Flying Preparation

Depending on where you're coming from, Japan can be a long flight.

Things to consider bring:

• Entertainment. Most planes have screens with tons of viewing options but just in case, load up your phone/ipad with shows or movies that you know you want to watch. Comfortable ear phones are a must. 
  
  Remember to bring a battery pack or a plug (a lot of planes have outlets now but they don't always work). Bring both adapter or one that uses USB. Our recent plane had a USB port.
• Rest. It's a long flight so you'll most likely sleep. If you have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar places, try bringing some ear plugs and eye mask. I'm still searching for the perfect neck pillow and I actually brought these travel foot rests last time but found out that ANA has foot rests so I didn't use it. Probably only necessary for people with short legs like me...
• Dry. It's so dry on the airplane. Buy your own water in the terminal if you drink like a fish and bring some vaseline or saline to rub in your nostrils. The dry air can be killer on your sinuses.
• Snacks. Bring some snacks if you like to munch on stuff. Preferably not too noisy or smelly so you don't disturb your neighbors. Example: chips, pretzels, raisins, cheese sticks, clementines, apples.
• Sweater/blanket. Temperature is not guaranteed so wear something light and bring a sweater if it gets too cold. It was super hot on one flight and I was so nauseous the whole time. Usually it's pretty cold so I like to have a sweater because the blankets are pretty thin.
• Medicine? I got sick right before a flight and forgot to bring medicine. The congestion made me feel like my head was going to explode. It was the worst flight I had ever been on. Thankfully large airports usually sell medicine and they are conveniently in single packages (but you pay A LOT). If you are traveling with kids though, you may want to bring your own children medicine. Just make sure it's in your allowed liquid bag.

If traveling with kids:

• Blow up pillow for the foot rest was a winner for long travels. The toddler was able to sleep on the seat because of it and it made it so much easier not having to hold her for 10 hours. Check your airline because not all airplanes allow it and it's definitely only allowed if it doesn't block someone else in. 
• Seat. You will need to decide on what's best for you and your kids. Do you want them to be in a car seat? Do you want them to be a lap child (under 2 years old)? In my opinion, if the child is very young and the trip isn't too long, you may be better off with the car seat. If your child is older, look into the CARES harness. It adds security to a very big and flimsy seatbelt. Again, check your airline for what's allowed. Japan airplanes ONLY allow the CARES harness so you may need to point out the logo multiple times.
• Snacks! Load up on snacks that are easy to travel. Cheerios, goldfish, cheesits...etc. Avoid squishy and soft foods that are likely to just get crushed during the transit. Bring lollipops to give to the kids during takeoff. It should help their ears pop. For older kids, look into chips, pretzels, cheese, popcorn, and snacks that are treats (like candy, chocolates, or gummies)
• Drinks. Bring a bottle of water for the kids. If they drink juice, then they'll probably be okay on the plane since there's usually apple juice. My first flight, I had never given juice to my daughter who was about 3 months shy of 2 years old (first child syndrome amiright?) It was EXTREMELY difficult to get milk for her for some reason. Obviously I bought milk and fed it to her pretty quickly but when you're flying for 11 hours, you can't have milk sitting around that long. The airlines only have a little milk so they're very stringy with it. I would have been happy to buy milk for them if they were willing to fridge it but they didn't like that either (I had a small cup of milk that was covered). 
• Change of clothes. FOR YOU AND THE KIDS. Speaking from personal experience, you do NOT want to sit with wet pants for 5 hours because you didn't bring clothes for yourself. Trust me.
• Vomit bags if you are paranoid of the kid barfing. I used a more convenient bag like this one that's plastic and allows you to twist it to close. MAKE SURE to leave it at the front of the chair pocket. There is NO time to be fishing around your bags when your kid is about to throw up!
• Wipes! Life saver for wiping hands or wiping vomit...
• Toys. Small, new toys can keep a kid entertained so that they aren't screaming the whole time. Reuseable is great because you can use it again on the trip home. Reusable sticker books, reusable water play books, toys, etc. If you want to keep it exciting, you can use Easter eggs that they can open every hour. For older kids, try things like an LED drawing tablet, sticker books, maze books, or find the picture books. Honestly though, my kids didn't care about any of it because of videos so I carried a bunch of stuff for nothing.
• Comfort. If your child is young, then their favorite stuffy or lovey can be the comfort they need in an unfamiliar situation. If you are traveling on a long flight, some PJs could also help get them in the sleepy mood.
• Bottles/Cups—if they're young. Water is not awesome on the plane so if you don't want to wash them in questionable water, you'll have to bring enough for the entire flight or buy enough water in the airport to also wash in the bathroom. 
• Diapers—bring enough to last for the day and then some. You never know if there are delays.
• Baby Wipes—same as diapers.
• iPad — Pre-download shows and music videos to watch. Make sure to bring headphones and headphone splitters if you have two kids. Make sure that the headphone connection is long if you plan on putting the iPad on the tray area.