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:
– 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.
I have been living in Japan for most of my life.
I came here when I was twenty years old…and that was over twenty years ago now.
I think Japan is the most beautiful country in the world and Tokyo is the best city.
I wanted to show some scenes that I see regularly in Japan and I may have started taking for granted but they are a part of what makes Japan so special.
Rather than go through the photos in my camera’s memory cards, I decided to be a bit lazy and see what I could find online.
I found a website called Getty Images that has many stock photos…some of them of Japan.
The people who take these photos must have cameras that are much nicer than mine because they took some really nice photos.
I use photos that I took myself in most of my blog posts, but the following photos are from Getty Images.
Every January, when the "Tokyo Stock Exchange" reopens after the New Years holidays, the female staff wear kimono.
A"bird's eye view" of Tokyo
A traditional Japanese breakfast.
A Japanese garden.
The symbol of Japan: 富士山 (Mount Fuji).
Tokyo's "Rainbow Bridge".
Japanese "Green Tea".
The Shibuya area of Tokyo
The Shinjuku area of Tokyo.
新幹線 (Bullet trains)
Tokyo Tower
By the way, today is the seventh day of the New Year.
On this day it is Japanese custom to eat 「七草粥」 (“Seven Herbs Porridge“) for breakfast.
I will have it for breakfast today as I usually do on January 7th.
Click here to see my post that explains this tradition in more detail.
Last December. I wrote a post about Japan’s “Eco” movement that mentioned a X-mas tree powered by an electric eel at the 江ノ島水族館 (Enoshima Aquarium) near Tokyo.
The 江ノ島水族館 (Enoshima Aquarium) has a YouTube page.
Well, scientists have said that the 「マダコ」 (“Common Octopus”) is intelligent.
If it’s put into a jar and the lid is then screwed shut, the octopus will watch and learn how the top was closed…and then it will reverse the process from inside the jar to open it and free itself.
The 江ノ島水族館 (Enoshima Aquarium) demonstrated this and put a video of it on their YouTube page.
Here’s the video:
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I’ve never been much of a Michael Jackson fan, but if you are…and you’re in Tokyo, the Tokyo Tower is having a special exclusive event since last month until July 11th titled “Michael Jackson – the official Lifetime collection“.
If you want to see Michael Jackson’s personal possessions, including his Rolls-Royce car and many other items, you should go to the Tokyo Tower by July 11th between the hours of 9:00AM – 10:00PM.
Admission is ¥2,000 for adults, ¥1,800 for high school and college students, and ¥1,500 for children between age 3 and junior high age. (Under 3 is free).
Last Friday was the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death.
To commemorate, Tokyo Tower allowed fifty die-hard fans who were willing to pay ¥100,000 (about US$1,000) to spend the night in the exhibit room surrounded by the collection of Michael Jackson’s possessions!
Supposedly, these fans were touched emotionally by the experience and felt the money was well spent.
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Also, this year is the 60th anniversary of the popular Japanese toy store chain “Kiddyland“.
So Kiddyland has decided it’s time to renovate their large multi-storied shop in 表参道 (Omotensando, Tokyo).
So on 2010 August 31, the current store will close for the renovations and a temporary shop will be opened on 2010 September 1st not far from the current location.
A map showing how to get from the current Kiddyland location to the temporary one (which will be above "Snoopy Town")
The new renovated Kiddyland will reopen in the summer of 2012 at it’s current location.
Well, I just found out that due to a declining number of visitors to the museum, it will close in 2010 October.
I’d like to see the John Lennon Museum but I’ve have never visited it yet mainly due to it’s fairly inconvenient location and the ¥1,500 (about US $12) per person admission charge.
But, since it’s scheduled to close in about ten months, I might visit it before then.
The news that the John Lennon Museum will close comes only five days after the 29th anniversary of John Lennon’s death…and also one day after I heard that Wendy’s fast-food restaurant is exiting the Japan market this month (Click here to read my post about Wendy’s Japan closing).
This museum’s closing reminds me of the closing of the Rock And Roll Museum in Tokyo last January.
(I mention it in this post).
