FIELD NOTES FROM A JAPAN-BASED FAMILY
Firsthand family journeys beyond Japan’s big-city circuit. We share real routes, the moments that worked, the trade-offs that did not, and practical details for planning your own regional trip.
Pick a place from the map below and explore its own guide. For a trip connecting several stops, follow our three-day Mie drive or our Oigawa Railway outing.
Find your next detour on the map
Choose a place, then open its own guide for photographs, our experience and practical planning details. Tap a pin; numbered circles reveal nearby places when you zoom in.
Green pins: Mie · Rust pins: Shizuoka. Use two fingers to move the map on a phone. The home button brings all places back into view.
Browse all 9 places as a list
Connect the places: Our three-day Mie road trip · Our Oigawa Railway outing.
Plan the practical bits: compare Mie overnight bases · choose train or car · check mobile-data options.
FEATURED TRIP · MIE
A Three-Day Mie Road Trip with Kids
With our children aged seven and five, we drove from a service-area tonteki lunch and Oyatsu Town to VISON, the shaded approach to Takihara Shrine and a night in Kumano. The next morning we walked old stones on Matsumoto Pass before heading to the coast. Read our actual route and what we would plan differently →
Three days, three different decisions
- Day 1: Oyatsu Town for indoor play, then Hotel Econo Kameyama for a simple night and breakfast.
- Day 2: VISON for food and a stroll, Takihara Shrine for forest shade, then Kumano Club for a resort stay.
- Day 3: Matsumoto Pass with a Japanese-language guide, then Shishiiwa, Hana-no-Iwaya and lunch at HaneCafe.
Choosing a base? Our Mie accommodation comparison separates the two hotels we stayed in from the VISON hotel we saw only from outside.
More ways into Mie: browse the region or choose a trip plan.
FEATURED TRIP · SHIZUOKA
Oigawa Railway with Kids
We rode a regular train from Shin-Kanaya to Kawane-Onsen-Sasamado, tried a footbath that felt very hot, then took Thomas back. The Thomas ride felt short, and the sparse departures made timetable planning essential. Read our firsthand railway notes →
Explore the stops individually: Shin-Kanaya Station and the Kawane Onsen footbath stop. For a different Shizuoka outing, try Hamamatsu Castle Park’s garden-and-coffee walk.
What makes these notes different
- Firsthand: our own family’s visits, travel choices and photographs.
- Useful detail: what took time, what surprised us, and what worked less well.
- Separate research: transport, prices and booking rules checked against official sources and dated where relevant.
- Clear limits: hotels, rental services and routes we have not tried are labeled as such.
We are a Japan-based family writing as Torimonn. Read our About page for the people behind these trips and our Editorial Policy for sources, photographs and how these notes are prepared.