Japan has been peeking out of your bucket list for years. Today we're handing you the map — and for the next hour, we are transporting you there.

We are thrilled and honored to bring Jo MacGregor to the show for a special two-part series on Japan. Jo is a mom, language aficionado, Japan expert, and the author behind The Tokyo Chapter — the most-read Japan with kids blog out there. She is precisely what you need if you're interested in Japan — she brings a level of detail that will make your heart smile and immediately put you at ease. 

She fell in love with Japan at fifteen as a full-immersion exchange student, spent most of her twenties living and working there (hotel concierge, ballet school, you name it), met her Scottish husband in Japan, and then moved back with babies. She's been going back three to four times a year ever since, keeping every restaurant rec, every playground tip, every detail on her blog FRESH and CURRENT. She lives in Melbourne now. She leaves no stone unturned. When you'll meet her you'll get it. You'll understand why I say we need a Jo MacGregor on every continent!!

Here's what makes Jo different from every other Japan resource you'll find: her blog is the tips, the findings, and the honest mistakes — so you don't have to make them. Their life in and out of Japan is colorful and adventurous, and also beautifully normal and relatable. 

This is Part 1 of a two-part Japan series. Today: the destinations and a full three-week family itinerary, city by city. Part 2 next week covers the practical details — what to book and when, those legendary Japanese playgrounds, convenience store culture, phrases you can practice with your kids and more. So make sure you come back next week!

IN THIS EPISODE

• Jo's three-week family itinerary: Tokyo → Takayama → Kanazawa → Kyoto → Hiroshima → Miyajima → back to Tokyo
• How a fifteen-year-old exchange student became the internet's most trusted Japan-with-kids resource
• What Japan smells, sounds, and feels like before you've even formed a thought
• Futuristic and modern meets old world elegance — the striking contrasts that make this country unlike anywhere else on earth
• Takayama: dreamy mix of old wooden streets and mountain air where time slows
• Ryokans, onsens, and the story of Jo's son who was a terrible sleeper — until Japan fixed him overnight
• How to take your kids to Hiroshima in a way that's honest and age-appropriate

LINKS + RESOURCES thetokyochapter.com — free area guides for every city in the itinerary, broken down neighborhood by neighborhood. Start here. Jo on Instagram @thetokyochapter — real-time tips, kids on trains, convenience store runs, all of it.

Find me on Instagram @untethered_childhood or at [email protected] — tell me where you want to go next. Part 2 with Jo drops next week.