Yasai Shokudo Cafe, Books, wood museum, play area and Suichurakuen Aquarium – Tokinosumika, Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture Formerly called “Books and Cafe”, the Books and Aquarium is a leisure area of the excellent Tokinosumika resort in Gotemba. The books area is part of a cafe now called Yasai Shokudo Rafu. IfRead More →
The Bell of Love with a Mt Fuji view at Toki No Sumika, aka Gotemba Kogen, in Gotenba City, Shizuoka, Japan. We went to Tokinosumika in Gotemba, Shizuoka, this past Golden Week. To be honest, I love discovering new places, but with 4 young children it is easier just toRead More →
On this the 50th anniversary of the Shinkansen (bullet train), October 1st 2014, it seems fitting to introduce one of Saitama’s top attractions. Japan’s second largest train / Railway Museum, in Omiya, 鉄道博物館. It is known locally as Omiya train museum and as Saitama railway museum nationwide. Whatever you chose to call itRead More →
Blueberry Lodge, Tokinosumika, Gotemba Shizuoka. Blueberry Lodge On our most recent visit to Tokinosumika we tried the self catering (with breakfast buffet included) option, for the first time, in the Blueberry Lodges. The Blueberry Lodges are one floor houses essentially. There are four to a block. Each lodge has aRead More →
The Big Bang Playground at Tokinosumika, updated in summer 2015: The playground at Tokinosumika has undergone some changes and is no longer free for everyone, but they have added lots of attractions including bouncing castles and other equipment. The playground remains free for children under 7. It costs 800 yen forRead More →
View from Hotel Tokinosumika of the Tokinosumika Resort Hotel Tokinosumika Our first visit to Hotel Tokinosumika with kids was May 2012. (We had stayed in other accommodation in the Tokinosumika resort before and after that). At the time my son was 2 and my daughter 15 months old. The room wasRead More →
Passport Control My 3 kids and I had just said goodbye to my husband and I was trying to keep it together and keep the kids excited as we rocked up to Passport Control. I greeted the immigration staff member with a smile that I expected would last the day,Read More →
We visited the Toy’s Kingdom during the summer, while staying in Karuizawa. They have a huge marketing and advertising campaign this year and its working; I would never have known about the place otherwise. It is a nice place for young children and it’s quite reasonably priced. Toy’s Kingdom They haveRead More →
I was very excited to visit Alice in a Labyrinth, the Ginza branch of the Alice in Wonderland Japan restaurants earlier in the year (2013). I was sorely disappointed. I had a great night, but that was due to the company of wonderful friends and little to do with theRead More →
To be quite frank I was a little disappointed with Poppo Town, a Railway Cultural Village in Gunma, but I had high expectations due to the excellence of the Saitama Railway Museum which we visit often. There is no comparison between the two. The Saitama Railway Museum is in aRead More →