From Mikko

I’m Mikko. I worked at Google for over ten years, became a father last year, and built TabiTots with my wife, a UX designer — by parents, for parents.

We launched on 29 June 2026, so we’re just getting started — we don’t have many partners yet, and I’m sorry if we’re not near you. Post in our parents group and I’ll take it straight to providers there; a real family asking is what encourages them to open their doors. You’d pay them directly in cash.

Something like: “We’re in Sapporo until the 12th. Two children, 3 and 5 — I couldn’t find any childcare near us.”
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travel / journey
TabiTots
little ones

Discover and book vetted short-stay kids' programs at international schools and activity providers — wherever your family travels.

Now live in Japan. Then Asia. Then the world.

Booking is live — browse programs and reserve your child's place right in the app.

This summer

Free trial classes in Japan

We're giving away free spots in six real classes — part of a trial for TabiTots.

TabiTots

Ballet

When
Sun July 12, 15:00–16:00
Where
mika Ballet Studio, Nerima, Tokyo
Ages
4+
Free spots
8

Taught by Mika Nakayama, founder of mika Ballet Studio — a Paris Opéra–method dancer who trained in Paris, England, and Russia, danced as a soloist with the Japan Ballet Association (Swan Lake, Paquita), and has been named Best Instructor multiple times over 20 years of teaching.

TabiTots

Karate

When
Sun July 19, 13:30–14:30
Where
Junior-high budōjō, Komagome area, Bunkyō, Tokyo
Ages
3–18
Free spots
10

Overseas visiting families join the dōjō's regular practice alongside local Japanese children as guest participants — so you feel the dōjō's atmosphere and Japanese martial-arts culture exactly as they are. It's set in a local Bunkyō-ward community, where members from age 4 to 89 all train in karate together.

TabiTots

Piano

When
By request in July
Where
Midori Piano Lesson, Kyoto
Ages
4+
Free spots
5

Taught by Midori Ogawa, founder of Midori Piano Lesson — a pianist trained at Nara University of Education and its graduate school, Grand Prix winner in the specialist division of the Kansai Piano Audition and 1st Prize at the 22nd “Great Wall Cup” International Music Competition, teaching one-to-one from a child’s very first notes.

TabiTots

Preschool Day

When
Weekday mornings, 9:00–12:30 (half day)
Where
Izumi International School, Setagaya, Tokyo
Ages
2–6
Free spots
4

An English-medium international preschool and kindergarten in Setagaya, Tokyo. Visiting children join a warm mixed-age class for a half-day morning — play, songs, and hands-on learning, all in English — welcoming ages 2 to 6.

TabiTots

Kendo

When
Saturdays from Aug 1, 17:00–18:00
Where
Isshinjuku Kendo Dojo, Yamashina, Kyoto
Ages
6+
Free spots
4

A one-hour beginner's introduction at Isshinjuku, a Kyoto Prefecture Kendo Federation dojo, in a small group of four — etiquette, how to hold the shinai (bamboo sword), and the basics. A shinai and protective gear are provided; no experience needed.

See instructor

Led by Tsutsuida-sensei (7th dan), the dojo's head, with Fujita-sensei (6th dan) and Okamoto-sensei (4th dan).

TabiTots

School Day

When
Weekdays from Tue Sep 1
Where
New Life International School, Kofu, Yamanashi
Ages
6–18
Grades
1–12
Free spots
5

An English-medium international school in Kofu, Yamanashi. Visiting children spend a real school day in their own grade-level class — anywhere from Grade 1 to Grade 12 — reading, writing, and learning alongside NLIS students, all in English.

Want any program free? Email hello@tabitots.com.

For families in Japan — local or traveling · ages 0 to 18

Looking for a safe place to drop your child for a few hours or a few days?

Verified providers, not random sitters.

Every provider is real, registered, and verified before it's bookable — an international school, kindergarten, preschool or licensed childcare, an after-school program, a lessons or tutoring class, or a vetted in-home babysitter. Qualified staff, and the safety standards set by Japanese authorities. The same providers resident families use year-round, now bookable by the hour or day.

Other international kids.

Your child spends the day with kids from expat, third-culture, and traveling families like yours. Most programs lead in English, with Japanese woven in naturally — kids find their footing in the group quickly, often within the first morning.

A real day, whatever the day.

Some programs run a full day — art, music, outdoor play, lunch, sometimes a nap. Others are a focused class or supervised free play. Either way: qualified teachers and staff, English-friendly support when you need it, and a real day off for you.

TabiTots is live in Japan — get the app to browse and book. Sign up so we know how many families want this: we show that demand to schools and providers, and the more families sign up, the more of them open their doors.

Not in your prefecture yet? Post your area, your child’s age and whether a parent stays in our private parents group — we take real requests to providers there. If one says yes, you pay them in cash directly.

Working with TabiTots.

