go to the counter starting at 10:15 AM and get a numbered ticket (“Seiri-ken", 整理券). This numbered ticket will be your place in line. The afternoon shift lineup to get in starts around 3:15 for the people in the first group of numbered tickets. Your ticket should state when you need to be in line. If you don’t have a “Seiri-ken", you have to line up at the end of the line.
  5. Do a little planning to choose what activities you want to do. Popular activities are usually food related (Bakery, Hamburger Shop, Pizza, Candy Factory) as you get the food you make (well, except for maybe the bakery where the croissants come out magically from the oven in the back), so book those early. If you’re in the morning shift, you might want to eat a light breakfast and time your lunch and snacks based on when you get booked into a food related activity.
  6. Other popular activities are pavilions where you get “stuff" like the glasses shop or the pencil factory. Certain activities are also popular based on age and gender, like the subway and fire station for 3-5 year-old boys and the beauty salon for younger girls.
  7. Some of my recommendations are:
    1. Department of Motor Vehicles and Car Rental - if your child is >110 cm, they can get a drivers license and rent a car! Your child may need some Japanese to pass the test though.
    2. Radio Station - Your child gets to perform a radio show and get a CD of it afterwords. It’s mostly in Japanese though.
    3. Security Center and Courier - Your child gets to work in the actual economy of Kidzania by transporting KidZos or products to the various pavilions.
  8. This is Japan, so almost everything will be done in Japanese. If your kids have some basic Japanese, this is a great place for them to practice in a supportive environment. If your kids have little to no Japanese, I recommend booking (for some extra cost) an EAP or EAP eKspress where your child will be taken through a pre-determined set of activities in English with no waiting time. There is time before and after the EAP to try to do other activities. Or you can try the “English Wednesday" program where they have some English speaking staff on about half the Activities. Other days will have some Activities in English. For English Wednesday and regular days the English is done by Japanese staff who use some English. It may not be very fluent.



Nearest Station: Yurakucho Line - Toyosu Station (Y-22) , Yurikamome Line - Toyosu Station (U-16)

Target Age Range: 3 to 15

GUEST POST from Uncover Japan! - Visiting Tokyo with Kids - Places to Stay

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

For this post, we get to benefit from the wonderful experience of Mandy Bartok from Uncover Japan. Mandy is a tour guide, travel consultant, and a writer for The Japan Times. She can help you prepare an itinerary for your travels and is available for consultations. She’s also a great photographer, so follow her on Facebook!

I asked Mandy if she could provide some advice for families looking for places to stay in Japan. Here is her advice:

  • Nearly all accommodations offer free lodging for children under the age of 6 (11 for many hotel chains, but 6 for many ryokan) which makes it quite affordable for those willing to share a bed with their child(ren).
  • I find that the budget hotel chains of Toyoko Inn, Tokyu Inn (which also now has the Tokyu REI brand) and MyStays are usually my go to choices. Be warned that the beds at many of these hotels are never larger than queens (doubles are more common, or two twin beds if you can get a twin room) and the bed often takes up most of the room. These types of hotels are great for either one parent and one child traveling together or two parents and a very young/small child. If you have older children or want more room, you'll have to look to the larger and/or pricier international chains.
  • I loved traveling to ryokan with my daughter when she was little. Again, if you are willing to share bed and food, then the child is often free. If not, most ryokan have special pricing for children who don't need either bed OR meal and can accommodate special meal requests. We've often gotten excellent children's meals at the ryokan in which we've stayed.
  • If we can't call a ryokan ourselves, we've found it easy to book ryokan in English on Jalan or Rakuten - while both sites are Japanese, they have English language pages.
  • For those who want to spend a bit more than a night or two in a city, renting a house is an excellent way to go. AirBnB is quite popular in Japan, though the government has attempted to pass several laws regulating the personal rental market so be aware of the current situation before you go.
  • I've always rented a house or apartment in Kyoto through an excellent company called Japan Experience. Their homes are clean, comfortable, and well-located and someone always meets you at the house on arrival to help you settle in and get you familiar with the area.
  • When we've stayed in a house, we've often sent a portable crib ahead for our daughter via takkyubin (express shipping). This is an excellent option if you don't want to carry extra gear with you, though be sure to plan a time for delivery when you know you'll already be in the house.

Thanks Mandy!

