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Spring break 2026 started at a Lakers game.
We flew into LAX on a Tuesday morning in March, caught the Timberwolves and the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena that night, and boarded a JAL flight to Osaka the next afternoon. That is the kind of trip this was. Full send from day one.
Ten days later we landed back at LAX, sleep deprived and already talking about going back. In between, the five of us did Japan the way I would recommend it to any family now: Osaka first, Tokyo second, with a bullet train ride in the middle that was half transportation and half attraction.
Why Japan won the vote
Here is my opinion, stated plainly: the best time to take your kids to Japan is when your oldest is old enough to feel the culture shock and your youngest is still young enough to find wonder in a vending machine. We happened to be in exactly that window.
Maddox, 16, is game for anything and relaxed about new cultures. He is also our most adventurous eater, which in Japan is not a small thing. Kennedy, 14, is our thrill seeker. She wanted the neon, the crowds, the energy. Sawyer, 7, just wanted to know if there would be good snacks. There were. There are always good snacks in Japan.
Devon and I wanted a trip that felt big without feeling chaotic. Japan is the rare place that delivers both. It is intense and orderly at the same time, which turns out to be the perfect combination for a family of five.
Osaka first was the right call
Here is my second opinion, and I feel strongly about this one: start in Osaka, not Tokyo. Tokyo is the main event. You do not open with the main event.
We based at the Aloft Osaka Dojima for four nights, March 12 through 16, and Osaka turned out to be the perfect warm up. It is Japan with the volume turned down one notch. Friendlier, funnier, easier to ease into, and the food scene is a genuine heavyweight.
Day one was mostly arrival. We landed at Kansai in the evening and got to the hotel, but before we called it, Maddox, Kennedy, and I ventured out to find our first 7-Eleven for snacks. First Japan ritual, done. After two flights and a time change, the win is a bed, not a plan.
Universal Studios Japan
Our first full day, March 13, was Universal Studios Japan. All day, open to close energy.
USJ was a wonderful park, and familiar in the best way. We rode the coasters and spent the day noticing the differences between this park and the ones back in the States.
What I will say without notes: a full theme park day on day two of a Japan trip sounds aggressive, and it was. But it worked, because the kids were running on arrival adrenaline and USJ gave them an instant, joyful crash course in the country. Rides first, culture shock later.
Kyoto and Dotonbori
March 14 was the Kyoto day trip. Out in the morning, back in the evening, with a nightcap in Dotonbori and Amerikamura after.
We visited Higashi Hongan-ji, the massive wooden temple hall that photographs like a cathedral and hits you harder in person. The bell tower, the gold lanterns inside the Goeido hall, the whole place has a gravity to it that quieted even our crew for a while.
The kids thought the temples were cool, historic in a way that actually landed with them. I thought they were peaceful.
Then Dotonbori at night, which is its own argument for basing in Osaka. The neon, the canal, the street food, the giant crab sign. It is loud and ridiculous and completely wonderful, and it is ten times better after dark.
The standout food moment of the trip was a wagyu steak shop in the market. That is the one the kids still bring up.
Nara
March 15 was Nara Park in the morning. Deer, temples, and a half day that felt like a deep breath.
We saw the Great Buddha at Todai-ji, one of those sights that recalibrates your sense of scale, and the kids fed the deer in the park. Nara was wild. A deer went right at Devon, on her booty, and that is a core memory for life.
I loved Nara as a pacing move. Big USJ day, big Kyoto day, then Nara at half speed before the train to Tokyo. Whoever built this itinerary (me) deserves some credit.
The bullet train to Tokyo
March 16, Nozomi 362, Shin-Osaka to Tokyo Station. Departed 10:57 in the morning, arrived 1:24 in the afternoon. Under two and a half hours, city center to city center, and I will say this about the bullet train: it is not transportation, it is an attraction.
We took the obligatory train selfies. Kennedy and I in one row, Devon and Sawyer with the Minion beanie in another, Maddox on his phone being sixteen. The N700A seats, the big windows, the whole thing glides.
We did not see Mt. Fuji from the train. The windows delivered plenty anyway.
We checked into the Hilton Tokyo Bay that afternoon. If the name sounds Disney adjacent, that is because it is. This was our base for five nights, and the location turned out to be strategic.
The guided Tokyo day
March 17 was the smartest money we spent on the trip. We booked a private guided tour with a guide named Tak, 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, and he built the day around our kids.
The route: Tsukiji outer market and Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple in the morning, Meiji Jingu shrine after lunch, then Shibuya in the afternoon. The scramble crossing, Center Gai, and Shibuya Parco, which for the kids meant Nintendo Tokyo and the Pokemon Center. Tak offered to drop us at a cat cafe or a hedgehog cafe afterward, and we took him up on the cat cafe.
The tour was booked for 6 adults and 3 children because our good friends the Bodshaugs joined us that day.
Here is what I learned: a good private guide on your first full Tokyo day is worth every penny. Tak compressed a week of figuring things out into six hours. The kids trusted the day because he was in charge of it, and so did we.
That evening we went to Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. The temple at night, lit up, with the crowds thinned out, is one of the best free experiences in Tokyo. Go in the evening. Trust me on this.
Three Disney days
March 18: Tokyo Disneyland, full day. March 19: Tokyo DisneySea, full day. March 20: teamLab Planets in the morning, teamLab Borderless in the afternoon, then back to Disneyland for the evening.
The must-do list is all of it. Fantasy Springs was amazing, the Beauty and the Beast ride was stellar, and it was a great Disney trip all around.
DisneySea deserves its own sentence. It is the best Disney park on the planet that most Americans have never visited, and it is not close. If you go to Japan with kids and skip DisneySea, I do not know what to tell you.
And teamLab: we did both locations in one day. Planets in Toyosu in the morning, Borderless at Azabudai Hills in the afternoon. It was a lot. It was also completely worth it. The two locations are different enough that doing both does not feel repetitive, and the kids still talk about the water rooms.
What surprised us most
Maddox. I want to be direct about this because it was the best surprise of the trip. At 16, he engaged with the whole process of Japan, not just the fun parts. The customs, the etiquette, the way things work over there. He paid attention. He asked questions. He tried everything.
Every parent of a teenager knows the feeling of watching your kid lock into something real. It does not happen on every trip. It happened on this one, and that alone made Japan worth it.
The other surprise: how easy Japan is with kids, once you stop overthinking it. The country is clean, safe, and built around systems that just work. The hardest part of the trip was the flights. Everything after that felt manageable, even with a 7-year-old in tow.
What stayed with me: Japan is the first place we have traveled where the logistics never once became the story. No stressful taxi negotiations, no getting lost in a bad way, no attraction that turned into an ordeal. When the logistics disappear, what is left is just your family, actually together. That is rarer than it sounds.
What we would do differently
Stay longer. That is the answer, and it is the only real change we would make. Ten days felt like skimming.
One thing I will say without needing to check my notes: do not try to squeeze Japan into a week. The country rewards slowness. We gave it ten days and it still felt like skimming. If you are going to cross an ocean with your kids, give the trip the days it deserves.
The verdict
Would we go back? In a heartbeat. Do we love Japan? Yes. It is now the trip our kids measure other trips against, which is both wonderful and slightly inconvenient for future vacation planning.
If you are on the fence about Japan with kids, here is my take: stop being on the fence. It is the best big trip a family can take with teenagers, it works shockingly well with younger kids too, and spring break timing gives you comfortable weather and a country that feels alive.
