In Summer, many of the Tokyo Parks have little splash areas, small shallow pools and fountains for children to play in.
The Japanese annual ‘Tokyo Summer with Kids’ type magazines lists so many different options that it can get a bit overwhelming. You also never know how good each spot really is until you get there to try it out yourself.
For that reason I only want to include our favourite spots and places we have actually visited and really enjoyed.
If you prefer a public swimming pool over a splash pad for kids – please check the following :
Opening times (most pools are only open July & August)
If they allow swim nappies / diapers (many don’t and also some have a 3+ rule)
It sounds crazy but many pools do not allow sunscreen
Most pools don’t allow any tattoos – some allow them if they are taped up or covered by a rashguard top or pants.
Some pools also have funny rules about speedos and swim caps too.
There are often break times where the pool asks everyone to get out of the water – for 15-30 mins – for cleaning.
Oyokogawa Park
This park with a water play area is 14 mins walk from Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. This park is open for water play for all of July and August and weekends in September.
There are also some little rocks and a little waterfall. It’s not uncommon for children to find frogs and butterflies here.
Fishing here is allowed between Dec 29 – Jan 3.
There is a public restroom here and baby changing facilities (nothing fancy but it’s ok for a public park, I guess.)
It is 5 mins walk from Tokyo Skytree Station on the Tokyo Skytree line.
Kodomo no Kuni
Kodomo no Kuni (meaning; Children’s Land). This is one of my favourite places to take my children for a full and very affordable day out.
My kids like Kodomo no Kuni’s splash ‘brook’ from mid-March until October.
My kids adore swimming in the brook here. The entire area is shallow so it’s even good for kids who aren’t great swimmers.
There is also a big pool here but I’ve heard it does get very crowded and, I must admit, we have never tried it before.
I wrote more about Kodomo no Kuni here.
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横浜市青葉区奈良町700
700 NARA-CHO, YOKOHAMA CITY, AOBA
OPEN: 9:30AM-4:30PM (UNTIL 5PM IN JULY & AUGUST)
CLOSED: WEDNESDAYS
PRICE: FREE FOR CHILDREN 2 & YOUNGER, 3-5 YEAR OLDS 100 YEN, ELEMENTARY & JUNIOR HIGH AGE 200 YEN, ADULTS 600 YEN
ACCESS: 45 MINS BY CAR FROM THE CITY OR 50 MINS BY TRAIN
KODOMO NO KUNI WEBSITE
Futo Park
We have been visiting this park for 3 years now,
The main reason we recently visited was because Pirates and Peter Pan seem to be the “thing” in my house right now. So much so that my little girl wanted to go to a pirate ship as Wendy.
I’m assuming that the seaside theming is due to the fact that the park is very close to the docklands – so hardcore boat-lovers can go and see the real deal afterwards too.
It’s a small suburban park but the play structure is just so cool !
There is a splash pond but won’t open until mid-July …boo!! When it’s not full of water though, my kids are still happy to use it like another play area. Especially because there are penguins to cuddle.
The park, itself, is cute, cute, cute. The surroundings? Not so much. Just grey and buildings. It’s very much an inner city park.
Take your own sand-play toys as the “floor” of the whole playground area is sand and also take hats and sunscreen as there isn’t a whole lot of shade. Don’t stress if you forget snacks and drinks though…there are about 10,000 (okay…actually 4) convenience stores on, pretty much, every corner of this park.
The park also has its own public restrooms.
It is four minutes walk from Shibaura Futo Station.
FUTO PARK
港区海岸3-14-34
3-14-34 KAIGAN MINATO
Honshiba Park
Then there is Honshiba Park. It is 8 minutes from Shinagawa Station by car or 33 minutes on foot. You could also take the subway for a 5 minute trip to Mita Station from Shinagawa, although you will need to transfer once (and at this time I’m unable to confirm if there are elevators for strollers etc.)
It’s a little, thin, long park with a play area, a great view of the train tracks and a water splash area in Summer. There is quite a bit of shade around the pool and lots of preschools and pedestrians near by – giving it a lovely, safe, family-friendly feel.
