Buying nappies/diapers in Tokyo while on the go ( or on holiday) isn’t always as easy as you might expect. Central Tokyo shops are small and big boxes of nappies take up significant shelf “real estate.”
For this reason, I’ve written this blog post to help you get out of a messy situation as quickly as possible – oh and I say this again in this post but just to emphasize from the get-go, if coming to Japan on holidays, I recommend packing approx 3-5 days worth of diapers – just so you don’t spend that adjustment period in a search frenzy.
I talk about nappy shopping in my ‘Baby related products I buy in Japan’ post here but since I get so many diaper questions, I thought I’d make a separate post with more detail.
Nappies /Diapers
If you’re wondering where to buy diapers in Tokyo? I recommend, regardless of where you are – googling either Babies R Us, Toys R Us or AkachanHonpo (kind of like a Japanese version of Toys R Us.) These shops are spread around the city pretty well so you could take a cab there in an emergency. Or if it’s less of an emergency, you could ask where the closest drugstore is. Drugstore is pronounced drugstore here (dorraggu sutoaa) and see what sizes they have on offer.
Please be warned : diapers in central, central, central Tokyo (I’m talking around and inside the Yamanote/city loop line) are not always the easiest to get your hands on. Drugstores and supermarkets don’t have a lot of space so sell out fast. Also, sometimes they are sold on the second floor of a teeny drugstore and I’ve been unable to get up there with a kid and a stroller.
If you’re coming to Japan on vacation, I would make sure that you have at least 5 days worth of diapers packed. I know thats a lot. (Trust me, my kids are close in age so we had two in nappies for, what felt like, forever and that meant we had literally half a suitcase of nappies with us. But, guess what? There is then more space for shopping on the way home, right?
Also, it just meant that we didn’t have the pressure of hunting down diapers on the first few precious days ( especially if we were also dealing with jet lag – we did NOT need more worries. )
If you have an emergency and just need nappies/ diapers in the centre of Tokyo immediately, jump in a taxi and go to Babies R Us in Ikebukuro inside of Sunshine City Shopping Mall. It is open from 10AM – 9PM everyday.
Extra Tip:
In Japan, pull ups are called ” Pants Type” and the stick on types are called ” Tape Type”
Incase you have any communication concerns..
Pants type in Japanese is pronounced PANTSU TAIPU or you could just show them this パンツタイプ
And Tape Type is pronounced TEIPU TAIPU or you could just show them this テープタイプ
On the flip side, if you’re out of the city and near a bigger supermarket, you shouldn’t have any problems finding diapers at all. ( This cheat sheet’ will help you with the Japanese vocabulary for travelling around little babies in Japan.)
I never regret having too many nappies. If my kids get sick, even if they are fully toilet trained? I put them in a nappy – just to make them more comfy and quick to change if we have an accident.
I also put newly toilet trained kids in nappies (over their underwear, if they were offended) when on planes ( see my Flying with Kids tips) and also when at Disneyland or somewhere we may have to wait for a loo ( other important Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea tips.)
We buy Merries nappies. Best quality nappies we have ever found.
I buy ours on Amazon.
And for wipes we buy Kirkland or Pampers (purchased at Costco or Amazon Japan) but they can also be found at Japanese drugstores.
LOOKING FOR WHERE TO BUY DIAPERS / NAPPIES IN THE TOKYO DISNEY AREA?
If it’s the day you’re visiting Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disneysea, I recommend buying them inside the Baby Centre inside the Disney Parks.
However, if you’re looking for places to purchase nappies outside of the parks, I recommend going to Tomods Drugstore on the second floor of the Ikspiari complex outside of Tokyo Disneyland (opens at 10am) or at Drug Seims Drugstore in Urayasu which is 5 mins in a cab, approx 900 yen, from Tokyo Disneyland (opens at 8am.)
See here for tips on purchasing baby food in Japan
If you’re looking for where to buy nappies in Osaka – I recommend going to Toys r Us at Namba Parks shopping mall.
If you’re looking for where to buy nappies in Kyoto – I recommend Aeon Mall Kaede Mall near Kyoto Station.
Where to buy nappies in Osaka?
If, while in Osaka you need to buy baby related items such as nappies / diapers I recommend going to the large shopping mall called
Namba Parks Shopping Mall.
Within Namba Parks are also lots of lovely places to change baby and there is a big Toys R Us and Babies R Us (selling lots of nappies and baby food etc.)
