The best things to do in Tokyo with kids
Written October 2026
The zoos and aquariums, the museums that are really play, the train museums, the parks with room to run and what to do when it rains.
Picture it: you've landed, the jet lag has everyone awake at four, and you have a kid who wants robots, one who wants penguins and a city of 14 million people to choose from. So where do you start? Tokyo is easier than it looks, because it's really a handful of neighborhoods joined by trains. Ueno and the Skytree in the east. The bay at Odaiba and Toyosu. Harajuku and Shibuya in the middle. Kichijoji and the big parks out west. Pick one side a day and you never cross town twice.
The other thing to know is that Tokyo does indoors better than anywhere we can think of. The rainy season runs from early June into July, July and August are hot and sticky, and there's a museum or an aquarium for all of it. This page sorts the list by what kind of day you're having: animals, museums that are secretly playgrounds, trains (a lot of trains), parks, and the rainy-day backups.
Every entry covers restrooms, changing tables and stroller access where we know them, and the ones we don't know are left blank rather than guessed. Want it as a plan with a map for each day? There's one: 4 days in Tokyo with kids. Still booking a room? Our guide to Tokyo family hotels has the ones that work with kids.
How we picked
These are the places we'd send a friend with a four-year-old and a nine-year-old. What we say about each one comes from its own site and its Play Day listing, and when something isn't confirmed we've left it out.
We kept it to places kids actually do, not places adults will like and kids will tolerate. That leaves out the tuna auction, the temples with gravel paths and the character restaurants you have to book months ahead. Tokyo Disney is a whole day on its own, so it isn't in here.
Animals and aquariums
Four ways to look at animals, from a full zoo day to a one-hour wander. Ueno and Sumida are on the east side and can go together. Sunshine Aquarium is in Ikebukuro, and Inokashira is out west with the Ghibli Museum.
Ueno Zoo
Ueno
Japan's oldest zoo, inside Ueno Park, with elephants, giraffes, hippos and gorillas. It's split into an east side and a west side joined by a bridge, and the walk up to the east side is uphill, so a carrier works better than a stroller on that stretch.
There's a Children's Zoo for the smallest kids, where kids can get close to the animals. Go when it opens, when the animals are up and the paths are empty. Then the park is right there for a picnic and a run.
- Restroom
- Yes
Sumida Aquarium
Oshiage
It sits inside the Skytree shopping complex, so it's all indoors, which helps on a hot or wet day. The penguin pool is the draw, and the jellyfish and the garden eels are the ones toddlers stare at.
It pairs with the Skytree next door. Do the aquarium first, and go up the tower when the light starts to change.
- Restroom
- Yes
Sunshine Aquarium
Ikebukuro
An aquarium on top of a shopping tower, with an outdoor deck where the animals swim past against the city. Small enough to do in an hour or two, which is the point.
It's a good one for a rainy morning in Ikebukuro, and it won't wear anyone out.
- Restroom
- Yes
Inokashira Park Zoo
Kichijoji
A small zoo inside Inokashira Park, with a walk-through path where squirrels run around your feet and a guinea pig petting corner. Take it slow.
It's just the right size for a toddler after a big morning, and the Ghibli Museum is about a ten-minute walk away, so it's an easy add to that day.
Museums that are really play
These are the ones where kids forget it's a museum. Toyosu and Odaiba share a train line, so teamLab, Miraikan and Small Worlds make one bay day. Ueno and Yotsuya are on their own.
teamLab Planets
Toyosu
An art museum you walk through barefoot, sometimes wading in water up to your knees, with light and color moving around you. Kids get it right away. It's way more play than gallery.
Dress everyone in shorts or pants that roll up, and bring a small towel. Book the first slot of the day if you can, before the crowds build. How to book is on the listing.
- Restroom
- Yes
Miraikan
Odaiba
Tokyo's science museum, with robots, space and a huge glowing globe hanging in the atrium that shows the Earth as it is right now. Big kids go straight for the robots.
It's the one that pays off with a school-age kid, and it's a good place to be indoors in the middle of a hot day. Pick a floor or two instead of trying to see all of it.
- Restroom
- Yes
- Wheelchair access
- Yes
Small Worlds Miniature Museum
Ariake
Miniature cities, an airport and a space center with launching rockets, built at 1/80 scale across a huge hall, with tiny vehicles going about their day. You can spend ten minutes at one scene finding the little details.
It's fully indoors and strollers are welcome, and it's a nice quiet counterweight to a loud morning.
KidZania Tokyo
Toyosu
A city sized for kids, where they pick jobs (firefighter, pilot, pastry chef), do them and earn pretend money. Big kids love it, and it keeps the whole day in one building.
It starts around age 3, but it works best for kids who can follow along on their own. Bring a patient grown-up for the line at the popular jobs. There's an English activities program too, and the listing says more.