Just a few things that I want to add:

  1. Further to the issue about the legality of AirBnBs, I ran across this which may be good news if you are visiting Japan after June 30, 2018.
  2. The takkyubin (宅急便) shipping can be very helpful in your travels in Japan, especially if you want to visit different cities. With a little bit of planning and some advanced communication, you can sent stuff to your next destination, ready to pick-up when you get there. My best friend and I once did a personal marathon from Atami, Shizuoka down the Izu peninsula. Our final destination was an onsen (hot spring) (温泉). Since we were running, we sent our toiletries and change of clothes ahead of time to the hotel and let them know it was coming. Hassle-free, although you will probably need to do it in Japanese. The most famous takkyubin company is Kuroneko Yamato (black cat Yamato, クロネコヤマト), which is more than happy to help you with this service. There are other shipping companies you can use (Sagawa, Seino, Fukuyama), or even Japan Post, but Yamato has the biggest market share and they seem to be actively marketing this exact service. I also find that there are branches everywhere, including in department stores, although again you will probably need to have a working proficiency in Japanese. Finally, how can you miss their logo of the mommy cat carrying a kitten!

Hope you found this helpful and let us know if you have any further questions or comments.

Visiting Tokyo with Kids - Places to Stay

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

Staying in Tokyo with family for, what I would consider, a reasonable price, can be challenging. Personally, we are finding, for our next trip (March 2018), that it is challenging to find places for four of us to stay that won’t break the bank. However, we have less flexibility on where we want to stay which makes it slightly more challenging. If you don’t care so much which station you are staying at, you probably have more options. Our kids are also a bit older now, so squeezing two people into a twin bed doesn’t work as well any more.

Doing a quick Google search for “family friendly hotels in tokyo japan" will give you a list of sites which, at least for the five I looked at, provide a list of hotels with very brief descriptions. When the Four Seasons and the Shangri-la start showing up on the lists, I know those lists probably won’t work for me. If you’re willing to spend the money, by all means, go ahead. It’ll be comfortable, and you will be taken care of1. Some day I would like to try it, but for now, I will take a different approach.

Below I will describe out a few option to consider, focussing on ones that I have personal experience with. If you have other experiences, please feel free to leave comments!

For this discussion, I have assumed that you don’t mind sharing a double bed.

General Comments

Most of the hotel rooms that I have stayed in Japan have been with Japanese business hotel chains so they are small. Like claustrophobic small. But they didn’t cost more than ¥10,000 per night.

I would divide hotels in Japan in to several groups:

  1. International hotel chains (Shangri-La, Four Seasons, Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton, etc.)
  2. Japanese hotel chains (Washington, Prince, Tokyu, Nikko, etc.)
  3. Ryokan - traditional style inn
  4. Japanese business hotels (Toyoko Inn, APA Hotel, Route Inn, Daiwa Roynet Hotel, etc.)
  5. Specialty Hotels (Capsule hotels, love hotels)

On top of hotels, there are AirBnB options and, of course, friends and family.

International Hotel Chains

If you have the funds, by all means, stay in one of these. Rooms and beds are generally “normal"-sized by North American standards. However, just a warning that you might not be able to find a room with two double beds (i.e., able to sleep four in a room). If you’ve got a couple of young kids, you might be able to make do, but if your kids are in the same age bracket as mine (9-12), it’ll be a little tight in one room with two semi-double beds.

Japanese Hotel Chains

If you’re traveling on a tour, you’ll likely end up in one of these hotels. The Shinjuku Prince Hotel and the Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyu seems to be a popular ones. Sometimes you might get a good deal, but you’ll probably run into the same problems as with the international hotel chains with only twin rooms (two single beds) or, at max, triple (three single beds) room.

Ryokan

Ryokan is a whole separate experience (and blog post), which everyone must try at least once in their life. Fitting a family into a ryokan room is quite easy, given that the room often sleeps up to six futons. However, you probably don’t want to stay in one your entire trip due to the cost, which often includes two delicious meals (dinner and breakfast). Google “ryokan Tokyo" will turn up a bunch of listings. I would recommend that you save your ryokan experience for onsen areas, like Hakone or Nikko. Again, a separate post.

Japanese business hotels

These are our go-tos for staying in Japan for a reasonable cost. The rooms are small and you will need to get several to accommodate everyone, but if you can get a couple of double rooms, it’s often still cheaper than staying at one of the higher end hotels. Below are a couple of ones to take a look at. There are others, such as Route Inn and Daiwa Roynet Hotels that you could also take a look at.

