Camping in Japan with kids
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This site is about camping in Japan with kids. Camping has been popular with Japanese for a number of years, and because of this, there are a large number of good campgrounds, most of which are good for children. Assuming that you live in Japan, and have kids, this site should help you out. There are more campgrounds than you would expect in Japan, and most of them are very easy to bring kids to, often with playgrounds, hiking trails, and sometimes arts and crafts.
Well, this is a good place to start. Actually, if you really want to, and if you have the money, you can go camping with almost nothing. Most campgrounds have a large stock of equipment that they will rent you to use. This includes everything from tents to cooking pots and grills. If you choose to do this, you would at least need to bring a sleeping bag and your clothes. However, as well kept as most rental items are, they are usually pretty well-worn, so this is not something I recommend.
The first thing that you need is a good tent. (Almost all camping in Japan is done in tents. While there are some mobile homes, they are not very common.) You can buy one at the local DIY shops, such as D2 or Joyful Honda. There are also outdoor shops that sell tents, such as Xebio Sports. Costco, if you are a member, and if your timing is good, has good cheap tents. Coleman also has some outlets here and there where they sell them. The main brand here in Japan is Coleman, and that is what the majority of Japanese seem to buy, probably because everyone else has them. However, the other common names, Logos, and Captain Stag are also very good. I do not know much about the "Gigantic Tree" stuff. I actually own mostly Logos equipment and it has served me well, though it is over ten years old.
Other good equipment will depend on you. I find a table and chairs, a screen house, a lantern (electric), a portable charcoal grill essential, along with a lot of small stuff such as mosquito coils, a lighter, extra stakes and rope, and so on.
Lately, the cheapest place is Don Quixote, a discount shop in nearly every decent sized town. Go in the spring or early fall and they usually have stuff on sale or pretty cheap. Your next best bet is Amazon Japan, or Costco.
To be honest here, you really cannot
have much fun camping if you do not have a car, or have one that you
can use. Sure, you could rent one too, I guess, though it kind of
makes the whole camping experience all the more expensive and adds to
the trouble since you have to reserve a car, then go get it, then bring
it back and so on. Anyway, if you do need to rent a car, I would
recommend Nippon
Rent a Car because they are open 24 hours. (There is
nothing more inconvenient than a rent a car shop that's closed when you
want to return your vehicle.) If you rent a car, I recommend a
small
one, a narrow one, cause some of the roads near these campgrounds are
narrow. (I use a little Suzuki Every, basically a box on wheels.)
And, always, always, get a car navigation thingy. Learn how to use it. It is essential to find a campground, park, beach and so on.
Some
good campgrounds in Japan, north of Tokyo
Mostly, I am focussing on campgrounds in the Tokyo area, especially in Chiba, Ibaraki, and points north of that. For good campgrounds, you need to get a ways from the big city. There are some great camps in these areas: near the beach on the Pacific Ocean in Chiba (avoid the Tokyo Bay side), Ibaraki's north and west side (not too close to Fukushima, mind you), and in Tochigi. Most of the campgrounds are near the ocean, mountains, lakes, or rivers.
To find a good campground, the easiest way is to think of where you'd like to go, and then check the Mapple Camping page. Mapple, as you probably know, is a kind of road atlas/tour book company, but they have a great site that has campgrounds. The great thing is that they are all rated by people who have been there, with pictures, and prices, phone numbers, and in/out times are listed. There is also a function where you can look at a map and see the camps in that area. The problem is that you need someone whose Japanes is good to look at it with you.
How do campgrounds in Japan work?
Campgrounds in Japan seem to have
their own set of rules, some rather odd as you would expect.
First, you cannot enter the campground before the check in time, so be
careful about that, though exceptions are sometimes made but usually
only if you are there in person at the camp ready to go in. You
have to leave by the check out time. Usually these times are, for
example, check in 1:00 pm, check out 10:00am. They assume that
you are going to arrive sometime in the afternoon, hang out and do
whatever, then stay over and leave the next morning.
Generally, when you arrive, you have to check in
somewhere. They will tell you the rules, which include where and
how to throw away your trash (it's a good idea to bring a few bags for
that), where and how to dispose of ashes from your great barbeque, when
the quiet time is, where the baths and toilets are, and where the
cooking area is. There is usually a trash area, and there is
always an area that has a long sink for campers to use and some
tables. There are a few toilets, and usually separate, some kind
of bath. The bath you almost always have to pay for, though it is
pretty cheap. Some places have public baths or onsens nearby, so
those might be good to use.
Stuff to do at the
average campground, or nearby
Most campgrounds have things to do for the
kids. Most have some kind of playground. This may be a
normal one, or something different. Once, in Tochigi, we went to
one that had a long slide. Another had a net jungle gym.
One even had concrete animals that kids can play on. Beyond that,
there is a wide variety that depends on the owners. This ranges
from a crayfish/frog pond to a tower.
When you look for a campground, look around it for
things to do. The reason for this is that, after you check out on
the second day, you probably want to do somewhere. It is best to
have a plan here and know where you want to go. I tend to leave
early, go somewhere like a park, then go to the camp. The next
day, I will go somewhere else on the way home. For example, we
went to the beach at Onjuku in Chiba last year, spent a few hours there
surfing on body-boards, camped nearby for the night, then the next day,
went to a water park, and then headed home.
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