Toei Studio Park

We had one last day in Kyoto before we would depart in the afternoon.

On this day, we decided it would be best for my sister’s family and our family to go our separate ways. We wanted to take Kai to the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, which is primarily geared toward kids, while my sister’s family could tour the former Imperial Palace and other sights that we did not get to the day before.

Toei is a kids’ ninja-version of Universal Studios Park.

The park has a setting of ancient Japan, including streets and buildings of that era.

We saw several shows including one that demonstrated how they film a ninja fight scene.

And went through several attractions including one where you received ninja training.

But Kai’s favorite was the show that featured a ninja water fight that got the audience wet, too.

Early afternoon, we started to head back to the hotel where we had left our luggage. When we got off the local train at Kyoto Station, Kai was antsy to get as much wifi time as he could. So I offered to take him back to the hotel while my wife and father-in-law went to ticket counter to buy the tickets for our train to our next destination, Hiroshima.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Our hotel was right across the street from the station. How hard could it be to get there?

But when we came out of the station, I realized that something was wrong. Nothing looked familiar. I knew we were on the opposite side but finding my way over to the other side was harder than you would think. Kyoto Station is large, and there’s no direct way to cut across.

Kai started loudly moaning that we were lost and he would not have any wifi time. I tried to ask people how to get to the hotel, but they either were not familiar with our hotel or could not understand my poor Japanese. Kai was getting more upset by the second.

I finally found someone at a small shop who looked up the address of our hotel and gave me directions on how to navigate around the train station. We got there to the relief of my wife who was panicking that we were lost.

Kai just wanted to get on his iPad. But when the wifi connection didn’t work, he got upset all over again. I frantically tried to get it working to no avail. And then it was time to go back to the station to catch our train.

It wasn’t until we were settled on board and started watching a video that he finally calmed down.

The hot weather hasn’t bothered him as much as we thought. He has been remarkably patient as we’ve toured many sights.

But the thought of missing wifi time will bring out the worst.

When it comes to the iPad, we have to take the bad with the good.