This is an interview that I did with the famous rock ‘n roll photographer Bob Gruen.
Click here to read my interview with Bob Gruen (and my other interviews, as well).
I rented an apartment in Harajuku and spent most of a year there…I like life in Japan very much. I think it is much more civilized than most of the world…
表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) is a street in downtown Tokyo similar to “Rodeo Drive” in Beverly Hills, California.
It’s one of (but not the only) areas in Tokyo with many luxury brand stores.
Every year near Christmas time, the tree-lined street with but lit up with 「クリスマスイルミネーション」 (Xmas lights).
In the same way that there are other high-end shopping areas in Tokyo, there are also plenty of other places with beautiful Xmas illumination displays.
But 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) was always one of the most popular places for couples to go on a date to enjoy the romantic lit up displays.
But in 1998, 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) suddenly stopped decorating the street for Xmas.
There were still plenty of other places to see beautiful displays around Tokyo.
And in 2005, Omotesando Hills was built on 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) and they have their own Xmas illuminations.
It’s been eleven years since 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) had stopped doing their Xmas illuminations so I had forgotten about it.
But live on television last night I saw 表参道通り (Omotesando-dori) being lit up for Xmas again. The first time since 1998.
I can’t believe it’s been eleven years since I saw 表参道通りクリスマスイルミネーション (Omotesando-dori Xmas light display)! And now they’ve brought it back.
「ようこそジャパン」 (Yokoso Japan!) means “Welcome to Japan!“, and is the Japan National Tourism Organization‘s official slogan of their campaign to attract foreign visitors to Japan.
「Yokoso Japan!」 logo
Here are some of their Yokoso Japan! campaign ads.
Most of the scenes in this first one are of Tokyo (there are a few shots of Osaka, etc…but most of it is Tokyo):
These show many parts of Japan:
Do they make you want to visit this beautiful country?
I’m not really interested in fashion brands. I’m especially unfamiliar with the latest brands in other countries (outside Japan).
But I heard on the TV news today about a clothing store in America called Forever 21.
Do you know this store? Do you shop there?
First of all, it seems that Forever 21 has a clothing line titled “Shibuya Mon Amour“.
It’s supposedly a cross between Tokyo fashion and French fashion. (Shibuya is a part of Tokyo popular with young people).
I was surprised by that! Is 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) famous overseas?
Before I came to Japan, I had never heard of Shibuya, Akihabara, Roppongi, or any other sections of Tokyo (I came to Japan in 1990. Before the internet. So it was a different world back then).
I also heard that the American pop singer Gwen Stefani loves the 原宿 (Harajuku) section of Tokyo, which is popular with a different group of young people that those who like 渋谷 (Shibuya).
There are “Harajuku girls” and “Shibuya girls” in Tokyo. Even though those two areas are close to each other, the fashion of each is quite different from the other. That singer, Gwen Stefani, calls her back-up dancers “Harajuku Girls”.
Anyways, the reason that the American clothing store chain “Forever 21” was on the news in Japan today isn’t because of their “Shibuya Mon Amour” line…it’s because they opened their first store in Japan today.
It’s in the 原宿 (Harajuku) section of Tokyo.
Whenever a new store opens in Japan, they almost always have a big “Grand Opening Sale”…which results in a crowd of customers waiting to get in even before the store opens.
Here’s a picture of the crowd that was waiting to get into the Forever 21 Tokyo store today for their Grand Opening sale:
Yesterday, my second daughter’s class took a field trip to 鎌倉 (Kamakura).
鎌倉 (Kamakura) is a city about 90-minutes south of Tokyo. It was the capital of Japan at one time, and it’s an old 下町 (traditional-style town).
鎌倉 (Kamakura) is most famous for the 大仏 (“Great Buddah” statue) that is there.
大仏 (Great Buddah)
Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday, so my daughter’s field-trip wasn’t as good as it could have been.
We have been to 鎌倉 (Kamakura) as a family many times…Click here to see a post I wrote about a trip we took there last April (with photos of 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery).
