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Family outings

Family outings in Tokyo

Tokyo is a city designed for children: huge, clean parks, playgrounds on every corner, hands-on museums, punctual trains that reach the sea or the mountains in an hour, and a calendar of festivals that paces the year like nowhere else. Here are our addresses, all checked on official websites.

Verified on 30 October 2026

Parks, gardens and playgrounds

Every neighbourhood has its 'koen', a small park with slide and sandpit where local children gather after school. The big metropolitan parks are free, the national and imperial gardens charge adults and are free for children.

Good to know

  • The metropolitan parks (Yoyogi, Kasai Rinkai, Inokashira, Kinuta and dozens more) are run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association, open year-round and free; barbecues and ball games are regulated, picnics welcome. Source
  • The Shinjuku Gyoen national garden, a former imperial estate, charges adults, is free for children through junior high school, and bans alcohol and ball games: its lawns are Tokyo's calmest for a picnic with little ones, especially under the cherry trees. Source
  • Ueno Zoo, Japan's oldest, is free for elementary school children and younger; it shares Ueno Park with the science museum, the international children's literature library and Shinobazu pond with its rowing boats. Source
  • Families in the west have their full-weekend parks: Showa Kinen national park in Tachikawa, with its children's forest and giant trampolines, and Kasai Rinkai on the bay, with aquarium, Ferris wheel and beach, one station from Disney. Source

Addresses

  • Parc de Yoyogi

    Park

    2-1 Yoyogi-Kamizonocho, Shibuya-ku

    The central city's great lawns, next to Meiji shrine and Harajuku: cycling course with children's bike hire, fountains, weekend festivals; free.

    Website Source

  • Shinjuku Gyoen

    Park

    11 Naito-machi, Shinjuku-ku

    National garden in French, English and Japanese styles, tropical greenhouse, vast lawns and the city's gentlest hanami; adults pay, children free.

    Website Source

  • Parc et zoo d'Ueno

    Park

    9-83 Ueno Park, Taito-ku

    Japan's oldest zoo, giant pandas included, in the great museum park; free for elementary school children and younger, closed on Mondays.

    Website Source

  • Parc national Showa Kinen

    Park

    3173 Midoricho, Tachikawa-shi

    A park the size of a town west of Tokyo: children's forest with giant trampolines, pools in summer, bikes for hire, golden ginkgo avenue in autumn.

    Website Source

  • Parc Kasai Rinkai

    Park

    6-2 Rinkai-cho, Edogawa-ku

    On Tokyo Bay: aquarium with giant tuna, Ferris wheel, artificial beach, bird observatory; Keiyo line, one station before Disney.

    Website Source

  • Parc d'Inokashira

    Park

    1-18-31 Gotenyama, Musashino-shi

    Kichijoji's swan-boat pond, a small zoo and the Ghibli Museum at the far end of the park: the perfect Sunday for west Tokyo families.

    Website Source

  • Parc de Kinuta

    Park

    1-1 Kinuta-koen, Setagaya-ku

    Setagaya's big family park: endless lawns, inclusive playground, century-old cherry trees, and the Setagaya Art Museum on its edge.

    Website Source

Go further

Children's museums and hands-on museums

Tokyo excels at museums you can handle: robots, trains, wooden toys, digital art where you wade through water. Many are free for children, and the Ghibli Museum has to be earned: advance tickets only.

Good to know

  • The National Museum of Nature and Science, in Ueno, is free through high school: dinosaurs, a life-size blue whale, a 360-degree theatre and a 'Compass' space for 4 to 6-year-olds booked on site. Source
  • The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka sells no tickets on site: they are booked online for a set date and time, released each month for the following month, and go within hours. The Cat Bus is reserved for children under 12. Source
  • Both teamLabs (Planets in Toyosu, Borderless at Azabudai Hills) and KidZania, the miniature city where children try out jobs, are also booked online and in advance; Japanese museums generally close on Mondays. Source

Addresses

  • Musée national de la Nature et des Sciences (Kahaku)

    Museum

    7-20 Ueno Park, Taito-ku

    Dinosaurs, taxidermy, Earth sciences and a 360-degree theatre in Ueno Park; free for children and high-school students.

    Website Source

  • Miraikan, musée national des sciences émergentes

    Museum

    2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku (Odaiba)

    The museum of the future in Odaiba: humanoid robots, a suspended Earth globe, space, and a corner for toddlers; perfect on rainy days.

    Website Source

  • Musée Ghibli

    Museum

    1-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka-shi

    The world of Totoro and Miyazaki in Inokashira Park: an exclusive short film, Cat Bus for under-12s, giant robot on the roof; dated tickets, booked online a month ahead.

