Kyoto Travel Forum

Hi there,

will be travelling to japan (kyushu, osaka, kyoto, tokyo) end of april. Would like to find out if these places are generally baby friendly? ie. baby changing table/room or nursing rooms in most toilets, shopping malls etc? Also, are there bidets/ spray hose in every public toilet cubicle which we can wash our child's backside with? thanks!

Hi

A lot of toilets in Japan are generally quite small and are japanese style, see this site: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2003.html (although western style are increasing).
However big malls often got great baby changing facilities. Department stores and malls have so called 'mother-baby rooms' and these are nice and clean. But don't expect train stations to be the same.. these can sometimes be real filthy.. So in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo you should be ok as long as you head for a Department Store.

Have a great trip.
:)

We made sure we had everything we needed to make baby comfortable with us, (change mat, baby wipes etc), which was lucky, because we rarely found anywhere specifically set up for changing babies (we didn't spend much time in or near department stores). Train stations were mostly really filthy...we usually waited and changed him on the train. Out sightseeing we just found a discreet corner and did what we had to do... Brad was changed under some lovely cherry blossom trees!