Tokyo is one of the few places on the planet where you can have as much fun at the kid-friendly spots as they do. Feast your eyes on my favorite places to go if you’ve got Young Things to entertain – I guarantee they won’t be begging you to take them to a boring old playground instead.
•
ASAKUSA
If you only have one day in Tokyo, this is where you should go.
There’s always a lot going on at the giant Buddhist temple (Senso-ji) and the Asakusa Shrine (Shinto) • Rice crackers and taiyaki made while you wait • Great shopping street with excellent inexpensive souvenirs
•
GOTOKUJI TEMPLE
The lucky cat temple!
Thousands of lucky maneki neko cat figures • Stunning natural cedar pagoda • Excellent plum blossoms and fall leaves
•
KANDA MYŌJIN SHRINE
This is the Anime Shrine – where anime and manga artists come to pray for success
Amazing art drawn on prayer plaques by visitors • Beautiful red and gold shrine buildings • You can buy a charm to protect your electronics • Weddings and ceremonies galore
•
KAPPABASHI STREET
Don’t miss the street where they sell plastic food!
Plastic food model stores • Make your own plastic food • Dinosaur heads
•
KORAKUEN
Beat the heat at a playground misted with fog, go to a Japanese baseball game, and ride a roller coaster right through a Tokyo skyscraper!
Tokyo Dome City has: Amusement park rides for all ages • A free playground that is misted with cooling fog in the summer • A dancing water fountain that’s alight show at night • Tokyo Dome stadium, home to the Yomiuri Giants baseball team
•
KOSHINZUKA STREET MARKET
Be grossed out by weird foods from old Japan (and take home the pictures to prove it!)
See old-fashioned squicky foods like squid guts, poisonous snake tea & snacks made from bugs • There’s a whole store devoted to selling red underwear • Excellent shopping for small Japanese gifts like coinpurses, sweets, etc.
•
MT. TAKAO
Get a dose of nature, with monkeys!
At the top: small but excellent monkey park, snack bar, café and beer garden (May-Oct), short walk to nice shrine, great view of Tokyo • You can either hike up the mountain or be whisked up (and down) by cable car or chair lift • Takao’s branch of the Trick Art Museum is next to Takaosan Station
•
NINJA AKASAKA RESTAURANT
A restaurant that looks like a ninja castle, with magical food!
Ninjas lead you through secret passageways into their castle, then perform amazing illusions with the food • Incredible setting really looks like a ninja castle • Menu is both adult and kid-friendly • Private booths
•
ODAIBA
This island in Tokyo Bay is home to some of the wackiest things to do in Tokyo.
Trick Art Museum • Miraikan Science Museum • Legoland • Giant Gundam
•
ORIGAMI CENTER
Every kind of paper and origami kit under the sun!
Exhibitions of amazing origami artwork • Incredible selection of papers for sale, including washi paper that is beautiful enough to frame • Sometimes origami masters are give demonstrations
•
SENGAKUJI TEMPLE
Truth is stranger than fiction – see the actual burial place of the legendary 47 ronin
You can light incense at the actual graves of the 47 ronin • You can see their signed confession and the well where they washed Lord Kira’s severed head • There are little statue portaits of the real 47 ronin, some of them only 16
•
SHOWA KINEN PARK
Two words: BOUNCY MOUNTAIN. This giant park has it all for families: gorgeous gardens for you, lots of excellent places to play for the kids
Multiple playgrounds (one with a giant bouncy mountain) • Miles of bike paths • A lake with boat rentals • An ultimate frisbee golf course • Large dedicated BBQ area • An enormous lawn for picknicking and playing • Plentiful food stands and bathrooms • A gorgeous Japanese garden • Spectacular spring flowers and autumn leaves
•
TOKYO STATION UNDERGROUND SHOPS
Uniquely Japanese theme “streets” are a great place to go with kids on a rainy day • 21 shop selling Japanese character goods • Ramen street • Confectionary Land has potato chip sundaes & weird flavors of sweets • Curry Street • Gundam Café
•
TRICK ART MUSEUM
Take your picture in forty-five life-size illusions that make it look like you’re being swallowed by a shark, battling ninjas, and performing other death-defying feats!
•
UENO ZOO
I usually wouldn’t suggest wasting precious time in Japan going to a zoo, but this one has PANDAS!
•
YOYOGI PARK
The best free entertainment in Tokyo, every Sunday afternoon!
Free entertainment of all kinds every Sunday afternoon • Skateboarding dog • Kite flying • Rockabillies • Slackline • Occasional costumed dogs
•
ZENIARAI BENTEN SHRINE
This is the shrine where you can wash your money so it will double within the year
Enter through a tunnel cut through the rock • Shrine is in the middle of a grotto with beautiful waterfalls • Wash your money in the stream running through the shrine’s cave, and it will double within the year
•
Know someone who’s planning a trip to Japan?
Subscribe to The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had!
It’s easy: Scroll down to the subscribe button, enter your email, and push the button. You can unsubscribe at any time, of course, and I promise: no ads and no sharing of your information EVER.
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 