Reply To: Indonesia, Philippines and Japan suggestions and advice please

[BBbetter]

Olly wrote:

@BBbetter Mid-July – Mid August

Know Japan will be hot but will have limited opportunities to get there other times of the year with school holiday restrictions etc. Happy to forego Philippines and spend longer in the other two though if that is a better option

I have the same restrictions and decided not to do it. It might be ok for a couple to pace it, but with kids, its just very difficult. Its humid and crowded due to local holidays. There have been reports that some tourists collapsed at Disney world standing in queues. If its also the last leg of the trip, it’ll make for a miserable ending to the whole trip.
I feel Japan can be enjoyed by kids once they are a bit grown up, given so many cultural nuances, that can be better appreciated in a leisurely visit, not checkbox tourism on a humid day. At the age you have mentioned, places with physical activities like Borneo might be more suitable.

One option would be to limit the number of days in Japan and focus on just the city, staying indoors during peak sunshine. Nature and countryside can be left for years when you can take more days off in March / April, coinciding with Easter leave.