10 Places to go with Kids in Tokyo when it Rains
Tokyo is a vibrant city with hundreds of things to do. When it rains however, it's not the best place to be. Tiny apartments mean that staying home can be a frustrating option when you have active kids in the house. Here are 10 things that you can do on a rainy day to entertain the kids.
1. SPOCHA
There are many entertainment venues called Round One around. These offer indoor fun like bowling, karaoke, video games and table tennis. If you head to the Odaiba store, you can also find "SpoCha". SpoCha offers extra fun games like mini golf, obstacle courses, target shooting, motorcycle track, rollerblading, bubble soccer, frisbee, squash and more.
Location: ROUND1 STADIUM DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, 3 minutes from Tokyo Teleport Station
Opening hours: 10am - 2am the next day
Price: 1980 yen for adults, 1780 yen for kids (90 minutes)
2. Tokyo Dome roller skating
Tokyo Dome is an entertainment and sports facility housing shops, restaurants and a baseball stadium. The dome is home to the largest roller skating rink in Tokyo, where both kids and adults can try roller skating. Besides the big rink, there is also a smaller rink for little kids. All rental gear is available.
Location: Tokyo Dome Yellow Building 4F, Korakuen or Suidobashi Station
Opening hours: 10am - 10pm (9pm on Sundays)
Price: 1500 yen for adults, 1000 yen for kids (120 minutes)
3. Try a Museum
There are so many great museums in Tokyo. Some of the ones we recommend are:
Ueno - Ueno Park is home to several museums where you can experience art, history and culture. For kids, the best by far is the National Museum of Nature and Science. This is a world class facility introducing the animal and human history, as well as scientific discoveries. There are hands-on exhibits and many life size displays of animals such as dinosaurs and mammoths. It's huge so kids can work out their energy on a rainy day.
Location: Ueno Park next to Ueno Station
Opening hours: 9am - 5pm (8pm on Fridays and Saturdays)
Price: 630 yen for adults, free for kids
There is also Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Royal Museum, National Museum of Western Art and the Shitamachi Museum. Also nearby is the National Diet Library International Library of Children's Literature. So you can spend more than one day in the Ueno area - good for rainy season!
Miraikan - Located in Odaiba, The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation is a museum dedicated to science and technology. They have many interactive displays and everything is very modern. It is especially known for their robots and AI devices. This museum is probably better for elementary aged kids or over.
Location: 5-minute walk from Tokyo International Cruise Terminal Station
Opening hours: 10am - 5pm
Price: 630 yen for adults, 210 yen for kids (120 minutes)
Edo-Tokyo Museum - Located in Ryogoku near the sumo arena, the Edo-Tokyo Museum exhibits Tokyo's past, focusing on the Edo era. You can see how people lived back then through various visual displays. Besides the regular exhibition, they always have a special exhibition on.
Location: Next to Ryogoku Station
Opening hours: 9:30am - 5:30pm
Price: 600 yen for adults, free for kids (120 minutes)
Fukagawa Edo Museum - This museum reproduces Tokyo life in the Edo Period, with realistic displays of houses and shops from back then. It is small but kids will enjoy it as everything is visual and the lighting changes to reflect different times of the day. You will feel like you have gone back in time.
Location: 3 minutes from Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station
Opening hours: 9:30am - 5pm
Price: 400 yen
Tamarokuto Science Center - A nice science museum with many hands-on exhibits for kids. The highlight is their planetarium, which has English audiosets if you request them.
Location: Tokyo Dome Yellow Building 4F, Korakuen or Suidobashi Station
Opening hours: 9am - 5pm (9pm on Sundays)
Price: 520 yen for adults, 210 yen for kids (extra for planetarium)
Of course, in a city this large, there are many more museums to check out, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
4. Go under the sea - Aquariums
There are quite a few aquariums around. Surprisingly they are much more expensive than zoos. Some of the best aquariums are:
Sunshine City Aquarium - Set on the roof of the Sunshine City Mall in Ikebukuro, this is perhaps the most well known aquarium. They have about 550 species set in both an indoor and outdoor area. The jellyfish exhibit is mesmerising and one of the highlights.
Location: Ikebukuro Station, Sunshine City
Opening hours: 9:30am - 9pm
Price: 2400 yen
Sumida Aquarium - Sumida is quite a small aquarium which takes a maximum of one hour, but it is very artistic. Actually it feels more like an art museum. Everything is very stylishly displayed.
Location: Tokyo SkyTree
Opening hours: 10am - 8pm (9am-9pm on Saturdays, Sundays)
Price: 2300 yen
Shinagawa Aquarium - One of the biggest and more old school aquariums, this one has sharks, dolphins and whales. Their deep sea exhibit is very good and the submerged tunnel and giant 500-tonne tank are other highlights. If the rain stops, there is a great park next to it which even features a mud park.
