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Cami Magallanes | Toddler life in Japan

@camianywhere

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Raising a toddler in Japan 🇯🇵
Hawaii 🌺 ➡️ Japan
Her tiny takes on Japanese food 🍱🍙, culture and everyday moments
📩 Collabs: [email protected]

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She woke up and chose Japanese. She’s 2.5. 😮🥹🇯🇵

I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t plan for this. These are just three different mornings. Three different days. Same energy. 😂

Counted 6 through 10. Why 6? No idea. Don’t ask me. 😂
Said itadakimasu. No food in sight. Just felt like the right thing to do apparently. 🥹
Then threw in an Oh Mr. Sun because she’s still very much an American girl too. 🇺🇸🥹

This is what raising a toddler in Japan actually looks like. And honestly? We are just getting started. She transitions to Japanese school full time after she turns three and I cannot wait to see what she brings home. The language. The songs. The words I won’t even recognize. I am so excited for her. 🥹🇯🇵

What language is your little one learning? Drop it below 👇 — and follow @camianywhere for more of our everyday life in Japan. 🇯🇵

Captured by our @get_nanit

#raisingkidsabroad #bilingualchild #lifeinjapan #toddlermom #expatmom taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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2 months ago

We all had to adjust to Japan. She was the most honest about it. 😂🥹

March 2025. We were a month in. Everything was still so new — the language, the food, the new house, the streets, the sounds. We were figuring it out one day at a time.

She was 15 months old and had absolutely zero say in any of it.
This was one of those days.

The folded hands. The puffy eyes. The drool. The pout. And then — the phone. 😂

I was trying to document it for daddy. She had other plans.

Here’s the thing though — we all struggled. We all had moments of “what did we do?” She just wore hers on her face in a way the rest of us couldn’t.

A year and a half later she grabs her own grocery basket at the Japanese store, waits in line, hands over the point card and helps bag everything. Unbothered. Confident. Completely at home.

Japan didn’t break her. It built her. 🥹🇯🇵

Tell me — did you ever make a big life change that was hard at first but turned out to be exactly right? Drop it below 👇 — and follow @camianywhere for more of our life in Japan. 🇯🇵

#lifeinjapan #expatmom #toddlermom #raisingkidsinjapan #motherhoodunfiltered taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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2 months ago

She’s 2.5 and better at grocery shopping than I was at 12. 🛒🇯🇵

Her own basket. Her own items. Waiting in line without being told to. Hands over the point card on cue. Helping bag everything at the end because that’s just... part of the job.
I didn’t teach her most of this. She just watched, and picked it up.

Here in Japan, kids start doing things like this so much younger — she’s only 2.5 and already doing what took me years longer to figure out. Raising her here has really engrained in me that she’s capable of so much more than I give her credit for — when given the opportunity, she thrives and rises to the occasion. 🥹

Have you noticed things your kid picks up just from watching, no teaching involved? Tell me below 👇 — and follow along for more of what raising her in Japan actually looks like.

#raisingkidsinjapan
#expatmom
#toddlermom
#lifeinjapan
#momsofinstagram taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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2 months ago

I want her to grow up proud of everything she is. 🇯🇵🇲🇽

If your child has a shelf full of dolls but not one of them looks like them, this is for you. 👇

She’s Japanese and Mexican, and dolls have always been her whole world. Now, for the first time, she has dolls that represent all of her: Aiko for her Japanese side, Mateo & Xochitl for her Mexican side.

They share her snacks (sometimes mochi), come to bed with her, and got paper marigolds for Día de los Muertos. 🌼

It’s a small start, but this is how we begin. 🥹

What’s your family’s mix? Tell me below 👇

Save this for when you’re looking for dolls that look like your little one🤍

Thank you @joeydolls

#biculturalfamily #representationmatters #momsofinstagram #joeydolls #gifted taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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a day ago

Her superpower? Eating umeboshi without flinching. She’s 2.5. We live in Japan. 😂🇯🇵

If you are not familiar— umeboshi is a traditional Japanese pickled plum. It is intensely sour, salty and an acquired taste that even adults struggle with. She on the other hand, does not struggle. 😂

She examined it, finished it and gave it a thumbs up. Our resident food critic has spoken. 😂🥹

Japan did this to her. I will forever be impressed. 🥹🇯🇵

Have you ever tried umeboshi? Drop it below 👇 — and follow @camianywhere for more of our everyday life in Japan. 🇯🇵

#lifeinjapan #toddlermom #japanfood #expatmom #toddlerlife taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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a month ago

Nobody asked for her onigiri review. She gave it anyway. 😂🍙

If you’ve never had onigiri — it’s a traditional Japanese food made of cooked white rice shaped into triangles or rounds often times filled with something delicious (her favorite is grilled salmon) then wrapped in crisp seaweed. You’ll find them everywhere here — convenience stores, supermarkets, specialty shops. Japan’s ultimate comfort food. 🇯🇵

She’s been eating them since we moved here from Hawaii and apparently she has thoughts.