Toyoko Inn

This chain of over 250 no-frills business hotels is our go-to place to stay. This great post on business hotels aptly describes them as the “McDonald’s" of hotels. They all look pretty similar but that’s a good thing. You can use the space under the bed to store your suitcase, although you may need to do some special maneuvering to get your larger suitcases underneath. The “unit bath" is functional, if a bit tight, with a shower/bath, sink and toilet crammed into the space about 2 telephone booths. A very simple breakfast is provided. Wi-fi and coin laundry machines are usually available.

The locations may be a little farther from the station, i.e., they won’t be across the street, but some, like the ones around Ueno, Akihabara and Tokyo stations, have a shuttle bus service.

Sunroute Hotel

While I have never stayed at a Sunroute Hotel, a family friend always stayed at the Hotel Sunroute Ariake with her two daughters when they came to visit us. It’s in Ariake, near the Odaiba shopping and entertainment district, Tokyo Big Sight, Fuji TV, the Rainbow Bridge and Oedo Onsen Monogatari (which is another blog post in itself)! It’s also quite easily accessible to Tokyo Disneyland, requiring only about 20 minutes and one transfer to get to Maihama station.

Specialty Hotels

Specialty Hotels like capsule hotels and love hotels might be fun to stay at if you’re traveling by yourself, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to take your family there. I don’t think they will let young kids stay alone in a capsule, nor will they let two squeeze into the same capsule. Love hotels and families have obvious issues, although I’ve heard that the rooms and beds can be quite large.

AirBnB

There are AirBnB options and I have had friends use them. AirBnB is a legally and socially gray area in Japan, especially in the more densely populated regions. I don’t have experience with AirBnB, but I just recommend that you be considerate of your neighbours, especially if the unit is in an apartment block.

Above are a few options to consider. Perhaps more to come in the comments or another post.

  1. On a side note, if you want to get into a high end restaurant, like Sukibayashi Jiro from “Jiro Dreams of Sushi", I recommend that you stay at a high end hotel, like the Four Seasons or the Shangri-la, and get the concierge to arrange to get you a reservation. Booking in advance, like months in advance, and informing the hotel of your desires at the time of booking will increase your chances of getting a reservation. The concierge also provides some comfort to the restaurant that you will actually show up, which apparently has been a problem, especially with non-Japanese customers. ↩

Visiting Tokyo with Kids - Getting to Tokyo - From Haneda

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

Haneda Airport

The other major international airport is Tokyo International Airport, more commonly known as Haneda (羽田) Airport, in Ota-ku, Tokyo-to. If you can fly into Haneda, it’s probably the easiest for transportation, but not all airlines service Haneda as frequently as Narita. For example, as of the time of this writing (January 1, 2018) Air Canada only services Haneda from Toronto, which doesn’t help me here in Vancouver. Anecdotally, I also find flights to Haneda more expensive than to Narita.

Taxi

Taxis may be the most convenient method of transportation if you’ve got a family of 4 traveling from Haneda. It won’t be the cheapest (ranging from approximately ¥6,000 to get to Tokyo Station area to ¥7,000-¥8,000 to get to Shibuya or Shinjuku. If you’re arriving late, there will also be a late-night surcharge often.) However, if you factor in not having to change trains or if your hotel is not one of the major hotels that the buses run to, it’s often the best option with kids.

One things to be warned though is this depend on how much luggage you have. The trunks of most of the taxis are fairly spacious, but if you have two large luggages, plus a stroller and other necessities for children, a family of four might not fit in one of the regular taxis. In my experience, van type taxis are far and few between. The movement to using Toyota Prius style hybrids with larger trunk space has not taken hold as much in Tokyo yet.

Train

Haneda Airport is serviced by two train lines, the Keikyu Line and the Tokyo Monorail. To be honest, I don't usually take the train to Haneda, since the areas that I lived or stay the most are in the east of Tokyo, which aren’t serviced by trains from Haneda. Better to take the bus or a taxi when you’re dragging two sleepy kids (who fell asleep just before you landed after watching the in-flight TV for 8 hours across the Pacific) plus luggage.

Keikyu Line

Keikyu (京急) is actually short for Keihin Kyuuko (京浜急行), or Keihin Express. The kanji for Keihin is 京浜, or the “kyo" (京) from Tokyo and the “hama" (浜) from Yokohama, the major port city south of Tokyo in Kanagawa prefecture. So the Keihin line (and the company itself) is focused on a route from Tokyo, specifically Shinagawa station, to Yokohama station, with extensions and off-shoots from that main line1. If where you are staying is along that route, i.e., Shinagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama, this is the best train to take. If you’re off exploring the Miura peninsula of Kanagawa prefecture, use the Keikyu line. If you’re trying to get into Tokyo, take the train to Shinagawa and change trains there (about ¥400 from Haneda to Shinagawa).