    Website Source

  • teamLab Planets

    Museum

    6-1-16 Toyosu, Koto-ku

    Immersive digital art barefoot, knee-deep in water and hanging orchid gardens; children love it, bring clothes that roll up.

    Website Source

  • teamLab Borderless, Azabudai Hills

    Museum

    Azabudai Hills, 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato-ku

    The borderless museum reopened at Azabudai Hills: rooms of light that flow into one another, pushchairs allowed, drier than Planets for little ones.

    Website Source

  • Tokyo Toy Museum

    Museum

    4-20 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku

    A former primary school in Yotsuya filled with wooden toys to play with, and a room reserved for babies; the ideal address for ages 0 to 6 in winter.

    Website Source

  • KidZania Tokyo

    Museum

    Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu, 2-4-9 Toyosu, Koto-ku

    The child-scale city where you become a firefighter, pilot or pastry chef and earn kidZos; for ages 3 to 15, some activities in English, slots to book.

    Website Source

  • Railway Museum, Omiya

    Museum

    3-47 Onari-cho, Kita-ku, Saitama-shi

    JR East's great railway museum, half an hour north of Tokyo: steam locomotives, Shinkansen, driving simulators and mini trains to drive.

    Website Source

Go further

Libraries and the French médiathèque

For reading in French, everything starts at the Institut français du Japon médiathèque, a stone's throw from Kagurazaka. Ward libraries are free and well stocked with Japanese picture books, and Ueno houses a national library devoted entirely to children.

Good to know

  • The Institut français du Japon médiathèque in Tokyo offers free open access to its novels, non-fiction, comics, magazines, CDs and DVDs; annual membership allows borrowing and opens Culturethèque, the digital library with French press, books and videos, included for students of the Institut's courses. Source
  • The International Library of Children's Literature, a branch of the National Diet Library in Ueno Park, is free and open to all: a children's reading room, collections from around the world and exhibitions, in a Meiji-era building renovated by Tadao Ando. Source
  • Every ward has its network of free libraries, with a children's corner, story times in Japanese and often a few English shelves; registration is done with the residence card. The Metropolitan Central Library in Hiroo, on the other hand, is a reference library: you read on site, you do not borrow. Source
  • To buy children's books in French, the Omeisha bookshop, near Iidabashi, is the historic address; the Français du monde solidarity second-hand bookshop recycles the French books of departing families. Source

Addresses

  • Médiathèque de l'Institut français du Japon, Tokyo

    Library

    15 Ichigaya-Funagawara-machi, Shinjuku-ku 162-0826

    The heart of French reading in Tokyo, ten minutes' walk from Iidabashi: picture books, comics, novels, press and DVDs in open access, the Culturethèque digital library, in Junzo Sakakura's building and its garden.

    Website Source

  • Bibliothèque internationale de littérature jeunesse

    Library

    12-49 Ueno Park, Taito-ku

    The national children's library, free, in Ueno Park: children's reading room, books from around the world including some French picture books, exhibitions and a Meiji building by Tadao Ando.

    Website Source

  • Bibliothèque centrale métropolitaine de Tokyo

    Library

    5-7-13 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku (parc Arisugawa)

    The prefecture's great library, in Arisugawa Park in Hiroo: reference only, but a bright reading room and foreign-language collections, a stone's throw from the embassy.

    Website Source

  • Librairie Omeisha

    Shop

    Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku (Iidabashi)

    Tokyo's historic French bookshop, near Iidabashi: picture books, children's novels, French textbooks, press and orders from France.

    Website Source

  • Bouquinerie solidaire de Français du monde, Tokyo

    Shop

    Tokyo

    Second-hand French books at low prices, donations welcome: the Tokyo section of Français du monde keeps the bookshelves of passing families turning over.

    Website Source

Activities, workshops and community in French

Keeping French alive when school is Japanese or international, or simply finding French-speaking friends: the Institut français, the AFJ and family associations run courses, workshops and gatherings all year, from babies to teenagers.

Good to know

  • The AFJ, the FIAFE network's Accueil, offers sports, arts, well-being and Japanese immersion workshops run by French speakers across Tokyo, festive and sightseeing events, a weekly newsletter and an online practical guide; membership gives reduced rates. Source
  • For children outside the French school system, the Association of Franco-Japanese Families (AFFJJ) runs FLAM programme French workshops, and La Petite École Solidaire gives French lessons online and in person; Ippo Ippo gathers French-speaking parents and 0 to 3-year-olds around early-learning workshops. Source
  • For occasional childcare, the AFJ guide lists English-speaking babysitting agencies, hourly international nurseries and au pairs; the nursery of the École internationale franco-japonaise (EIFJ) takes children from age one. Lycée français high-schoolers and students also babysit gladly, ask at the school gate. Source
  • On the Japanese side, children sign up very early for a swimming school, piano, judo or kendo at the ward sports centre: inexpensive, highly structured activities, and the best language immersion there is.

