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.
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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
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EDO-TOKYO MUSEUM
I love this museum because it explains so much about Japan in truly entertaining ways. This is the one museum I take kids to and they always enjoy it.
Life in samurai times vs. how life changed after Japan opened to the West • Incredible detailed models of cities and towns. You can look at them through binoculars to see all the little people • Full-scale rooms showing how people lived
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GOTOKUJI TEMPLE
The lucky cat temple!
Thousands of lucky maneki neko cat figures • Stunning natural cedar pagoda • Excellent plum blossoms and fall leaves
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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
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KAPPABASHI STREET
Don’t miss the street where they sell plastic food!
Plastic food model stores • Make your own plastic food • Dinosaur heads
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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
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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.
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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
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NAMCO NAMJA TOWN & J-WORLD MANGA THEME PARKS
Kid-pleasing indoor theme parks
J-World is packed with One Piece, DragonballZ & Naruto comic book attractions, goods & photo ops • Namco Namja Town has games and attractions plus a store with totally wild ice cream flavors & a street with stands selling the most famous dumplings from all over Japan
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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
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ODAIBA
This island in Tokyo Bay is home to some of the wackiest things to do in Tokyo.
Trick Art Museum • Oedo Onsen hot spring theme park • Miraikan Science Museum • Sony Explorascience Museum Smile Fight • Legoland
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OEDO ONSEN HOT SPRINGS
The indoor hot spring theme park!
Looks like an Edo Era town • Hot spring baths from all over Japan • Foot bath stream • Sand bath • Foot nibbling fish • Ninja star throwing, archery & blow darts
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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
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THE ROBOT RESTAURANT
Taiko drummers, dancers & giant robots put on a 90-minute extravaganza that never fails to entertain
Show is a totally worth seeing tour de force of lights, music & entertainment • Cold bento box meal is included in the ticket price, but it’s not especially delicious (you might want to feed the kids elsewhere first, just in case)
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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UENO ZOO
I usually wouldn’t suggest wasting precious time in Japan going to a zoo, but this one has PANDAS!
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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
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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
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While you’re in Japan, read a novel set in Tokyo!
“A genuinely gripping crime thriller which wrong-foots and perplexes the reader throughout, drawing us in emotionally . . . Highly recommended.”
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 