video game characters, anime stores and colorful foods

Cities in Japan such as Tokyo and Kyoto are traditionally known for their shrines, temples and cultural historical sites. But as the birthplace of anime, manga and of course, PokémonJapan is also a center of pop culture and a hotbed of activities prepared for children, from practicing ninja skills to spending time on Snorlax.

For a family trip, “the beauty of Japan is being able to take five steps and easily have the city attract a child’s attention,” said Ramesh Krishnan, who goes by the name Ramky and whose company, Japan Unfiltered, is based. specializes in Candid tours of Tokyo, Mount Fuji and other destinations.

“It could be a machine that dispenses capsule dolls, a karaoke bar with a display of interesting desserts, or even the lively music heard inside train stations.”

Here, six stops for a family-oriented ridefor one of the most visited cities in the country.

Secure a reservation at this popular concept cafe at the base of the Tokyo Skytree may be harder than getting a front row seat at some Taylor Swift concert, but fans of Kirby, the charming pink blob who first appeared in the Nintendo Game Boy in 1992, they’re still trying.

Reservations for the following month are launched via the web on the 10th of the month at 6 pm Japan time.

Even if it arrives on time, the site routinely blows up. But you can skip the red ribbon and grab a table at Kirby Café Bot, an online service that takes reservations for $7.50 per person for up to eight people.

Once you are at the door, you will enjoy from the food to the decor and all things Kirby: eat Kirby burgers sandwiched between pink buns, playful pizzas with star-shaped fried eggs, and Whispy Woods party platters featuring Kirby’s nemesis, an apple tree, whose trunk doubles as a mold containing potato salad.

Tip: along with your gastronomic experience, add a visit to the Skytree – at 634 meters, it is the world’s tallest standing tower – and offers endless 360-degree views of the city of Tokyo from its completely glass platform.

• Kirby Café: Tokyo Skytree Town, Solomachi, East Yard 4F, 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida City; tickets between 1,200 and 3,980 yen (US$7.50 and US$25).

• Tokyo Skytree: adults from 1,800 yen, children 12 to 17 years old from 1,400 yen, children 6 to 11 from 850 yen.

Of the four Pokémon centers in Tokyo, this one in the Nihonboshi business district is one of the largest. But the biggest attraction is the Pokémon Café, even another concept café for which it is almost impossible to get a reservation. In this case, you must do it online exactly 31 days before you visit the place at 6 pm Japan time.

Or you can just pay: A service called Reserve Japan that will do the heavy lifting for about $24.90 per guest (your kids will thank you).

In the cafeteria, you can drink Pikachu-themed yellow-tinted lemon sodasand foamy lattes served in a cup that imitates a red and white pokeball before inspecting dishes like Snorlax’s Full-Belly Naptime Lunch Plate, which features a rice pilaf with shrimp inside a plate that resembles the sturdy, sleepy Pokémon (also served with grilled chicken, French fries, and salad partially made with carrots cut into letters “Z” that simulate the snoring “zzz”).

When you finish your dessert, browse the variety of theme-oriented merchandising or marketing center: stuffed animals, dazzling iPhone cases, travel accessories such as eye masks and neck pillows, quirky Pokémon items – molded pasta.

• Pokemon Center Tokyo DX: Nihombashi Takashimaya SC East Building (5F) 2-11-2 Nihombashi, Chui-ki; tickets between 1,540 and 2,420 yen.

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

The museum is today in a 6,700-square-meter winding plaza in the Abzurdah Hills neighborhood. Visiting the kaleidoscope space is how to get into a video game.

In constant change and movement, the video displays and lights are projected onto walls, ceilings and floors, becoming more attractive with the addition of mirrored surfaces that reflect infinite digital images. Aromas, too, play a very important role in the labyrinthine museum since each room has a unique aroma to complement the exhibits.

Los kids will love Sketch Oceanwhere the sea creatures they colored are scanned and swim in a giant digital aquarium, or something clumsily called “Universe of water particles on a rock where people gather” and where little ones can slide down and then into a rock covered in a brilliant waterfall of light that falls over its angular slopes.

• teamLab Borderless: MORI Building, Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B B1 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato-ku; adults from 4,000 yen, children from 13 to 17 from 2,800 yen and children from 4 to 12 years old from 1,500 yen.

It is bustling neighborhood located in the center of Tokyo is he epicenter of Otaku culture y The flock of anime enthusiasts and devotees flock to its stores, arcade games and game centers.

Here you will find multimedia stores such as Yodonashi-Akiba, a 9-story mega center with an entire floor dedicated to toys, video games and porridge machines (hand-cranked vending machines that dispense collectible miniatures in small capsules); superstores such as Animate, a giant floor that sells mangamerchandising and various objects about anime, and Super Potatp, a vintage video game store where you can buy retro game consoles and play the collection from the 80s and 90s.

Gacha machine lovers will love GIGO Akihabara 1 with hundreds of prize games.

And don’t miss Don Quijote, a popular discount chain filled with anime-inspired souvenirs, dark Japanese candy, and cheap tote bags to carry all those new toys back home.

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

In a commercial neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, Toei, a film producer specializing in period dramas known as jidaigekibuilt a set and the theme park where families wander through replicas of the streets of the Edo period, when Kyoto was the capital.

It is also where the kitsch Japanese come to life, where you can transform into a geisha traditional or take the form of a samurai,

Watch live ninja shows before throwing stars called shuriken at the dojo and explore dozens of exhibits dedicated to Japanese TV and movie characters, including the 15-meter-high statue of an EVA from the mecha anime series Evangelion, whose huge purple hand is perfect for photo shoots.

The park is also home to a cluster of restaurants where you can order ramen, fried rice, and chicken katsu before heading to the street-style food boards for dessert (try the mitarashi dango, a trio of rice dumplings served in bamboo skewers that are covered with a sweet glaze).

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

In an abandoned toy factory located in some fictional place, four robots continue their work. They discover a doll that gives each one special skills – mime, break dancing, magic and juggling – that helps them become more human.

This is the plot of “GEAR”, a non-verbal entertainment theatrical production which has been presented since 2012 in a building near the Nishiki Market.

Similar to an off-Broadway play -“GEAR” features a rotating cast of 29 actors in five roles – a nod to traditional Kabuki theater casting.

That’s just one of the uniquely Japanese elements that producer Keito Ohara incorporated into the show, which, in the absence of dialogue, uses music, sound, and audience interaction to tell the story. It takes place in 90 uninterrupted minutes.

• GEAR: 56 Benkeiishicho, Nakagyuku; Adults from 3,600 yen, children from 13 to 17 from 2,600 yen, children from 4 to 12 years old, 1,200 yen. Children under 4 years old are not allowed.