Addresses

  • Institut français du Japon, Tokyo

    Activity

    15 Ichigaya-Funagawara-machi, Shinjuku-ku 162-0826

    French courses for children and teenagers, médiathèque, film club, festivals and workshops all year round in the historic French quarter, between Iidabashi and Kagurazaka.

    Website Source

  • AFJ, ateliers et événements

    Activity

    À travers Tokyo ; accueils à l'ambassade de France, Minami-Azabu

    Sports, arts, well-being and Japanese immersion workshops with French-speaking instructors, monthly welcome gatherings, back-to-school café and family outings; the starting point for every newcomer.

    Website Source

  • Ippo Ippo

    Activity

    Tokyo

    The network of French-speaking families with little ones: parent and child workshops for ages 0 to 3, coffee mornings and mutual support among young mothers.

    Website Source

  • AFFJJ, Association des familles franco-japonaises au Japon

    Activity

    Tokyo

    FLAM programme French workshops for children of Franco-Japanese couples and French-speaking families in Japanese schools, events and gatherings between families.

    Website Source

  • La Petite École Solidaire

    Activity

    En ligne et en présentiel

    French lessons for children of French-speaking families outside the French school system, online and in person, to keep up reading and writing.

    Website Source

  • Communauté catholique francophone du Japon (ACCFJ)

    Activity

    Chapelle des Missions étrangères, Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku

    Sunday Mass in French at the Missions étrangères chapel in Mejirodai, catechism and community life for French-speaking families.

    Source

Go further

Through the seasons and festivities

The Japanese year is lived outdoors and as a family: picnics under the cherry trees, paper carp for children's day, fireworks in yukata, red maples, kimonos for 3, 5 and 7-year-olds and the first prayer of the year at the shrine. The Lycée's holidays follow the French calendar, not the Japanese long weekends: the parks are yours.

Good to know

  • Spring: the cherry trees bloom from late March to early April, and all Tokyo picnics under the trees (hanami) at Shinjuku Gyoen, Ueno, Yoyogi or along the Meguro river; the Japanese school year starts at the same time, on 1 April. Source
  • Golden Week, in early May, strings public holidays together and ends with Children's Day (Kodomo no hi) on 5 May, with its paper carp (koinobori) in the wind; on the third weekend of May, Asakusa's Sanja Matsuri parades a hundred portable shrines, children included. Source
  • Summer: the great fireworks (hanabi) gather hundreds of thousands of spectators in yukata, the Sumida one on the last Saturday of July; neighbourhood festivals (matsuri) and Obon dances in August are the chance to see your children carry the little ones' shrine. Heat and humidity mean going out early. Source
  • Autumn: after typhoon season, maples and ginkgos turn red from mid-November to early December (koyo) at Rikugien, Showa Kinen or Meiji Jingu Gaien; on 15 November, families dress girls of 3 and 7 and boys of 5 in kimono for Shichi-go-san at the shrine. Source
  • Winter: illuminations in Marunouchi, Roppongi and Shibuya from mid-November to February, a very commercial Christmas and a very family-oriented New Year: first prayer of the year (hatsumode) at Meiji shrine, then Setsubun on 3 February, when beans are thrown at demons, and Hina matsuri, girls' day, on 3 March. Source

Addresses

  • Sanctuaire Meiji (Meiji Jingu)

    Activity

    1-1 Yoyogi-Kamizonocho, Shibuya-ku

    The great shrine in the Yoyogi forest: hatsumode crowds at New Year, Shichi-go-san kimonos in November, Shinto weddings on Sundays; free, to combine with the park.

    Website Source

  • Sanja Matsuri, sanctuaire d'Asakusa

    Activity

    2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku

    One of Tokyo's three great festivals, on the third weekend of May: portable shrines, drums, fairground stalls around Senso-ji; very crowded, prefer Saturday morning with little ones.

    Website Source

  • Feu d'artifice de la Sumida

    Activity

    Rives de la Sumida, entre Asakusa et la Skytree

    Tokyo's most famous fireworks, on the last Saturday of July: thousands of rockets, hundreds of thousands of spectators in yukata; arrive early or watch from a park set back.