Location: 8 minutes from Omorikaigan Station
Opening hours: 10am - 5pm (9am-9pm on Saturdays, Sundays)
Price: 1350 yen
Aquapark Shinagawa - Another fairly small aquarium, although they do have a dolphin show. This one was great with our toddler due to the interactive fishtanks. This is like a modern art museum where the focus is on the digital effects rather than the fish.
Location: Shinagawa Station
Opening hours: 10am - 6:30pm (8pm on Saturdays, Sundays)
Price: 2300 yen
Kawasui Kawasaki Aquarium - The projection mapping in this aquarium is really nice and proved very popular with our toddler. They have recreated various waterscapes, from the local Tama River to the Amazon Rainforest. There are over 200 species in this aquarium. Everything is visually very nice.
Location: Kawasaki Station inside the mall
Opening hours: 10am - 8pm
Price: 2000 yen adults, 1200 yen kids
5. Have fun in an indoor playcentre
Playcentres are so fun for young kids. There are a lot in Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa. They range from local jidoukans (children's halls) to huge paid complexes.
Asobono - This is an enormous play centre at Tokyo Dome. It is best suited to kids under 8. It is quite expensive, but little kids will love it. They have ball pits, slides, climbing areas and more. There is also an area set aside just for babies. It is quite popular so expect a wait to enter if you go on the weekend.
Location: Tokyo Dome, Korakuen or Suidobashi Station
Opening hours: 10am - 6pm (9:30-7pm on weekends)
Price: Adults 950 yen for 60 minutes, Kids 930 yen for 60 minutes + extension cost
Aneby TrimPark - Referred to as an "edu-amusement park", it is a play centre for kids with a playground and many European style toys. It can be quite expensive if you have multiple kids.
Location: Venus Fort, Odaiba
Opening hours: 10am - 6pm
Price: Adults 880 yen, Kids 2750 yen (more on weekends)(2 hours)
Kodomo No Yu - Located in the Tokyo Skytree Solamachi shopping centre, this is the cutest playcentre. It is designed like a Japanese onsen, but instead of water they have 90,000 balls in a giant ball pit. It is best for kids under 6. They have many play areas like the store area, matsuri games and a climbing wall.
Location: Skytree Solamachi
Opening hours: 10am - 9pm
Price: Adults 540 yen, Kids 1080 yen (1 hour)
6. Tokyo Toy Museum
Tokyo Toy Museum is half museum, half playground. It's all indoors, so suitable for rain, and appropriate for kids from 0 - 6 (approximately). It is housed inside an old elementary school building and has a collection of over 10,000 toys. Half the facility is a museum, where you can look and learn, with a few hands on toys, while the other half is a play area. Little kids will love the wooden ball pits. There are also some workshops to create toys from recycled materials.
Location: 7 minutes from Yotsuya-sanchome Station
Opening hours: 10am - 4pm
Price: 1000 yen
7. Sky Circus Sunshine 60 Observatory
At the Sky Circus you can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view of Tokyo. It features not only a view but Kaleidoscope 60, SKY Trampoline, Sky Party, Wonder Mirror, and Mosaic SKY. There are many optical illusions and a mirror tunnel and several virtual reality games.
Location: Ikebukuro Station, Sunshine City
Opening hours: 10am - 10pm
Price: 1200 yen
8. Legoland Discovery Center
For all lego fans, Legoland Odaiba is worth a visit. It contains more than three million lego pieces and features lego reconstructions of many famous Tokyo landmarks. There is also a 4D cinema and three rides. It is quite small and suitable more for smaller kids aged about 3-6. For a bigger themepark, there is Legoland in Nagoya.
Location: Ikebukuro Station, Sunshine City
Opening hours: 10am - 8pm
Price: 2500 yen
9. Omiya Railway Museum
Although this one is not technically in Tokyo, it is too good to miss. It is about 20 minutes out of Tokyo in Omiya, Saitama. This museum features numerous real life old train cars that you can actually enter inside. Children who love trains will be in heaven! They also have train car simulators so that you can have a go "driving" a train, along with model dioramas and mini trains, and a baby playground section.
Location: Special train from Omiya Station (3 minutes)
Opening hours: 10am - 6pm
Price: 1330 yen
10. Space Athletic Tondemi
This activity centre has so many fun obstacles for kids. They have wall climbing, loads of trampolines, ropes to climb, sponge pits to jump into, bumper cars and more. It's best for elementary aged kids, although they have a small section for little kids. You can only stay for 90 minutes.
Location: Bus ride from Heiwajima and Omori Stations
Opening hours: 10am - 9pm
Do you have any more suggestions for things to when with kids when it rains? If so, let us know on our social media pages!