National Museum of Nature and Science
Ueno
The indoor stop your kids will talk about later. Dinosaur skeletons, a life-size whale out front, and whole floors on animals, fossils and the Earth. It's in Ueno Park, a short walk from the zoo.
It's big, so choose a couple of floors and call it done. You won't see it all, and that's fine.
- Restroom
- Yes
Tokyo Toy Museum
Yotsuya
An old elementary school building full of toys you're allowed to touch, about 10,000 of them from Japan and around the world. There's a quiet room just for babies, and older kids get the board games and wooden toys.
Volunteer toy curators, many of them retired, wander the rooms and show kids how to work the spinning tops and puzzles. It's a short walk from Yotsuya-sanchome Station on the Marunouchi Line.
Ghibli Museum
Mitaka
Hayao Miyazaki's museum, and it's nothing like a normal museum. Spiral staircases, tiny doors, a giant plush Catbus small kids can climb, and a short film you can only see here. On the roof, the robot soldier from Castle in the Sky stands in the garden.
Sort out how to get in before almost anything else on the trip. How to book is on the listing. Walk there through Inokashira Park from Kichijoji station, because it's the best way to arrive.
Trains, for kids who notice every one
If you have a train kid, you already know Tokyo is the best place on earth for it. These two are small, easy and built around that.
Tobu Museum
Higashi-Mukojima
The museum sits underneath Higashi-Mukojima Station on the Tobu Skytree Line, and it has real old locomotives and railcars, a train simulator and a huge model-train diorama. The best part: windows under the platform where you watch trains go by up close.
It's small enough for a short visit, and it's on the Tobu Skytree Line a few stops from Tokyo Skytree Station, which makes it a simple add to the east side day.
Tokyo Subway Museum
Kasai
You walk in through a subway ticket gate, past old subway cars, into a rebuilt section of the city's first underground line. It also has simulators for trying out the driver's seat, and a look at how the whole system works. It's now called the Tokyo Metro Museum, if you see that on a sign.
It sits right beside Kasai Station on the Tozai Line, so it's an easy stop with a train kid.
- Restroom
- Yes
Parks with room to run
Tokyo's parks are the reset button. A few hours on grass fixes a surprising number of meltdowns.
Yoyogi Park
Harajuku
Wide lawns and paths right by Harajuku and Shibuya. It's what you do after the sensory overload of the shopping streets, with a ball or a picnic and nothing on the schedule.
Meiji Jingu, the shrine in the forest next door, is a beautiful walk. The paths are gravel, though, which is slow going with a stroller.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Shinjuku
A big garden with huge lawns, several completely different garden areas and a greenhouse with tropical plants. It's a calm place to land when the Shinjuku crowds have worn everyone down.
It's a garden, not a playground, so it works best for walking, a picnic and kids who like to wander. Check the listing for what you can and can't bring in.
- Restroom
- Yes
Odaiba Marine Park
Odaiba
A long sandy beach on the bay, with the Rainbow Bridge and the skyline across the water. It's for digging and paddling at the edge, not for swimming.
Bring a spade and a change of clothes. It's the outdoor break to take on a day of indoor stops on Odaiba.
- Restroom
- Yes
Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
Koganei
Old houses, shops and a bathhouse moved here from around the city, and kids can walk right into some of them (shoes come off at the door). It sits inside Koganei Park.
It's a long way out west, so give it its own afternoon, and it's the one for big kids who like to poke around.
The tower, the toy shops and a rainy-day backup
The last few are what you'll want on a hot afternoon, when it's pouring, or when somebody has been promised a Pikachu.
Tokyo Skytree
Oshiage
The tallest tower in Japan, with views over the whole city. Go up in the late afternoon and you get daylight and then the lights coming on. On a clear day you can see Mount Fuji.
The elevators are half the thrill for a small kid, and the observation deck has glass floor panels your kids will stand on longer than you will. The aquarium is in the same complex.
ASOBono! Tokyo Dome City
Suidobashi
An indoor play space with areas for different ages: a ball pool and adventure area, a toy forest, a pretend town and a crawling garden just for babies. The mix is why it works when your kids are different ages.
It's the easiest rainy-day answer on this page, and the grown-ups can come in and play too.
- Restroom
- Yes
LEGOLAND Discovery Center Tokyo
Odaiba
An indoor LEGO center inside the mall on the Odaiba waterfront, with building zones, a ride and a miniature Tokyo built from bricks. It's designed for kids about 3 to 10, and adults need a kid with them to go in.
It's made for little builders, so a big kid is better off with another hour at Miraikan.
Kiddy Land Harajuku
Harajuku
A toy shop stacked over several floors on Omotesando, with floors for Snoopy, Hello Kitty, Studio Ghibli and whatever's big this year. Set a budget before you walk in, because this is where the souvenir money goes.
It's a quick one with a toddler and a long one with a kid who has a favorite character.
