Japan is one of our favorite countries! The traditional to quirky culture, natural sites, and delicious food have us returning often. While I love Japan for its thousands year old culture, there are also distinctly modern Japanese sites too (any Super Mario fans?) It can be a balance finding the right things to do with kids and there are different highlights in each city. Tokyo has some of the best kid friendly sites. So I wanted to list 10 things to do in Tokyo with kids. This is a mix of cafes, theme parks and cultural sites that are full of unique sites and tastes you won’t forget.
Dawn the avatar cafe
Want to talk to a robot waiter/waitress? Visit this modern cafe with a social enterprise twist. Most of the robots, bar staff and receptionists are robots of different sizes.
Dawn the avatar cafe’s robots are remotely controlled by people who have disabilities or impediments to working on site. It is fascinating speaking with them. Note that there are minimum food ordering or drink ordering requirements if you want full interaction with a robot. There is a game that allows you to test out controlling a robot too.
Tip: Kids get a free spin for a button at the cashier. Ask for the special coin.
Harry Harajuku Hedgehog cafe
Hedgehogs are the cutest! Visit hedgehogs and even a meerkat at Harry Harajuku Hedgehog Cafe. The staff here are knowledgeable and would stop a patron if they saw the animal is getting stressed. Hedgehogs get jumpy and extra spiky when nervous so handle with care. Admission comes with a drink or pay up to feed hedgehogs dried mealworms!
Asakusa
The Asakusa neighborhood is home to Tokyo’s oldest temple,Senso-ji. This temple was first built from someone’s home around 645. If you decide not to come to the temple, you can still visit famous street food spots or restaurants nearby. Nakamise-dori is known for good melon pan or hop to a side street for menchi-katsu or fried meat buns. There are lots of articles on best food spots and this one looked good (it could be the mention of karaage or fried chicken!)
Image credit: Kisa Toyoshima
Kumachen Onsen
Teddy bear hotpot complete with costumes – yes please! Kumachen Onsen has a unique hotspot involving cute bear shaped stock. The individual serving size bear hotpots slowly melt as you cook your hotpot ingredients. They also have cute desserts and drinks too. It’s too kawaii!
Hotel Gracery Shinjuku
It can’t get more Japanese than Godzilla in Shinjuku! Hotel Gracery Shinjuku has a roaring Godzilla head that is visible from the street. Stop by street level to take pictures when he roars or even stay in a Godzilla room (limited so hard to book but looks great). Godzilla roars on the hour from 12 pm to 8 pm.
Teamlab Planets
Teamlab installations are seriously some of the most imaginative, whimsical and beautiful ones you’ll ever seen. I’m a huge Teamlab fan and am happy to have gone to have visited Teamlab Planets as well. Imagine walking through strings of thousands of lights or being surrounded by floating botanicals. Note that you will walk barefoot through water at some points! Wear longer bottoms or at least shorts because of the water and mirrored floor in one room!
Book through Klook and get $5 on signing up. Existing members use code LLUXLIST for 5% off! I use Klook all the time for booking activities and it saves so much money. You can use sites like Rakuten first to earn additional cash back or points!
Cafe Reissue
3D hot chocolate or coffee AND good food? Cafe Reissue is a popular cafe takes latte art to the next level. Show the barista any photo of what you’d like and he or she will take a photo of it and recreate it. These baristas are true artists and kids love seeing images come to life here. Choose 2D or 3D art here.
Micropig cafe
Go to Tokyo to see pigs – why not? The micropigs or mipigs at Mipig cafe are so sweet as are the staff. Sit down and the pigs may just come plop in your lap. Staff are constantly checking on the pigs and humans too. Make reservations early! Check back often if you don’t get a slot as they do have some openings last minute.
Tokyo DisneySea
This the world’s only DisneySea! It was built in 2001 and is based around harbors . Our kids loved it and I share a video of our recommendations there. The Mermaid Lagoon is indoors and a mini amusement park in and of itself suitable for younger kids. But otherwise there are fewer shows here and slightly older people may come here. There are still great rides like Soaring (get the premium pass to avoid waiting) and Aquatopia (so wet and so fun!)
Ninja Restaurant
Would you eat dinner with a few ninjas? Try out Ninja restaurant then. The ninjutsu or ninja masters are master ninjas that perform magic at your table! Filming isn’t allowed, but the website and reviews confirm it’s pretty cool.
The food is actually supposed to be quite good here but can only be ordered in sets started from 13,200 JPY. If you want good food and entertainment, this is it!
