Eight days, one four-year-old, a lot of rain

Light drizzle, 23 / 19, 39% rain, humid

• 05:45

  Land at Haneda T3

  Immigration and customs at that hour is quiet, so you should be out by about 06:30. Buy a Welcome Suica at the Terminal 3 station, no deposit and valid 28 days. Mobile Suica is iPhone only, so a physical card is the safe choice.

• 06:40

  Get to the hotel

  Take a taxi, roughly 40 minutes, and it is the only sane option with a tired four-year-old and three bags. The cheaper route is Keikyu to Shinagawa then JR to Meguro then the Namboku one stop, but that is three steps you do not need at 06:40.

• 07:30

  Into the room, not the luggage room

  Check-in is officially 15:00, but you booked from the night of 26 September, so the room is already yours and it stood empty overnight. This only holds if the hotel knows you are a 27 September early-morning arrival. Send that message today.

• 08:00

  Breakfast in the hotel

  Cafe California, 7:00 to 10:30, ¥4,500. The Chinese restaurant SHISEN does breakfast from 6:30 for the same price.

• 08:45

  Sleep. Both of you.

  This is the one part of the plan I will not compromise on. A no-nap four-year-old plus a red-eye plus a theme park is how a holiday falls apart on day two.

• 14:00

  First walk: Happo-en

  Three minutes from the hotel door, free, and nobody will be there on a Sunday afternoon. A 400-year-old garden, carp pond, and matcha in the tea house. map

• 15:30

  Or the woods next door

  The Institute for Nature Study is a 10 minute walk, 9:00 to 16:30 with last entry at 16:00, ¥320 for adults and free for children. Cash only. Closed Mondays. Real forest in central Tokyo. map

• 16:00

  Teien Art Museum garden

  Ten minutes on foot. The garden-only ticket is ¥200, junior high and under free, closed Mondays. The Art Deco former prince's residence is worth a look if she will tolerate one building. map

• 17:30

  Dinner: Tonkatsu Tonki, Meguro

  Eight minutes door to door. Dinner from 16:00, ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 a head, no bookings unless you are four or more, big tatami rooms, and a Tokyo institution since 1939. Closed Tuesday and the third Monday. map

• 19:00

  Back and down

  Everyone asleep by 20:00. She resets faster than you do.

Drizzle, 23 / 20, 35% rain

• 09:30

  Leave late on purpose

  Nothing opens before 10:00. Do not fight rush hour with a buggy.

• 10:00

  Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa

  Open 10:00 to 20:00, last entry 19:00, open every day. Adults ¥2,800, ages four and up ¥800, under four free. The dolphin and seal show is included. Two hours is plenty. 17 minutes door to door via Namboku to Meguro then two stops on the Yamanote. map

• 12:15

  Lunch at Atre Shinagawa

  Straight above the station, ground floors, lifts everywhere, easy with a buggy.

• 13:30

  Back to base

  Quiet afternoon at the hotel. She has just done a plane and an aquarium in two days.

• 17:30

  Dinner with Brandon in Shibuya

  Umegaoka Sushi no Midori, Shibuya Mark City 4F, ¥4,000 to ¥6,000, bookings taken and children welcome. Or Kura Sushi Shibuya, ¥1,000 to ¥2,000, ordered on a screen, which a four-year-old will treat as the best restaurant in Japan. map

Warmest day, 27 / 20, only 27% rain

• 09:15

  Train to Ueno

  35 minutes and one change, ¥209. Namboku northbound from Shirokanedai, change to the Ginza line for Asakusa, get off at Ueno. Lifts at both ends.

• 09:50

  Ueno Zoo

  Open 9:30 to 17:00, tickets sold until 16:00, closed Mondays, so today works. Adults ¥600, junior high ¥200, elementary school and under free. Pandas first, then the children's zoo area where small animals come close. Two to three hours. map

• 12:30

  Lunch on Ameyoko

  The market street beside the station. Street food, fruit skewers, and everything is handheld, which is the point.

• 13:30

  Either home, or one more stop

  If she is still standing, the Yanaka Ginza shopping street is 15 minutes away and is old Tokyo at child pace. Otherwise take the same route back. map

• 17:30

  Dinner: Ebisu Katsu Sai, Atre Ebisu 6F

  Ten minutes from the hotel, ¥1,000 to ¥3,000, no bookings, kids menu, strollers welcome, open daily until 22:30. Or Udon Yamacho near Ebisu west exit, Tabelog 100 udon, book dinner. map

25 / 20, 31% rain, breezy

• 09:30

  Train to Kiyosumi-Shirakawa

  About 25 minutes and one change. Toei Mita line from Shirokanedai to Otemachi, then the Hanzomon line to Kiyosumi-Shirakawa.