My daughter took the photo above of 大仏 (“Great Buddah“), and these photos:
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Today was my youngest daughter’s 学校公開 (Open School / “Parents Day”). Which is the day that parents can come watch their kids classes.
I watched my daughter’s Cooking Class. The class was right before lunch…they prepared a traditional Japanese meal and ate it for lunch.
They did a good job! 美味しそう! (It looked delicious!)
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In about 1992, a store that I liked opened in Tokyo.
It was called the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum“.
The store had sections devoted to The Beatles, The Stray Cats, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Guns ‘N Roses…and KISS (which is why I liked it!).
The store had a large statue of Elvis Presley out front. (Supposedly many Elvis fans contributed to the cost of erecting the statue…including American rock star Jon Bon-Jovi and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi!)
I am using the past-tense when I refer to the store in this post because I just found out that after being open all these years…the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum” closed down about two-weeks ago.
This is right after another landmark store in Tokyo closed recently (Click here).
The last time I went to the “Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum” was on November 2, 2008. I mentioned it in a post (with a photo)…click here to see it.
Do you know 巣鴨 (Sugamo)?
It’s a part of Tokyo often referred to as 「おばあちゃんの原宿」 (“The Old Ladies’ Harajuku“). This is because 原宿 (Harajuku) is an area popular with young people because that area is full of clothes stores, restaurants, etc that young people like…and 巣鴨 (Sugamo) is popular with the older generation because it’s full of clothes stores, restaurants, traditional Japanese snack shops, etc that they like.
My oldest daughter didn’t join us because she and her friend, ironically, went to 原宿 (Harajuku) together today.
This is the entrance to the popular 地蔵通り (Jizou-doori), the shopping street in 巣鴨 (Sugamo) that has many shops and restaurants that old people like. (You don’t have to be old to appreciate them, though…I like traditional Japanese snacks, food, and souvenirs, too 🙂 ).
Here’s a video I took of this area:
This street can be compared to the popular 竹下通り (Takeshita-doori) in 原宿 (Harajuku)…except for the age difference between the shoppers on these two streets.
The 地蔵通り (Jizou-doori) shopping street in 巣鴨 (Sugamo) was especially crowded today and there were many vendors because many people were going to the 高岩寺 (Kouganji Temple) for 初詣 (first Shrine visit of the year)…usually people go to a 神社 (Shinto Shrine) for 初詣 (first Shrine visit of the year), but going to a 御寺 (Buddhist Temple) is fine.
This is the entrance to 高岩寺 (Kouganji Temple)…the sign with the temple’s name is written right to left (寺岩高), which is the way Japanese used to be written (now it’s either written horizontally, left to right (→) and top of the page to bottom (↓) (like English)…or vertically, top to bottom (↓) and right of the page to left (←)).
So we went to 巣鴨 (Sugamo) for 初詣 (first Shrine (Temple) visit of the year) and we bought some 大福 (a traditional Japanese snack).
Speaking of snacks, soon Japanese kids will be taking entrance exams for high school or college. My oldest will be taking her high school entrance exam.
When we went into a convenience store, I saw a shelf of snacks that are supposed to be lucky for kids taking exams. One of the more popular ones is the American chocolate bar 「キット・カッツ」 (“Kit-Kat“). The reason that Kit-Kat has become popular for kids taking exams is because the chocolate’s name sounds like 「きっと勝つ!」 (Kitto-katsu!)…which means “I’ll definitely pass!”.
Supposedly, Japan has the most flavors of Kit-Kat in the world. I’ve have seen many flavors including some like “Green Tea Kit-Kat”, “Exotic Tokyo Kit-Kat”, and “Banana Kit-Kat”. (Although I’ve never tried any of them. I don’t eat much candy or chocolate.)
But this one was obviously made especially for kids taking college entrance exams in Japan since the package is decorated with Sakura Cherry-Blossom flowers (and symbol of Springtime in Japan (when the school-year begins)) and a school uniform hat. The flavor is 「大学いも味」 (“College Potato Taste“). Sounds odd for a chocolate bar! Could be good, though…I don’t know—I didn’t buy it.
Tokyo Five 
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