There are restrooms and a change table. My little boy loves it because he can see the trains, monorails and bullet trains – all from the same spot. If you wanted to know about other transport related parks that we have found you may like this post too.
HONSHIBA PARK
港区芝4-15-1
4-15-1 SHIBA, MINATO
Funabashi Andersen Park
For a full day trip outside of Tokyo- one hour (public transport or car) from the centre of Tokyo – is Funabashi Andersen Park(Andersen, as in the infamous Danish author).
This park is big enough to spend the entire day here and is only 900 yen for entry (free for kids 3 & under, 100 yen for 4 years +, primary & junior high school students are 200 yen and high schoolers are 600 yen.)
I was, originally, drawn to this spot because of the year round splash pool facilities (almost all splash pads close the moment August finishes and children return to school). But I had he most amazing surprise when we arrived as this place had so much for families to do.
There is the swimming area, a giant roller-slide, bouncy-ball trampoline type thingy, ponyrides, mini golf, restaurants, mini-train rides, boats for rent, pedal cars, athletic outdoor climbing frames, a petting zoo and a children’s craft museum.
I wrote more about this whole park here.
The park doesn’t sell baby swim nappies so be sure to pack plenty of your own if you’re keen on having the kids splash around.
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The pool water is shallow and there are lots of different fountains and water play sections.
These kinds of dome tents are allowed inside the park and I wish we had packed ours. There were lots of small babies taking naps and many parents used them to change children’s clothing etc.
I’m really glad that we took our stroller as the park grounds are big! There are strollers to rent but I think they wouldn’t fit children over 3 years old.
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FUNABASHI ANDERSEN PARK
千葉県船橋市金堀町525番
525 KANEHORI-CHO, FUNABASHI, CHIBA
OPEN: 9:30AM-4PM (OPEN UNTIL 5PM ON CERTAIN DAYS : SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS)
CLOSED: MOST MONDAYS (SEE WEBSITE CALENDAR FOR UPDATES)
ACCESS BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT: THIS SITE HAS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS
WEBSITE
Tsukishima Daini Children’s Park
And for another option closer to the city center there is Tsukishima Daini Children’s Park.
This pool is only for children who are not yet of school age. ie. toddlers and preschoolers only. The kids must be in swimwear (no nudie rudies, okay?) Some parts of their site say that they don’t allow swim nappies but we got changed in the bathrooms before we arrived and no-one asked any questions (my son had one on underneath his swimsuit.)
It might be best to put on sunscreen before coming out of the change area too – although I’m not sure if they would mind or not.
Much of the pool is managed by volunteers or older public office workers. They aren’t unkind but are very obsessed with the pool staying very, very clean.
Small pool toys are allowed but no big floaties or beach balls etc.
Open from July 5th – September 8th 10am – 4pm
Note that the pool is also closed everyday from midday until 1pm for cleaning. For this reason, I recommend this pool for germiphobes – this pool is amazingly spotless.
It is completely free to use too!
I recommend packing a light lunch and playing at the playground next to the pool for that open one hour in the middle of the day where the pool isn’t open for use.
This toddler pool is one minute walk from Kachidoki Station.
TSUKISHIMA DAI NI POOL
中央区勝どき1-9-8
1-9-8 KACHIDOKI, CHUO-KU
OPEN JULY 5th – SEPT 8th , 10AM -12PM & 1PM – 4PM (CLOSED ON TUES AFTERNOONS)
ADMISSION: FREE
Rinshi no Mori
Another great splash pad visit is to Rinshi no Mori.
Please note that this splash park now requires prior reservations! Reservations can be made for Rinshi no Mori splash area here. (Sorry but it’s in Japanese only so you may need to ask a friend or hotel concierge for help.)
It was perfect for my kids (3 and 5) in terms of being age appropriate.
It’s all man-made and so clean. There is even a little park ranger grandpa there to make sure everyone obeys the rules and can help anyone if they get hurt.