The verdict?
“They wrapped it good.” “I love nori.”
Then she examined it. Then she ate more. 😂🥹

Japan has given her a lot of things. An opinion on seaweed wrapping is one of them.

Have you ever tried onigiri? Tell me below 👇 — and follow @camianywhere for more of our everyday life in Japan. 🇯🇵

#lifeinjapan #toddlermom #japanfood #expatmom #toddlerlife taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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2 months ago

Google says 3 minutes. With a toddler in Japan, that’s a different story. 😄🇯🇵

For us it’s a quick walk around the corner. For her it’s an entire adventure.

She balanced on everything. Said arigato to the cashier. Watched for crabs in the stream while we waited for our bentos — she couldn’t find them. 😂 Stopped to buy mama a drink from the vending machine on our street — and of course had to take a sip first. Raced daddy up the stairs. 😄

Then sat down and said itadakimasu. 🥹

Her plate: chicken karaage from the bento shop, grapes from our grocery run earlier this week and her favorite veggie — peas. My dinner: $4.60. 😄🍱

Japan has given us a simpler, cozier life than I ever imagined. And she’s taught me how to actually live it — to stop, look for the crabs and appreciate every single ordinary moment. 🥹🇯🇵

This is our every day. I don’t take a single second of it for granted.

Tell me something about where you live that still surprises you 👇 — and follow @camianywhere for more of our everyday moments in Japan. 🇯🇵 taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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2 months ago

Raising our daughter in Japan means she is learning osusowake-sharing what you have with the people around you.

We harvested sweet potatoes 🍠, packed them with our Hokkaido omiyage, and she delivered them to our neighbor (and said hi to the dog, of course 🐶). She came home with grapes and peppers, an okaeshi, or return gift 🍇

We’re so grateful for neighbors like @catherine.t.m who welcomed us with open arms and made us feel like part of the community here. Moving abroad, you never know if you’ll find that, and we found it right next door 🥹

おすそわけとお返し、日本の素敵な文化。いつもありがとうございます🙏

#lifeinjapan #toddlerlife #omiyage #japanculture #momlife taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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10 days ago

She won’t remember a version of childhood that isn’t this.

Festivals in a yukata, eating shave ice under paper lanterns.
Grocery runs in a language she’s learning before she can even read in English. Koinobori streamers overhead. A swan brave enough to eat right out of her hand. The energy of a crossing in the middle of Tokyo. A globe of the whole Earth glowing above her head. Mt. Fuji, like it’s just the mountain near us. Fireworks lighting up a sky she doesn’t know is rare to see this way.

To her, this is just what growing up looks like. She has no idea how different this is from anything I knew as a kid.

Anything could happen — and somehow, this is what happened. I’ll never get used to how lucky that is. Her normal, my wonder. 🇯🇵

#RaisingKidsAbroad #JapanLife #ToddlerMom #MomLife #LivingInJapan taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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2 months ago

She asked and I almost said no. 🥹

She’s so little, so my first answer was, “Maybe when you’re bigger.”

But something tugged at my heart, so I changed my mind and let her try. She held on tight, flew all the way down, and was SO proud of herself.

She hopped off, turned around, and said, “Your turn!”

One day she’ll stop asking me to play. She’ll have her friends, her own plans, and a mom who’s “embarrassing.” So for now, while she still wants me on the zip line with her, I’m saying yes. Every time. (My arms are definitely feeling it today 😅 Worth it.)

Send this to a mama who needs the reminder 🤍

Follow for more of our everyday life in Japan 🇯🇵

#motherhood #momlife #toddlermom #lifeinjapan #presentmom taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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4 days ago

Toddler review: FRIED strawberry sando in Tokyo 🍓💃🏻

I had to try the fried sando in Tokyo, and of course my toddler food critic came along. 🥢

@sandolabtokyo in Akihabara fries their bread-crispy on the outside, soft on the inside 🤯 Hers came topped with whipped cream, fresh strawberries and chocolate.

The verdict: a happy dance and a thumbs up. 👍 Very hard to impress, as you can see. 😂

The beef steak sando went to the hubby. 🥩 And Mama’s pick? I had to go back and buy the truffle double egg: fluffy, creamy, two layers, and so worth it 🥚🥚

Which fried sando would you try?👇

📍Sando Lab Tokyo, Akihabara
 Thank you @sandolabtokyo for having us!

Follow for more reviews from our toddler food critic in Japan 🇯🇵

#tokyofood #akihabara #japanesefood #toddlerfoodcritic #lifeinjapan taken in Akihabara by @camianywhere

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5 days ago

She shared sweet potatoes with our neighbor, no problem 🍠 (osusowake reel on my page)

Chocolate chips? Not even for Daddy with a hurt arm 😂

Two days later (same Elsa dress, obviously), she shares her brownie (made with the sweet potatoes she harvested) without being asked 🥹

Still learning… but getting there.

Is your little one a chocolate chip kid or a brownie kid? 👇🍫

#toddlerlife #momlife #lifeinjapan #toddlerhumor #parenting taken in Japan by @camianywhere

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8 days ago