What to know before applying — eligibility, documents, commission, payouts, and how the platform runs once you're live.

What TabiTots is 1 / 12

We bring you families. You run your program exactly as you do now.

Who books
Families visiting Japan, international families living here, and Japanese families locally.
What we do
They find you, book, and pay in the app. We handle the family, the payment, and support.
What we don't do
We never change your program, your staff, or your way of working.

Nothing about your day changes.

What it costs 2 / 12

Nothing to join. We earn only when you do.

To join
¥0 — no joining fee, no listing fee, no monthly fee, no setup fee.
Commission
8% for 24 months from your first booking, then 12%. Completed bookings only.
Card fee
Added on top of your price and paid by the family — not taken from your share.

There is no way to lose money by listing with us. An empty month costs you nothing.

In real yen 3 / 12

A ¥12,000 booking, from start to finish.

Your price — you set it ¥12,000
The family paysYour price plus the card fee, which they bear ¥12,500
TabiTots commission, 8%Deducted automatically at payout −¥960
You receive ¥11,040

Illustrative figures. Your own price is yours to set, and you can change it any time.

You stay in control 4 / 12

Every setting is yours. We impose nothing.

Taking bookings
How bookings arrive · When you're open · Free cancellation until · Your bookings
Each program
What this program is · When it runs · How many children · Adults · What's included and what costs extra · Safety requirements · What happens
Your price
Yours alone. We never impose a pricing model, and you can change it whenever you like.
Where
All of it at partners.tabitots.com or on the phone app — the same on both. Add your staff under Your team.
How a booking reaches you 5 / 12

You choose how much say you want over each booking.

Review mode
the default
24–48 hours ahead arrives as a request — you accept or decline, and you have 24 hours to answer. The clock only runs while you are open: it stops overnight, at weekends, on public holidays and on your own closure dates, so a Friday request is due Monday. 48 hours or more confirms automatically, with a 24-hour safety window.
Instant mode
If you would rather not review each one, bookings 24 hours or more ahead simply confirm.
A first hello
Optional: a family new to you is always held as a request until you have met them, online or in person.

A safety veto always closes before the family's card is charged.

Cancellations and no-shows 6 / 12

Once a place is committed, you are paid — whether the child comes or not.

Free-cancel window
You choose it: 24 hours, 3 days, or 7 days before drop-off. Inside it, the family is refunded in full.
After the cutoff
No refund, for any reason — illness, a change of plan, or simply not turning up. You are paid in full.
Arrives too late
It is your call whether you can still take the child. If not, record it — and you are still paid in full. A family who did not come cannot leave a review for that day.
Unwell at the door
Fever, vomiting, or suspected contagious symptoms: refuse the child with our full support — and you are paid in full.

You are never out of pocket for a place a family did not use.

Getting paid 7 / 12

About a week after each visit, straight to your bank.

When
5–7 days after the booking is completed, on Stripe Japan's standard payout cycle.
How much
The net. Our commission is deducted automatically — there is no invoice for you to pay.
Who holds it
Stripe, not TabiTots. We never hold your money at any point.
Receipts
The app sends the family a receipt automatically — issued in your name, as the seller. You send nothing. A formal 適格請求書, if one is asked for, is yours to issue.
Safety at the door 8 / 12

You never hand a child to someone we have not checked.

Before the visit
Every parent and nominated guardian submits government photo ID plus a selfie, reviewed by our team.
At the door
Your staff open the verified photo and name in TabiTots and confirm the adult in front of them matches.
If not verified
We withhold the photo and the handover cannot be completed. Nobody has to make that judgement alone.
Responsibility
Care on your premises is yours, as it is today. It passes to the verified adult the moment they receive the child.

Serious incident: 110 or 119 first, then us.

Language and contact 9 / 12

English-speaking staff are not required. The language barrier is our job.

Your app
Entirely in Japanese for you. A visiting family sees it in English.
Your lesson
Stays in Japanese. Families come for the real thing — we tell them clearly what to expect.
Messages
You can chat with the family in the app, on the booking itself — from the moment it reaches you.

Anything you cannot answer, send to us — that is what we are here for.

Switch on what suits you 10 / 12

Optional settings. All off until you turn them on.

Joining fee
入会金
We collect your one-time 入会金 on a family's first booking, so your front desk doesn't have to.
Who's already joined
See who holds a registration — and tell us when a family already paid you in person, so we don't charge them twice.
Local family price
A percentage off for families living in Japan, funded from your own payout. They only ever see the lower price — never the visitor rate. 5–50%.
Extras and meals
Price lunch, materials, or a trip separately from the session itself.
Extension and
late pickup
Paid extension in 30-minute steps, at your own hourly rate. Late pickup: 10 minutes’ grace, then per minute at 1.5× that rate — charged automatically when you record the pickup, and paid to you like ordinary revenue.
Insurance check
Require a family to confirm they carry their own accident or travel insurance before they can book.