The park has a lot of leafy shadey areas so, even though the day we visited was 37 degrees, we didn’t notice the extremity of theheat until after we left the park.
I had to absolutely cover my kids in bug spray though – there were lots of mosquitoes around.
There is a covered changing area and toilets and a playground right next to the little man-made brook.
We will definitely be visiting again.
Only really down side was the amount of crows in the park. They didn’t bother anyone but still… gross.
All the adults just wore shorts and followed the kids around in the water.
Kids must remove shoes – even those water proof shoes are a no-no.
I wish I’d taken some water toys as lots of kids had them. Little floaties, water pistols and some little kids had toy cars etc.
Only in Japan would you see the shoes set up so beautifully in a public park.
RINSHI NO MORI PARK
2-6-11 KOYAMADAI, SHINAGAWA-KU
SPLASH AREA IS OPEN JULY 6- SEPT 1 , 10AM-3PM
CLOSED FOR CLEANING ON THURSDAYS
* If you decide to drive, I recommend parking at the coin parking spot at 6-13-6 Shimomeguro, Meguro. (There are others around incase this one is full. It’s 600m walk from the entrance of the park.)
Please note that this splash park now requires prior reservations! Reservations can be made for Rinshi no Mori splash area here. (Sorry but it’s in Japanese only so you may need to ask a friend or hotel concierge for help.)
A friend recommended the Ibaraki Nature Museum and she was right to send it my way- it was such a cool (and inexpensive) day out.
After the museum, you can start exploring the gardens out the back. Just near the garden entrance is a visual key with a set of pictures of the kinds of bugs and flowers to keep an eye out for.
It was 37 degrees when we visited so we decided to make a beeline for the mizunohiroba 水の広場 (in the English pamphlet it is referred to as the “Water Square”)
I did enjoy how casual this area it was. I had brought towels and swimwear (and mosquito repellent – thank goodness!) and kiddies were all just changing out of clothes to swimwear at the seats next to the man-made brook. If you live here you’ll know that this informal set up is definitely not the ‘norm.’
The photos make it look like the kids are sliding but actually it was more like a flat slide and they had to worm their way down the hill. It was very, very clean and all felt very safe. There was lots and lots of shade.
My only regret was only taking my single stroller as it was a very, very, very hot 10 minute walk to get to the water area – a bit much to ask of my 5 year old (and of me! I wanted to jump in that water too!)
For my full write up of Ibaraki Nature Museum (inside and out) see my post.
IBARAKI NATURE MUSEUM
茨城県坂東市大崎700
700 OSAKI, BANDO, IBARAKI PREFECTURE
OPEN: 9:30AM-5PM
CLOSED: MONDAYS (TUESDAYS IF MONDAY IS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY *the calendar on their English website is very comprehensive so just take a look before heading out.
ADMISSION: ADULTS 750 YEN, HIGH SCHOOL & UNI STUDENTS 430 YEN, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS 150 YEN *prices are even cheaper if you decide to skip the museum and go straight for the outdoor facilities
IBARAKI NATURE MUSEUM WEBSITE
Fountains in front of Skytree
Between May – August there is a splash fountain for kids to play in out the front of the Solamachi Complex ( that is kind of wrapped around the Skytree.) It operates between 10am – 9pm.
Pack swimsuits and a change of clothing. Naked kiddies not allowed. Wet kids will not be allowed back into the complex.
MAY -END OF AUGUST
OPEN 10AM-9PM
Toyosu Park Splash Pad
During Summer, there is also a splash pad for children aged elementary school 2nd grade aged and younger.
It is 7 minutes walk away from the DMM Planets exhibition ( details here.)
Only toilet trained children allowed ( no swimming nappies.)
Children must wear swimsuits.
TOYOSU PARK SPLASH PAD
2-3-6 TOYOSU, KOTO-KU
JULY 2- SEPT 9, 2019 OPEN 10AM – 4PM
CLOSED MONDAYS
Looking for swimming or splash options for kids in summer in Kyoto?
Here are my pool and river play suggestions for kids in Kyoto.