• 10:00

  Tokyo's coffee district, before the crowd

  Blue Bottle's Kiyosumi flagship, 8:00 to 19:00 daily, a converted warehouse with room for a buggy and no queue theatre. iki Roastery and Eatery, 8:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, is the calmer option. map

• 11:00

  Fukagawa Edo Museum

  Open 9:30 to 17:00, last entry 16:30. ¥400 adults, school students ¥50, closed the second and fourth Mondays. This is a full-size reconstruction of an Edo-period neighbourhood, and you walk into the houses rather than look at them behind glass. For a four-year-old this beats every museum in Tokyo. map

• 13:00

  Lunch, then Kiyosumi Garden

  The garden is a short walk, 9:00 to 17:00 with entry until 16:30, ¥150 for adults and free for children, closed only over New Year. Stepping stones, carp, and a tea house. map

• 14:30

  Back to base

  Quiet afternoon.

• 17:30

  Dinner: Toshian, soba

  Three minutes from the hotel, ¥2,000 to ¥4,000, seiro or duck seiro and the dashimaki. No bookings, expect a short queue, 13 seats. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Chojyuan, one minute away, is the cheaper fallback. map

24 / 20, 63% rain. Do not care, the park is indoors.

• 08:30

  Train to Tama Center

  About 70 to 80 minutes and two or three changes. Hotel to Meguro, JR Yamanote to Shinjuku, then the Keio line limited express to Keio-Tama-Center, then six minutes on foot. Allow 80 minutes the first time, and take the route at Shinjuku slowly, it is a big station with a four-year-old's worth of distraction. map

• 10:00

  Sanrio Puroland

  Open 9:00 to 18:00 today, and the park is fully indoor, which is exactly why it lands on the wettest day. Entry needs a passport ticket plus a visit reservation, and the official ePassport bundles both. Date-priced: roughly ¥4,300 adult and about ¥2,900 child for this date, so check the calendar when you buy. Under three free. Weekday crowds here average around 45 to 50 minutes of queueing across attractions. map

• 12:00

  Eat inside the park

  Character-themed food, which is part of the experience rather than a concession to it.

• 14:30

  Start back

  Leave while she is still good company. The return trip is the same 80 minutes, and a tired child on a Shinjuku transfer is a bad combination.

• 17:30

  Dinner near home

  Chojyuan, one minute from the hotel, soba and udon under ¥2,000, open until 20:00. Or AFURI Ebisu for yuzu shio ramen, open to 05:00, cashless, stroller and baby chair available. map

22 / 19, 63% rain. Mostly indoors, so it holds.

• 08:45

  Train to Yokohama

  About 50 minutes. Hotel to Meguro, JR to Shibuya, then the Tokyu Toyoko express, which runs straight through onto the Minatomirai line, so you can ride to Minatomirai station without changing at Yokohama. ¥690.

• 10:00

  Cup Noodles Museum

  Open 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:00, closed Tuesdays. Adults ¥500, high school and under free. My CUPNOODLES Factory is ¥500 a cup and you design the whole thing, which a four-year-old can genuinely do. It needs either an advance ticket with a factory voucher, and those sell out, or a same-day numbered ticket, so arrive at 10:00 sharp. The chicken ramen workshop is elementary age and up, so skip it. map

• 12:00

  Lunch: Noodles Bazaar

  Inside the museum, half-size bowls from ¥500. Cheaper and faster than Chinatown with a tired child.

• 13:15

  Cosmo Clock 21 and the Air Cabin

  The ferris wheel is ¥1,000 a person for 15 minutes in air-conditioned gondolas, and children under elementary age need a paying adult with them. The Air Cabin ropeway is ¥1,000 adult and ¥500 for ages 3 to 11 each way, ¥1,800 and ¥900 return. Both are short, spectacular, and over before she can get bored. map map

• 14:30

  Optional: Anpanman Children's Museum

  Floors 2 and 3 need a date-and-time web ticket, sold online only, ¥2,200 to ¥2,800 for anyone over one. Floor 1 shops and restaurants are free to enter. Only worth the ticket if she actually knows Anpanman, which is a fair question for a four-year-old from Singapore. map

• 16:00

  Waterfront, then early dinner

  Red Brick Warehouse, Yamashita Park and Chinatown are all a flat walk and free. Eat in Yokohama at 17:00 rather than dragging a tired child back across the bay hungry. map

• 18:30

  Back to the hotel

  Same route in reverse, about 50 minutes. In bed by 20:00.

Showers, 20 / 17, 45% rain

• 08:30

  Slow morning, nothing booked

  Breakfast, pack, and a last walk in the garden next door if there is energy. No attraction today, the day is already long enough.

• 12:00

  Checkout

  The hotel stores bags if you want a last lunch out.

• 12:45

  Back at the hotel with the bags

  The bus leaves from the hotel door and takes your luggage underneath, which is the entire reason to use it rather than the train.

• 13:35

  Airport Limousine Bus to Narita T2

  ¥3,600 adult, ¥1,800 child, online booking only, and it arrives at Narita about 15:30, which is comfortable for an 18:05 departure. The bus runs just three times a day from this hotel: 11:35, 13:35 and 15:20. The 15:20 arrives at 17:15, which is 50 minutes before wheels up and far too tight with a child and checked bags. Take the 13:35. map

• 15:30

  Narita Terminal 2

  Check in, then use the terminal nurseries if you need them. Every terminal has one, with a feeding booth, changing station and hot water.

• 18:05

  JL711 departs

  Lands Changi T1 at 00:20 the next morning.