Essential Travel Gear for Japan with Kids and Babies: The Ultimate Packing Guide + Printable Checklist
Traveling to Japan with kids or babies is an amazing adventure—but let’s be real, packing can feel like a daunting mission! From compact strollers for train rides to the perfect snack stash for picky toddlers, getting your packing list right can make the whole trip smoother and more fun. I spent 25 days traveling around Japan with my husband and two kids (ages 4 years old and 9 months old), and here are some essential travel gear that helped us out.
This guide will walk you through everything you’ll want to pack for Japan with kids or babies, along with tips on why you’ll need it. And don’t worry—I’ve included a printable checklist at the end. I admit that I’ve started using one for myself because trip packing for multiple people is so stressful!
Why Packing Right Matters in Japan
Japan is wonderfully family-friendly, with spotless public transport, accessible bathrooms (complete with changing tables!), and an endless list of child-friendly attractions. But it can also be overwhelmingly busy (hello, Tokyo crowds!), more tight and compact thank you’d expect (think narrow streets and small cafes), and extremely variable in terms of weather (you might go from chilly mornings to warm afternoons) That means travel packing for Japan can be quite different than say packing for Hawaii or Europe.
1. Documents and Travel Essentials
Let’s start with the basics you really can’t forget:
Passports for everyone, including babies (Japan requires them)
Copies of important documents such as passports and ID cards—both printed and digital
Japan Rail Pass if you pre-purchased one (a lifesaver for long trips)
Travel insurance details for peace of mind
Japanese yen in cash (many smaller places are cash only)
Credit cards widely accepted in cities
Pro Tip: Keep these in a travel wallet or pouch for easy access.
2. Baby and Toddler Transport
Travel Stroller Recommendations
Japan’s trains and buses are quite efficient, but you’ll want the right gear including a lightweight, compact stroller that folds easily for train rides and narrow streets. In Japan, expect to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, which is a lot for kids. Thus, even if your kids CAN walk a fair amount, you may want to bring a stroller anyway due to the long days of walking you’ll likely do. For us, the stroller was essential for our 9 month old baby.
At home, we use an UppaBaby Vista stroller, and were told by MANY people that we would regret bringing such as huge stroller in Japan. Not only would it not fit through subway gates and in most stores, but it would be too difficult to fit inside of hotels and taxis. So we invested in a compact travel stroller. The main options we explored were the Joolz Aer, Bugaboo Butterfly, Babyzen Yoyo, and ErgoBaby Metro+. All of these strollers fold up small enough to fit in the overhead bins of most major airplanes. The first two are premium priced, while the BabyZen Yoyo seemed a little too flimsy for our needs.
The ErgoBaby Metro was the best fit for us in terms of ruggedness and the price point, There’s a deluxe version of the ErgoBaby Metro that comes with slightly more premium upgrades, but we decided to save the money and go with the basic model, and it suited us just fine. We also got the optional ride along board for the 4 year old to ride on. This stroller combination was excellent for navigating Japan, but the only things we didn’t like about it: the bottom storage bin is a bit small, the stroller requires two hands to fully fold and unfold, and the ride along board materials qere quite flimsy — we really beat it up over the trip.
Baby Carrier Recommendations
Even though our 9 month old baby was to spend most of the time in the stroller, we also brought a baby carrier. This came in handy for hiking, as well as times when the baby got bored of being in the stroller, and when our 4 year old needed a break from standing or walking. While we used an ErgoBaby Classic carrier at home, I often found it uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Some folks say that’s because the ErgoBaby carrier is designed for taller people, and others like the Tula Baby were better for people with shorter torsos, like me. So I picked up a used Tula Explore baby carrier on Facebook Marketplace, and used it a fair amount in Japan. It was great not only for hiking and navigating Japan as a stroller alternative, but also for carrying baby on the airplane, buses, and trains.
Travel Car Seats
For this Japan trip, we did not rent a car and did not find ourselves in positions where car seats were required. However, had car seats been needed, we likely would have brought the WAYB Pico, our favorite lightweight travel car seat from home with us.
3. Feeding and Snacks
It’s often easy to find kid-friendly restaurants in Japan, especially in the cities. However, you may want to bring some extra feeding tools, depending on the ages of your kids.
Babies and toddlers
Since we were traveling with a 9 month old baby, we needed to bring special items like formula, bottles, and bottle washing supplies. I weaned baby right before this trip, but if that hadn’t been the case, then pumping supplies would have also been needed. While baby formula can be found in Japan, we had a hard time finding it (even in Tokyo), so bringing a little extra to get you through your first few days is helpful. Ultimately, we found formula in bigger grocery stores (like Life) and in drug stores throughout Japan. And since our baby recently started eating solids, we also needed puree. Again, we had a hard time finding them in Japan, so we kept an extra supply with us at all times.
We’d heard mixed things about finding high chairs in Japan, and ultimately, it was a good thing we brought our own, because 90% of the places we ate at did not have high chairs. We brought a super portable strap that attaches to a standard chair, and it worked well for containing our 9 month old in restaurants and our VRBO apartments. It’s so useful that we even use it when traveling outside of Japan.
Other than that, a washable bib, feeding spoons, sippy cup, and lots and lots of wipes topped off our baby/toddler feeding supplies equipment.
Older Kids Feeding Supplies
Our 4 year old is generally pretty good about eating in restaurants and doesn’t need much, but we found that having our own set of small kid-sized utensils came in handy more than once, as some restaurants don’t carry them. We also had a kid sized water bottle for our son, which we told him was his to look after, to help not only hydrate, but also teach him to be accountable for a personal item during the trip.