Nothing here is required. Ignore every one of them and the platform works exactly as described so far.

Filling your sessions 11 / 12

Four more ways a place gets filled.

Group sessions
A class that needs a minimum shows you the tally so far and the decide-by date. You can run it anyway, at any point.
Waitlist
A full day keeps gathering families. If someone cancels, the next family is told at once — you do nothing.
Hometown tax
Most partners assume this is closed to them — usually it isn't. Any business the municipality registers as a 返礼品提供事業者 can offer one, a childcare program included. You are the 事業者, and you issue and track your own codes in your console.
External bookings
Connect Bókun and your other channels' bookings appear here too — one place to look, instead of a fifth site to update. Using something else? Tell us and we'll try to add it.

Travel agencies book through us too, on their own account — the day reaches you the same way.

How to start 12 / 12

Four steps, and nothing is public until you say so.

  1. 1 Three documents. Entity verification (履歴事項全部証明書 / 登記事項証明書 / 開業届), one independent third-party document, and a one-page safety declaration.If a parent stays with the child throughout, the entity document alone is enough.
  2. 2 Stripe setup, about 15 minutes. Your bank account and representative ID, on Stripe's own Japanese pages.Only done once.
  3. 3 We build your listing from your own photographs and your own words, and you review it privately.Correct anything you like before it opens.
  4. 4 You go live — and you may leave at any time with 30 days' written notice.Founding Partner: a permanent badge and priority placement during launch.
01 · Eligibility

The categories we work with.

Care & classeschild stays without you — drop-off possible

Private kindergartens私立幼稚園
Nursery認可外・認証保育所
International / preschoolインターナショナル・プリスクール
Registered temporary childcare一時預かり事業
In-home babysitting居宅訪問型
After-school care学童保育
Lessons & enrichmentCoding · abacus · calligraphy · tea ceremony · ikebana · dance · sports · shogi
Tutoring学習塾・英会話
Hands-on & Japanese crafts (pottery · kintsugi · mizuhiki · metalwork)体験・陶芸・金継ぎ・水引・彫金

Places to visit togethera parent stays with the child throughout

Zoos & aquariums動物園・水族館
Museums & science centers博物館・科学館
Theme & amusement parksテーマパーク・遊園地
Indoor play & trampoline parks室内遊び場・トランポリン
Farms & fruit-picking牧場・味覚狩り
Botanical & flower parks植物園・フラワーパーク
Riverside play & BBQ川遊び・河原BBQ
Job-experience & edutainment職業体験
Omakase, kaiseki & family diningおまかせ寿司・割烹ほか
Photo studios (kimono, 七五三)写真スタジオ・七五三

Some categories run both ways: you set the age at which a child may attend alone, and an adult stays for anyone younger.

02 · Updates

What we are building, as it happens.

11 August 2026 ふるさと納税 — what we are building next — Your town lists what you offer as a thank-you gift, and the code applies itself at checkout.
2 August 2026 Our first real booking — A real family booked two full days, and we are 19 partners.

Founding Partner places are open now, with no fixed number and no deadline. We will close the cohort at some point; once you are in, the priority placement and the badge are yours permanently. The 8% intro rate is the same for every partner, whenever you join.

Get in touch

Why we built this

Love traveling with kids, but wish you could sometimes have a moment for yourself?

Mikko Sysikaski with his wife and their baby son, the three of them in yukata in a lounge in Japan.

I'm Mikko Sysikaski. TabiTots is a project my wife and I have been pouring our hearts into.

It came about after we became parents last year and realized how drastically travel changes with a little one. As much as we love our son, there are moments in Japan you simply can't share with a small child: a multi-course omakase dinner, an onsen, a film in a theater.

My wife is a UX designer. I spent over ten years as a Senior Software Engineer at Google — first in Zurich, then Los Angeles, then Tokyo — and lived in Japan for over six years. So we built the app we kept wishing existed.

TabiTots lets you find and reserve vetted, verified providers where you can leave your child for a few hours or a few days in Japan. You get your own moment, knowing your child is safe and well looked after.

And it isn't only a break for parents — it's genuinely exciting for the children. They join in with local kids at real Japanese schools and studios: soroban, calligraphy, ballet, karate, kendo, piano, art, English summer programs, or simply supervised free play. It's a real Japan experience for them too.

We have signed partners in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Saitama, Chiba, Nagano, Yamanashi, Ishikawa, Hyogo, Hiroshima and Okinawa, and we're in conversation with many more schools and facilities across Japan. We're only a few weeks old and the app isn't perfect yet — we're improving it every week.

If this sounds like something you'd use, I'd love to hear what you think. Write to me at hello@tabitots.com.

Mikko Sysikaski

Founder, TabiTots · LinkedIn