    Website Source

  • Jardins de Rikugien

    Park

    6-16-3 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku

    The Edo-period stroll garden, near the Lycée français: maples lit up at nightfall in late November, giant weeping cherry in spring; adults pay.

    Website Source

  • Illuminations d'hiver de Tokyo

    Activity

    Marunouchi, Roppongi, Shibuya, Yebisu Garden Place

    The official French-language guide to the illuminations, mid-November to February: golden tree-lined avenues of Marunouchi, Roppongi Hills and Midtown, the giant chandelier of Yebisu; free, ideal with a pushchair after 17:00.

    Website Source

Go further

Trips under two hours away

Trains leave from the centre and reach the sea at Kamakura, the hot springs of Hakone or Mount Takao in an hour. No car needed, and preschool children travel free on private lines as on JR.

Good to know

  • Kamakura, the shoguns' former capital, is about an hour from Tokyo or Shinagawa on the JR Yokosuka line: Great Buddha, temples in the hills, Yuigahama beach and the little Enoden train to Enoshima island and its aquarium. Source
  • Hakone is reached from Shinjuku by the Odakyu Romancecar in under an hour and a half; the 'loop' strings together a rack railway, funicular, cable car over the fumaroles and a pirate ship on Lake Ashi, with Mount Fuji as a backdrop on clear days. Source
  • Mount Takao, under an hour from Shinjuku on the Keio line, is the family hike: cable car or chairlift to mid-slope, monkey park, temple and easy trails; Kawagoe, 'little Edo', half an hour from Ikebukuro, adds a lane of old-fashioned sweet shops. Source
  • Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are at Maihama, fifteen minutes from Tokyo station on the Keiyo line: dated tickets bought online, an app for the queues, and DisneySea, unique in the world, for older children. Source

Addresses

  • Kamakura

    Kamakura, préfecture de Kanagawa

    The Great Buddha of Kotoku-in, Hase-dera temple and its hydrangeas, the beach and the little Enoden train: the classic family day out, an hour from Tokyo.

    Website Source

  • Enoshima et l'aquarium Enosui

    2-19-1 Katase-Kaigan, Fujisawa, Kanagawa

    The island of caves and lighthouse linked by a bridge, Shonan beach and the Enoshima aquarium with its jellyfish and dolphins; at the end of the Enoden from Kamakura.

    Website Source

  • Hakone

    Hakone, préfecture de Kanagawa

    Hot springs, open-air museum with giant climbing nets for children, cable car, pirate ship and Fuji views: the overnight escape par excellence, by Romancecar from Shinjuku.

    Website Source

  • Nikko

    Nikko, préfecture de Tochigi

    The gilded Unesco-listed Toshogu shrines, the carved monkeys, waterfalls and Lake Chuzenji: about two hours by Tobu train from Asakusa, for a weekend.

    Website Source

  • Mont Takao

    Takao, Hachioji-shi

    The Tokyoites' mountain: cable car, monkey park, Yakuo-in temple and trails manageable from age 4, with a hot bath at the foot of the mountain on the way back.

    Website Source

  • Kawagoe, la petite Edo

    Kawagoe, préfecture de Saitama

    Street of black clay warehouses, bell tower and the sweet shop lane (Kashiya Yokocho) where children do their shopping; half an hour from Ikebukuro.

    Website Source

  • Yokohama, Minato Mirai

    Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama

    Yokohama's waterfront half an hour from Shibuya: the Cup Noodles museum where you make your own noodles, the Anpanman museum for toddlers, Ferris wheel, Chinatown for dinner.

    Website Source

  • Tokyo Disney Resort

    1-1 Maihama, Urayasu, préfecture de Chiba

    Disneyland and DisneySea, the group's most original park, fifteen minutes from Tokyo station: dated online tickets, an app for the queues, and Japanese visitors in costume who are a show in themselves.

    Website Source

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A place has closed, something has changed? Tell us: the mums of Tokyo will thank you.

Sources for this page

The public pages these landmarks come from. The official website always prevails.

  1. 1 Association des parcs de Tokyo, parc de Yoyogi
  2. 2 Jardin national de Shinjuku Gyoen (ministère de l'Environnement)
  3. 3 Musée national de la Nature et des Sciences
  4. 4 lepetitjournal.com Tokyo, médiathèque de l'Institut français du Japon
  5. 5 Ambassade de France au Japon, associations françaises
  6. 6 AFJ, Association des Français et francophones du Japon
  7. 7 Office du tourisme de Tokyo, guide du hanami
  8. 8 Office du tourisme de Kamakura

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