Japan for kids: Pikachu is just the start

TOKYO – Japanese cities, such as Tokyo and Kyoto, are traditionally known for shrines, temples and historic cultural sites. But as the birthplace of anime, manga and, of course, Pokemon, Japan is also a pop culture powerhouse and a hotbed of kid-friendly activities, from practising ninja skills to spending time with Snorlax.

For a family trip, “the beauty of Japan is you can walk five steps and easily attract the attention of a child”, said Mr Ramesh Krishnan, who goes by the name RamKy and whose company, Japan Unfiltered, specialises in candid tours of Tokyo, Mount Fuji and other destinations.

“It could be a capsule toy-dispensing machine, a karaoke bar with interesting desserts on display, or even the peppy music heard playing inside train stations,” he added.

Here are six stops on a family-oriented tour of the country’s most-visited cities.

Tokyo Kirby Cafe

Securing reservations at this popular concept cafe at the base of the Tokyo Skytree can feel more difficult than scoring front-row seats to a concert by American pop star Taylor Swift, but fans of Kirby, the lovable pink blob that first appeared on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1992, keep trying.

Reservations for the next month are released online on the 10th day of each month at 6pm (5pm Singapore time).

Even if one gets the timing right, the site routinely crashes.

But one can skip the red tape and grab a table using the Kirby Cafe Bot, an online service that scores reservations for US$7.50 (S$10) a person for up to eight guests.

Once in the door, one will be treated to food, decor and all things Kirby.

Eat Kirby burgers sandwiched between smiling pink buns, playful pizzas topped with star-shaped fried eggs, and Whispy Woods feast plates featuring Kirby’s enemy, an apple tree, whose trunk doubles as a ramekin containing potato salad.

Tip: Pair the meal with a visit to the Skytree. At 634m, it is the world’s tallest free-standing tower and offers unending 360-degree views of Tokyo from its glassed-in observation deck.

Kirby Cafe: Tokyo Skytree Town, Solamachi, East Yard 4F, 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida City; entrees between 1,200 yen and 3,980 yen (between S$11 and S$36).

Tokyo Skytree: Adults from 1,800 yen, those aged 12 to 17 from 1,400 yen, children six to 11 from 850 yen

Pokemon Center Tokyo DX

Of Tokyo’s four Pokemon Centers, this one in the Nihonbashi business district is one of the biggest, but the main draw is the Pokemon Cafe, yet another concept cafe that is nearly impossible to get reservations at.

For this one, you will have to go online 31 days before your visit at precisely 6pm (5pm Singapore time).

Or you can just pay a service called Reserve Japan to do the heavy lifting for a whopping US$24.90 a guest.

At the cafe, you can drink yellow-tinted, Pikachu-themed lemon soda floats and frothy lattes served in red and white pokeball cups before digging into dishes such as Snorlax’s Full-Belly Naptime Lunch Plate, featuring a shrimp rice pilaf inside a dish that resembles the fat, sleepy Pokemon (also served with grilled chicken, fried potato and a salad partially made of carrots cut into Zs to mimic snoring).

When your dessert is done, browse the centre’s stock of merchandise – plushies, bedazzled iPhone cases, travel accessories such as eye masks and neck pillows or quirky food items like Pokemon-shaped pasta.

Pokemon Center Tokyo DX: Nihonbashi Takashimaya S.C. East Building (5F) 2-11-2 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku; entrees cost between 1,540 yen and 2,420 yen

teamLab Borderless

When the international art collective known as teamLab opened the world’s first digital art museum in Tokyo in 2018, it quickly became the world’s most-visited single-artist museum, surpassing Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum in its inaugural year.

The museum is now in a sprawling 6,970 sq m in the Azabudai Hills neighbourhood. Visiting the kaleidoscopic space is like stepping inside a video game.

Constantly moving and continuously changing, exhibits of video and light are projected onto walls, ceilings and floors, made more alluring with the addition of mirrored surfaces that infinitely reflect the digital images.

Scent, too, plays a big role in the maze-like museum, since each room has a unique smell to complement the exhibits.

Kids will love Sketch Ocean, where sea creatures they have coloured are scanned and “swim” in a gigantic digital aquarium, or the somewhat clumsily named Universe Of Water Particles On A Rock Where People Gather, where little ones can slide feet first down an indoor “boulder” covered in a brilliant waterfall of light cascading over its angled slopes.

teamLab Borderless: MORI Building, Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B B1 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato-ku; adults from 4,000 yen, those aged 13 to 17 from 2,800 yen, kids aged four to 12 from 1,500 yen

Akihabara

This bustling neighbourhood in central Tokyo is the epicentre of otaku culture – devoted anime enthusiasts flock to its shops, arcades and gaming centres.

Here, one will find soaring multimedia stores such as Yodonashi-Akiba, a nine-storey mega centre with an entire level devoted to toys, video games and gacha machines; superstores like Animate, a 16-floor behemoth selling manga, merch and all things anime; and Super Potato, a vintage video game shop where one can buy retro gaming consoles and play on the collection of 1980s- and 1990s-era arcade games.

Claw machine devotees will love GIGO Akihabara 1 with hundreds of prize-grabbing games.

Lastly, do not miss Don Quijote, a popular discount chain jam-packed with anime-inspired souvenirs, obscure Japanese candy and inexpensive duffel bags to take all those new toys home.

Akihabara: Located in Chiyoda City in Tokyo, Akihabara is reachable by the JR Yamanote Line, Chuo-Sobu Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Tsukuba Express Line and Tokyo Metro Hibiya subway line.

Toei Kyoto Studio Park

In a commercial neighbourhood on the outskirts of town, Toei, a movie producer specialising in period dramas known as jidaigeki, has built a set and theme park where families roam replicas of streets from the Edo period, when Kyoto was the capital.

It is also where Japanese kitsch comes alive, since parkgoers can transform themselves into traditional geisha or samurai, watch live ninja shows before chucking the throwing stars called shuriken in the dojo; and explore dozens of exhibits dedicated to popular Japanese movie and TV characters, including a 15m-tall statue of an EVA from the mecha anime series Evangelion, whose giant purple hand is perfect for photo ops.

The park is also home to a handful of restaurants where one can order ramen, fried rice and chicken katsu before heading to street-vendor-style food stalls for dessert.

Toei Kyoto Studio Park: 10 Uzumasa Higashihachiokacho, Ukyo Ward; adults, 2,400 yen, children, from 1,200 yen

GEAR

In an abandoned toy factory somewhere in the fictionalised future, four robots continue to work.

They discover a doll that gives each of them special abilities – mime, break dancing, magic and juggling – which help them become more like human beings.

This is the plot of GEAR, a wildly entertaining non-verbal theatrical production that has been running since 2012 in a building near the Nishiki Market.

Akin to a gritty, off-Broadway play, GEAR features a revolving cast of 29 actors in five roles – a nod to the casting of traditional Kabuki theatre.

That is just one of the uniquely Japanese elements producer Keito Ohara has embedded within the show, which, in the absence of dialogue, uses music, sound and audience interaction to tell its story. It runs for 90 uninterrupted minutes.

GEAR: 56 Benkeiishicho, Nakagyuku; adults from 3,600 yen, those aged 13 to 17, from 2,600 yen, kids aged four to 12, 1,200 yen NYTIMES