Snacks
Japan’s convenience stores are excellent for snacks, and our boys especially loved the egg salad sandwiches, rice balls (onigiri), ham, and packaged fruit, but having some familiar favorites can save the day. For us, that means an assortment of fresh fruits like mandarin oranges, apple slices, grapes, and berries. We also tend to carry meat sticks (like beef jerky), and purees as both of our boys like snacking on them.
4. Diapering and Toiletries
You may or may not need to bring any of these things, depending on where your kids are in their toilet training. You’ll find diapers and wipes in Japan, but it’s smart to bring what you need for the first few days. For our 9 month old, we brought 15 diapers and two kinds of wipes (diaper and antibacterial) to keep us stocked for the first leg of our trip. You may also want to bring a portable changing pad, and diaper rash cream. Our 4 year old is fully potty trained, but you may want to bring an adjustable toilet seat to help little ones properly sit on adult sized toilets.
For bath time, we found that every hotel and VRBO we stayed in had a full size soaking tub in the bathrooms, making it very easy to bathe the kids in them. However, you may want to bring an inflatable baby bathtub if you prefer to bathe your baby in a smaller tub. We also used regular soaps and shampoos, but you may want to bring your own baby soaps if you have a strong preference. Both boys also had their own toothbrushes and toothpastes, and I had a pair of nail clippers and an electric nail file to use on both boys.
Finally, we always had hand sanitizing spray, travel tissues, antibacterial wipes, and a small trash bag with us, as these are not always available in bathrooms throughout Japan.
5. Health and Safety
We always carry a travel first aid kit with us that’s full of bandages, antiseptic wipes, and other basics. These can be purchased online, but just be careful if those kits include scissors — we’ve had them confiscated at TSA security several times, despite them supposedly being TSA compliant. Besides that, we also bring a thermometer, children’s acetaminophen/ibuprofen), snot sucker, children’s vitamin supplements, insect repellent, bug bite treatment, and sunscreen.
6. Sleep Essentials
It’s hard to predict sleeping arrangements in each hotel and VRBO, but having a few essentials on hand can help prepare you for the worst case scenarios. We note that most of our accommodations did not have travel cribs or bassinets available, so if your child needs one, it may be wise to bring your own. Personally, we co-sleep with our kids, so no specialty bedding was needed for us. However, we did bring our favorite travel blankets and merino wool sleep sacks. I also had a portable white noise machine with me, although I admit it never got used. Finally, travel blackout curtains were not brought, but there were many times I wished I had them, so if you have the room to spare, definitely bring them to block out unwanted light.
You may also want to pack your child’s favorite sleeping toy or stuffie. But for us, we’ve moved away from this as favorite stuffies have been left behind many times, and not recovered, so weigh whether the risk of losing it is worth it to you.
7. Clothing
In terms of kids clothing, we packed for them similarly to how we pack for ourselves: light and compact with the idea of layering outfits as needed to adjust to changing weather. We’re big fans of Uniqlo Airism clothes, which fit the bill of being compact, lightweight, and quick drying, so the kids’ outfits were usually comprised mainly of this type of clothing. We had a good mix of short and long sleeved shirts, shorts and pants, and sun hats and light rain jackets for inclement weather. Be sure to check the weather forecasts and try to pack accordingly. We packed 7 days worth of clothing for each kid, and each kid had their own packing cube with their own sets of cloths. The plan was to do laundry every 5 days or so, and that ended up coming to fruition — you may also want to have some travel laundry detergent with you. Be sure to always have a spare change of clothes with you, just in case the clothes of the day get soiled (on the go stain removers can also be handy). Finally, don’t forget a comfortable pair of walking shoes for the kids. Our son loves these Merrell water shoes in particular.
8. Entertainment and Comfort
The reality is you might need to help keep kids occupied on trains, in restaurants, or during downtime, so it’s good to bring some toys with you. We packed favorite small toys or stuffed animals for each of the boys, and even let Julian bring his own small backpack that he packed with his own favorite toys. Travel-friendly books are also great to have, and we have kids audiobooks (“Frog and Toad” and “Pinocchio” are family favorites!) downloaded to our phones. And even though we don’t like promoting screen time, we had some movies and TV shows on our phones as well, mainly for use during the long airplane rides, and thus kid sized headphones for listening while on the go.
9. Luggage and Day Pack
I’ve mentioned a LOT of essential kids travel items. Where should they go? This is when it’s good to have your suitcases and daypacks in order.
Each of our kids has their own medium sized zippered packing cubes to keep their clothes separate and organized. Those cubes go into the larger wheeled family suitcase, which carries all of our clothes. We also have a couple of dirty laundry bags — one for mildly dirty clothes, and another for “dangerously dirty” clothes (ie. post blow out).
As for day time travel, we use the No Reception Club diaper backpack to carry daytime essentials. This diaper bag is our favorite for several reasons. Number one, it doesn’t look like a diaper bag, and thus can be used to hold other non-kid related items too. Number two, it has tons of built in organization, including 3 compartmentalized sections to make it easy to find what you’re looking for. And finally, it comes with straps for attaching it to your stroller.
What’s in our kids daypack?
spare change of clothes for each child
wet/dry bag for soiled clothes
plastic bag for trash and dirty diapers
clean diapers, wipes, changing pad
toilet seat (if needed for potty training)
antibacterial spray and wipes
washable bib
kid-sized utensils
sippy cups, water bottle, and milk bottles
formula, puree, and snacks (fruit, meat sticks)
first aid kit
Download your Free Checklist
These are all of the essential travel items that we found helpful for our 4 year old and 9 month old during our 25 day trek through Japan. Let me know if you would add any items to this list, and if so what they are. In the meantime, if you’re planning a trip to Japan, check out our travel guide to Lake Kawaguchiko to see the best views of Mount Fuji!