Nintendo TOKYO
Shibuya
Nintendo's own shop, up in the Shibuya Parco building, with Mario and friends everywhere. Pokémon Center Shibuya is on the same floor, so that's two big wishes in one elevator ride.
It's a short walk from Shibuya Station, and one stop from Harajuku on the JR Yamanote Line.
Put a day together
East side: Ueno Zoo in the morning, the science museum across the park, the Sumida Aquarium and the Skytree late in the afternoon. Bay day: teamLab Planets first, then Miraikan and Odaiba Marine Park, with LEGOLAND or Small Worlds if it's hot, all on the Yurikamome line. Middle of the city: Yoyogi Park, Kiddy Land and Nintendo TOKYO. West: Inokashira Park, the Ghibli Museum and the little zoo. For the full version with maps, see 4 days in Tokyo.
Getting around without a car
You won't want one. Get an IC card (Suica or Pasmo) for everyone who pays a fare on day one, and tap in and out of every train. Kids under six ride free, and kids six to eleven pay half, but only on a child card from a staffed ticket window, so bring proof of age. Most stations have an elevator, though it's often at one exit and not the others, so follow the elevator signs the minute you get off. Skip the trains at rush hour, roughly 7:30 to 9:30 in the morning. Starting the day a little later is the easiest fix. Landing at Narita or Haneda with car seats and luggage has its own guide: getting from the airport into Tokyo.
Where to base yourself
Near a big station on a line you'll ride every day. Ueno and Asakusa put the east side at your door, and Shinjuku is the transit answer for the west and the middle. Tokyo hotel rooms are small, so look for apartment-style rooms and rooms for four.
Questions
What are the best things to do in Tokyo with kids?
Ueno Zoo and the science museum next door, teamLab Planets, Miraikan, the Ghibli Museum and the train museums are the ones we'd put first. Add a park a day (Yoyogi, Shinjuku Gyoen) and one indoor backup like ASOBono at Tokyo Dome City.
What can you do in Tokyo with kids when it rains?
ASOBono at Tokyo Dome City, the Tokyo Toy Museum, Miraikan, the Sunshine Aquarium and the Sumida Aquarium are all indoors. KidZania and LEGOLAND Discovery Center keep a whole day under one roof.
What is there to do in Tokyo with toddlers?
Ueno Zoo's Children's Zoo, the Sumida Aquarium, the baby playroom at the Tokyo Toy Museum, the crawling garden at ASOBono and the little Inokashira Park Zoo. Keep mornings for the big stop and cut the afternoons short.
What is there to do in Tokyo with older kids and teens?
Miraikan for the robots, KidZania for the jobs, teamLab Planets, the train simulators at the Tobu Museum and the Tokyo Subway Museum, and Nintendo TOKYO and Pokémon Center Shibuya for anyone who games.
Is Tokyo good for kids?
It might be the easiest big city in the world for it. It's clean and calm, and the trains are on time. The hard parts are the stairs at some stations and rush hour, which you can plan around.
How many days do you need in Tokyo with kids?
Four is a good start, one side of the city a day. Our 4 days in Tokyo plan runs the east side, the bay, the middle and the west, and Disney, Yokohama or Mount Fuji are extra days.
Where should you stay in Tokyo with kids?
Near a big station on a line you'll use daily: Ueno or Asakusa for the east side, Tokyo Station if you're moving on by train, Shinjuku for the rest. Our guide to Tokyo family hotels has the ones that work with kids.
Photos
Ueno Zoo: pelican (BY-SA 2.0) · Sumida Aquarium: *_* (BY 2.0) · Sunshine Aquarium: pelican (BY-SA 2.0) · Inokashira Park Zoo: User:(WT-shared) ResTpeTw (BY-SA 4.0) · teamLab Planets: Sasa0403 (BY-SA 4.0) · Miraikan: Jun Seita (BY 2.0) · Small Worlds Miniature Museum: Mizushimasea (CC BY-SA 4.0) · KidZania Tokyo: しんぎんぐきゃっと (BY-SA 4.0) · National Museum of Nature and Science: Daderot (CC0 1.0) · Tokyo Toy Museum: G.A.I.N (BY 2.0) · Ghibli Museum: bm.iphone (BY 2.0) · Tobu Museum: LERK (BY-SA 4.0) · Tokyo Subway Museum: 掬茶 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Yoyogi Park: fakelvis (BY-SA 2.0) · Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden: Kyla Duhamel (BY 2.0) · Odaiba Marine Park: Dick Thomas Johnson (BY 2.0) · Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum: User:Chris 73 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Tokyo Skytree: Dick Thomas Johnson (BY 2.0) · LEGOLAND Discovery Center Tokyo: Tzuhsun Hsu from Taipei, Taiwan (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Kiddy Land Harajuku: DocChewbacca (BY-SA 2.0) · Nintendo TOKYO: IagoQnsi (CC BY 4.0)
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