Tokyo Monorail

The Tokyo Monorail runs from Haneda Airport to Hamamatsucho station, where you can transfer to the JR Yamanote Line, and loop around Tokyo hitting pretty much every major station (Tokyo, Akihabara, Ueno, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Shinagawa). If you’re set on taking the train and are staying in central Tokyo, this is probably the fastest and most convenient route. Just note that it is a monorail, so it’s elevated, which means that there will be stairs at the end. If you’re getting on the JR lines, there is a direct transfer gate at Hamamatsucho station, but then you need to go down another set of stairs to get the platforms.

Buses

Like Narita, if you’re heading to one of the major hotels, buses are probably the cheapest option. The Limousine Bus company (look for the orange buses) runs regular buses from Haneda to most the major hotels all over Tokyo. Costs are around 1,500 yen for adults and half that for children (ages 6 to 12). Pre-school children (under 6) ride for free!

Haneda is also serviced by the Keihin Kyuuko Bus, often shortened to the Keikyu Bus. These buses run mostly to train stations, which may work if the place you’re staying at isn’t serviced by a bus at that time.

  1. If you know a little Kanji, you will find that many train lines and companies are quite descriptive. Besides Keihin, there is Keisei (Tokyo-Narita), as noted in the getting from Narita section. There are also the Keio (京王) train company that runs from Tokyo (東京) to Hachioji (八王子), the Tobu (東武) company that runs in the east (東) area for Musashi (武蔵), which was an old name of the Tokyo, Saitama, and Kanagawa area and the Seibu (西武) company that runs in the west (西) area of Musashi. There are also the train lines themselves, like the Tozai Line (東西), i.e., east-west line. After than, you kind of need to know some geography and history to understand the naming of the train lines. ↩

Visiting Tokyo with Kids - Getting To Tokyo - From Narita

Published by Marshal Wong

Permalink

Getting to Tokyo

I will use “Tokyo" in a very general sense. As mentioned in the previous post, Tokyo is a “to"「都」or metropolis, which is equivalent to a prefecture. Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, consisting of one “to" (Tokyo), one “do"1 (Hokkaido in the north), two “fu" (Osaka and Kyoto), and 43 “ken" (all the rest). The prefectures are grouped into regions. Kanto is the region consisting of Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. When I say “Tokyo", I really mean “Kanto", as pretty much most of Kanto is accessible by a two-hour train ride.

The Japanese also use “Tokyo" in a very generic sense. For example, Tokyo Disneyland is … not in Tokyo-to. Neither is the Tokyo Game Show or Tokyo Motor Show, both of which are held in Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, Chiba.

Arriving in Japan

If you fly to Tokyo, you more most likely land in one of two airports, Tokyo International Airport, or Haneda Airport, which is in Ota Ward, Tokyo-to, or Narita International Airport, which is in Narita, Chiba Prefecture. As you arrive, you will probably notice one of the most clean and efficiently run airports in the world, at least from the customer perspective. Your luggage will be pulled out from the carousel and neatly lined up near by if you haven’t picked it up before the next flight’s baggage arrived. Bathrooms are clean and orderly. So are the waiting areas. There are no touts trying to get your business. It's loud, but not boisterous. People stand in line.

About that, standing in line. Get used to it. Japanese people stand in line. For everything. No pushing. No shoving (generally, except in really crowded train situations). At the convenience store. Waiting for the bus or trains. Waiting to buy tickets. Waiting to enter a shrine after New Years. There are even marks on the train platforms or bus stops telling where to stand, and people follow them. So just accept it. It will make your life easier, and it is actually faster.

Back to the airports

From the airports there are multiple ways of getting into Tokyo center. Trains, buses and taxis are the most common.

Narita Airport

Taxi

Taxis in Japan are so clean and courteous that my first reverse culture-shock experience came from taking a cab on a trip back to Canada. That said, I do not recommend taking a taxi into Tokyo proper from Narita. It’s an hour or so drive and will probably end up costing you over 15,000 yen or around $150 USD, plus the expressway tolls. Even with kids, it’s not worth it.

Train

There are two train lines that service Narita Airport, Japan Railway (“JR") Narita line and Keisei Electric Railway (“Keisei")2 main line. Both run local trains with many stops, but both also run special express trains that stop only at major stations.

JR has the "Narita Express" which can take you to Tokyo Station in about 60 minutes for around 3,000 yen3. There are also Narita Express trains that go to other major stations in Tokyo like Ikebukuro and Shinjuku. The Narita Express is distinctive in its red and white coloring and the Boeing 747-like shape of the end cars.

