Planning a trip to Japan for our family felt overwhelming, especially with three teenagers who had a slightly different ‘less shrines, more sushi’ agenda.

Taking the kids to Japan was a big deal for us, a special trip that I didn’t want to get wrong. They’d been desperate to go, with their social feeds serving them up plenty of ‘must-do/eat/see/photograph’ destinations that didn’t necessarily make for an easy itinerary. 

I needed help but didn’t want a one-size-fits-all plan that meant crowded temples and teen-cringe tea ceremonies. Enter Jim Hutchison, or ‘Japan Jim’, as we named him, to save the day. Jim and I fine-tuned our trip together over many weeks. I gained trust in his experience; he got to know the needs and quirks of our family. The result was a route that felt like a cleverly choreographed adventure.

Two full days in Tokyo meant we had time for a very-much needed orientation tour with the charismatic Lee, who got us up to speed on how to navigate the city, gave us a taste of behind-thescenes Tokyo and a whistlestop tour of the temples the teens didn’t think they wanted to see but actually did. [Top tip: the upside of travelling in the summer, as we did, is that the heat (it’s extreme) keeps many tourists away, so there are fewer crowds]. It was astonishing how much we packed in, including a gaming workshop, matcha tasting, Wagyu grill dining experience, and at least 25,000 steps a day. So far, so very, very good

Our next stop could not have been more of a contrast. Our electric, 24-hour skyline was replaced with the sublime lakes of the Mount Fuji region. We stayed in Hoshinoya Fuji, a carefully designed ‘glamping’ resort where the lines between indoors and outdoors blur, and if I could keep only one memory from the trip, it would be the views from our little pod, nestled in the forest, overlooking the humbling beauty of Mount Fuji (the teens would remember the breakfasts, delivered in perfect 
wooden boxes, and their matching PJs). After three days of wholesome outdoor adventures (an e-bike ride around the lakes, a sunrise canoe trip, food smoking in the forest and an ice cave exploration that wasn’t for the faint-hearted), it was time for our next injection of city life

If we loved Tokyo, we really loved Osaka. It worked brilliantly as a base for four days, enabling us to visit all the hot spots in under an hour: Kyoto, Nara, Universal (happy kids, happy mum), and to explore Osaka itself, the kitchen of Japan. As a location, it ticked all our boxes – walkable, cheaper, more relaxed, oh-so-friendly, vibrant and outgoing. Every meal was better than the last (Sex Machine — a retro Japanese grill restaurant that was named after a James Brown song — was our favourite), and every kind of after dinner entertainment on tap, be it karaoke, cocktails, darts or a sixstorey adults’ playground (Google “Round One”). As for the shopping, it was at this stage of the holiday we relented and bought ourselves an extra suitcase

The last part of the trip was the biggest surprise of all, and the part I’d been most unsure about. Jim had spoken of the Shimanami Kaido trail — a 70km cycling route that links Onomichi in Hiroshima to Imabari across the Seto Inland Sea. A cycle that would take two days, crossing six bridges and connecting islands. As a family, we’d never done anything like this before. I wasn’t even sure I could remember how to ride a real bike. This was one part of the itinerary I had rather glossed over ahead of the trip. Of course it turned out to be the highlight.

Collecting the rental bikes was easy, the bike lanes simple to follow (although challenging at times), and our luggage sent on ahead. The islands where we stayed were idyllic, the scenery spectacular, the sense of achievement palpable (how we earned those okonomiyaki pancakes and cold biru). In fact, it made the perfect finale. A fast bullet train whizzed us back to Tokyo in time for a sushi-making morning and an afternoon in the remarkable teamLab Borderless museum before a night flight 
home.

Our itinerary worked better than I could have hoped. Unique, personal, unforgettable. So many friends have asked me to share it with them. But I told them to get their own — it will be worth it!