I’m often contacted by parents in various countries who are planning to visit Tokyo with their children…and ask me for suggestions for places to take them in this city.
So I thought it would be helpful for people who are planning to visit Tokyo with kids if I wrote a post with some places that are popular with kids in Tokyo.
So, in no particular order, here is a brief list of places in Tokyo to take kids:
– Tokyo Disneyland and/or Tokyo Disney Sea
– Kiddyland – One of the giant toy stores in Tokyo. In Omotesando, near Harajuku.
– Yamashiroya – Another giant toy store. Near Ueno train station.
– Hakuhinkan – This giant toy store is in Ginza.
– Odaiba – A driverless train takes you to this part of Tokyo. Has a shopping center, cat-cafe, bicycle rental, a Statue of Liberty like the one in New York…but smaller, and a life-size “Gundam” robot.
– Zoos and/or Aquariums – There are many excellent zoos and aquariums in and around Tokyo. This site tells the government-owned ones in Tokyo limits…there are more than these.
– Tokyo Sky Tree – At 634 meters tall, it’s the world’s tallest tower. It’s within walking distance of Asakusa.
I also sometimes give inexpensive (not much more than the cost of my train fare) walking tours of Tokyo to foreign visitors, when my schedule allows.
Feel free to contact me with this form if you need more information:
Tokyo Five 
Hi..We intend on travelling to Tokyo arriving at Narita airport on June 26 and leaving in July 6th. Our son is obsessed with bullet trains so we would love to get a JR pass but don’t know which one to get, is it worth the expense and what other cities could we visit with tks pass. I’m interested in going to Kyoto, Hiroshima but would also love to visit a beach if this is possible.
You’re hello would be greatly appreciated.
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>arriving at Narita airport on June 26 and leaving in July 6th.
Will this be your first trip to Japan? What country are you from?
Summer in Japan is quite hot!
>Our son is obsessed with bullet trains
Are there bullet trains in your country?
How old is your son? In Japan, children under 6 can ride trains and buses for free, kids aged 6-12 are half-price.
> so we would love to get a JR pass but don’t know which one to get, is it worth the expense and what other cities could we visit with tks pass.
You can ride mostly any JR train (can’t be used on subways, other train lines and some bullet trains).
You can use it to travel over most of Japan.
Is it worth it? That depends on how much train travel you plan to do.
Generally speaking, for a ten-day trip, if you plan to see Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and other places, I’d say that it’s worth it.
That “Japan Rail Pass” must be purchased outside of Japan, by the way.
>would also love to visit a beach if this is possible.
Yes, there are many nice beaches in Japan…but, so you know, in most of Japan, “beach season” is from late July until late August.
If you want more help, please feel free to use the form in this post above to email me.
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Hi we are travelling on a few months and we are looking for assistance with accommodation. We require either interconnecting rooms or a one bedroom apartment in Tokyo for ourselves and our 2 & 4 year old children. We are looking at midbudget out of the city is fine…. any info you can share?
Thanks liz
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How long will you stay?
There are all kinds of accommodation in Japan … especially in the cities such as Tokyo.
If you don’t mind sleeping on a Japanese futon on the floor in one room, a Japanese ryokan (traditional inn) is a fun experience.
Otherwise, there are plenty of western style hotel choices in every budget range.
Does that help?
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Awesome! Glad I found your blog…! Will do much reading here…
We will be taking our first trip to Japan in a few months with two small children! Scared but of course more excited !!
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>Will do much reading here…
Thank you. Please leave comments / questions anytime!
>We will be taking our first trip to Japan in a few months with two small children! Scared but of course more excited !!
How old are your kids?
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I can vouch for the towers, they were both fun and honestly not as much of a wait as I expected.
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Did you go up both the Tokyo Tower and Sky Tree? Do you have a post about it?
I’ve gone up both of them too. I wrote a post with photos I took from Sky Tree:
https://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/sky-tree-top/
And I wrote a post comparing them (I wrote it when the plans for the Sky Tree were first announced (before construction even began)):
https://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/tokyo-sky-tree/
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what I am going to ask isn’t gonna be related to this but I am just gonna ask:
let’s stay you want to add a made-up major city in japan (composed of three islands), where do you suppose is the best place for this fictional major city?
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Sorry, but I don’t understand your question.
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in the story I am writing, japan will have an extra island which doesn’t exist, the made-up island will be placed below nagoya and tokyo.
since I have never lived in japan nor have I even been there, I wanted to know if its possible for such an island to exist
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>in the story I am writing, japan will have an extra island which doesn’t exist,
Oh, I see. What will you name the island?
>below nagoya and tokyo…(is it) possible for such an island to exist
Tokyo and Nagoya aren’t neighboring. Nagoya is south of Tokyo.
There could be a (fictional) island south of Nagoya.
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