A pair of JR East E259 series EMUs led by set Ne020 on a Narita Express service by 名無し野電車区 **(Nanashinodenshaku) (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons**4

Keisei has the "Skyliner", which you might think is a bullet train (or "Shinkansen" in Japanese) from its shape. It's fast and runs at around 160 km/h, getting you from Narita Airport to Ueno station (the next major station north of Tokyo) in around 45 minutes with only 1 stop after leaving the airport stations, but it's not Shinkansen fast, which has a maximum operating speed of 320 km/h. It costs around 2,500 yen.

Keisei AE series EMU passing Narita Yugawa Station on a Skyliner service by toshinori baba ([Public domain]), via Wikimedia Commons5

Personally, I'm a Skyliner fan. There are less stops than the Narita Express and because it now runs on a semi-dedicated track, there is less risk of problems along the way. The Narita Express runs on tracks shared with other JR trains that wait in the station for the Narita Express to pass. If there are delays in the regular trains, this can throw the Narita Express schedule off a bit.

The only downside for the Skyliner is that it only goes to Ueno, while the Narita Express goes to many different areas, if you don't mind just sitting on the train. (I used to live in Omiya, Saitama, north of Tokyo. One time, I took the Narita Express to Omiya station thinking "I'm tired, I just want to sit on one train and not transfer". It took me three hours to get home, after a cross-Pacific flight. Never again. Skyliner plus transfer would have taken half that time.)

The other downside of using trains in general is that you have to drag your luggage to and from the platforms. Elevators may be slow and/or cramped. Plus, don’t forget you’ve got to do this with kids in tow. Once on the train, there are spots at the front of each car where you can put your bags. It’s unlikely that your bags will be taken, but keep watch over them. Or lock them up.

Buses

If you’re heading to one of the major hotels, buses are probably the cheapest option. The Limousine Bus company (look for the orange buses) runs regular buses from Narita to the major hotels all over Tokyo. For example, if you’re staying at the The Westin Tokyo in Meguro, you can take the Limousine bus straight there from Narita, with a bus running approximately every hour and a half from 8 AM to 9:30 PM. You don’t have to worry about dragging you luggage up and down escalators. Costs are around 3,000 yen for adults and half that for children (ages 6 to 12). Pre-school children (under 6) ride for free!

If you are going to Tokyo station or Ginza, there is a super cheap option in the Access Narita which runs almost ever 20 minutes from 7:25 to 22:45. 1,000 yen for adults. 500 yen for children. Be warned though, they can get crowded and the line ups can be long as there is no reserved seating. And you have to pay cash, so have some 1,000 yen bills ready.

The down side of using buses is traffic. Depending on when you arrive, you might get stuck in rush hour or get held up because of an accident. The ride us also around an hour to Tokyo station, more if you’re going further. The buses should have toilets, but better go before you board.

  1. Pronunciation of Japanese vowels - Japanese only has five vowels, "a", "i", "u", "e", "o". "A" is a short "a" like the "a" in "apple". "I" is a short "i" like the "i" in "bit". "U" is pronouced like the "oo" in "boot". The "e" sounds like the vowel in "bet". Finally the "o" is like the "oo" in "book". ↩

  2. Keisei is written as {japanesefont}「京成」{latinfont} in Japanese. The first character is the “kyo" from “Tokyo" and the second character is the “nari" from "Narita". When combined, a different pronounciation is used to arrive at "Keisei". So this is the trainline that runs from Tokyo to Narita, obviously. This is a common theme for trainlines in Japan. ↩

  3. Prices are current as of the writing of this post, i.e., 2017. ↩

  4. A pair of JR East E259 series EMUs led by set Ne020 on a Narita Express service by 名無し野電車区 (Nanashinodenshaku) (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons] ↩

  5. Keisei AE series EMU passing Narita Yugawa Station on a Skyliner service by toshinori baba ([Public domain]), via Wikimedia Commons ↩

Previous Posts →

All rights Reserved © Semi-invisible Gaijin.


Theme inspired by Fabthemes | Powered by Postach.io

Marshal Wong

Marshal Wong

Chinese-Canadian. Lived 8 years in Japan. From the outside, I look Japanese (more so than my Japanese wife). I also really like certain aspects of Japanese culture, particularly taiko, matsuri, Shinto, and go. But there are times where I'm sure I drive the natives mad... Views expressed are my own.

Latest Posts

Tag Cloud