Nine year old daughter still asks when we are going back to Kyoto, the vermilion gates at Fushimi Inari made a real impression on her. Hiroshima taught her things no textbook could.

We brought my parents along and they handled the walking far better than we feared, even the long Fushimi Inari gates. The bullet trains between cities were a hit with everyone, grandparents included.

The Osaka hotel sat a long walk from the nearest station, which with a buggy and a wiped-out toddler at the end of a long day was more of a slog than it needed to be.

Fushimi Inari at sunrise with barely any crowd, worth waking up early for.

Miyajima island trip felt rushed because of the tide timing, we reached when the water was low so the famous floating look of the shrine was missing. Nothing wrong with the planning otherwise, just wish the schedule had built in a bit more flexibility around tide charts.

Never thought Japan could feel this accessible for a family with two young kids, but this itinerary proved otherwise. Mt Fuji from the 5th Station on a clear day left all of us speechless, we just stood there for a while. Kyoto's Fushimi Inari gates went on forever and the kids raced each other through them. Osaka's food scene, Hiroshima's history, Tokyo's energy, all of it balanced well across eleven nights.