Online and Hiroshima Resources

Piqniq - Family resource and parenting community website- most of the people seem to be in Tokyo, but that is understandable since most ex-pats working in Japan live there, but there are also a lot of others around the country to get in touch with. You can write your own parenting blog here and read and chat with others about parenting in Japan topics. Quite a good resource all in all.

Japan with Kids Although most of the information is based on Tokyo, there is a lot of good information here for anyone living in Japan. Online discussion with other parents on topics like schools and shopping, e-mail discussion groups and features on all kid related topics.

The Baby Center: track your fetus's development by signing up for an e-mail newsletter sent to you each month of your pregnancy. Once your baby is born, you continue getting development updates for your growing child. There is also quite a lot of good information from other parents and doctors to answer most of your questions and concerns.
Don't get excited about anything at the babycenter store though- they will NOT ship anything outside the USA.

Parents.com Great print magazine's online version. They offer similar weekly e-mail updates and is a good online resource for information. On the main page they list recent product recalls (a good place to check before ordering online).

Fit Mommies.com: a great site full of lots of information about pregnancy and parenting.

Keep Kids Healthy.com: A Pediatrician's guide to healthy kids. They also host free websites to set up for your baby or family.

Online Photo Sharing
Share your digital photos online with friends and family.
Kodakgallery.com is the best quality photo site I have used. Uploading pictures is easy, the e-mail invitation to your album is nice with the first photo included in the e-mail, you get free prints when people visit your site after you first join, the quality of the prints are sharp and professionally done, orders and shipping is done quickly and easily from and to anywhere in the world.

Maternity Wear
It was so difficult to find nice, comfortable maternity and nursing wear in my size here in Japan:

Emommies.com Inexpensive new and used maternity wear. Why should you spend a fortune on clothes you can only wear for a short time?

Products for a Fit Pregnancy. If you are planning to be active and exercising during pregnancy, you can find advice and sporty clothes here.

One Hot Mama great name; cool, hip and unique clothes.

Belly Button Maternity- cool clothes from the land down under.

Cloth/Reusable Diapers Omutsu(Nappies)
Although you can buy some cloth diapers here in Japan, the type sold are not as convenient to use as all-in-ones. I recommend the "ultra" all in one type diapers. They are cotton liners and cover all-in-one with velcro stips ($6-$9/each). It's as easy as disposables. Get at least 10-15 in each size you think you will need (our baby was big, so we started with the infant size instead of the newborn size). It works out a lot cheaper than disposibles and better for the environment.

Weeshop- From Canada (cheaper than the US site, but takes a bit longer to ship) Basically baby.ca
Weeshop- From the US (sometimes faster) Basically baby.com
Basically baby also have some great baby clothes, bunting bags (warm all-in-one suits), and nursing accessories.

Another great resource for fantastic reusable diapers that don't leak and are very comfortable is Mother Ease. They run out of the US, Canada and the UK but ship without a problem to Japan.

Kidalog- From the US Kidalog Diapers and Baby Products
Kidalog features a different all-in-one diaper called the "softwear." Only one size is needed for kids weighing 4-16kg!
They also have a large catalog featuring a great toys and safety section.

Baby Under Wraps- USA. From cloth diapers to oils, stroller and nursing bras.

Clothes and Great Baby Products
PHP- From the UK (more expensive, but unique products) Perfectly Happy People : Diapers, clothes, toys, a wonderful assortment of innovative and useful mother, baby and family related products. I especially like all of their products for the car.

Webclothes USA: Reasonably priced clothes for kids from newborns to teenagers.

Baby & Maternity Stuff in Hiroshima
The "Book Off" Basement
Why pay a fortune for maternity wear and baby and kids clothes when you can get it for a fraction of the cost and sell it back when you are finished with it. The products they have are always changing (depending on what people sell them) so its worth checking back about once a month. They have baby beds (cribs), strollers, clothes, toys, maternity clothes and more for reasonable prices (although some of the things like cribs seem expensive, not much less than a new one).

Toys R Us stores are located in Ujina and just past the Hiroshima onramp of the expressway. It's a good place to go for a variety of imported products for babies and kids including strollers, cribs, car seats, carriers, toiletries, diapers, bottles and of course toys. But do NOT go on a holiday or on the weekend unless you are ready for the craziness.

Al Park: If you live in Itsukaichi, this is a good place to go for baby goods. Akachan Honpou quite a large store filled with baby goods and products for pregnancy, infants and younger children. Most of the same products and goods here can be found in Wants drugstores and on the baby floors of department stores in Hiroshima city. Prices are a bit higher and products are more traditionally Japanese than Toys R Us.
Also in Al Park, there is a Baby Gap (another in SOGO) with cute clothes for babies and kids, Muji Mujirushi also has some baby products and baby and maternity wear (3 floors of Muji also located downtown in moto PARCO), Uniquro (also located in SunMall) has a kids section as well as some larger sized maternity type clothes.

Chat on the forum about "Pregnancy in Hiroshima"

Online Bilingual (Japanese and English) Pregnancy Resource Kuishinbo

Mama of 2, Lorna C says, "I found this web-page really useful in appointments with the doctor. My Japanese is reasonable but lacks the specialist vocabulary for pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period. Even in discussions with my Japanese husband, it was very useful to refer to this page so we could understand each other!
Realistically, during labour you are unlikely to have much chance to refer to a printed sheet but it couldn't hurt to take a print-out of this page for reassurance. The hospital staff might also be reassured if they are concerned about communication difficulties. The weight conversion chart was a nice addition too - otherwise it's a long and complicated equation with the calculator!"

Other online shopping resources with kids stuff: FBC- the foreign buyers' club and The Flying Pig (costco, Japan products)

Japanese Parenting Website, WeWee is also a good resource if your child is going to school or daycare in Japan as you can contact them to make the various bags and items that the schools dictate each student must have. A bit of a problem for parents who can't sew, so WeWee staff come to the rescue. Although the site is only in Japanese, there is a lot of great information on it, if you contact them in English, they do have staff that can read, write and speak English too. MamaJoy and friends, updated 10/2007