Kid Friendly Tokyo

Hey y’all! This is John.

This newsletter is about human flourishing. Ostensibly it’s about better parenting and fixing education, but ultimately what I really care about is helping young people flourish.

Japan is one of my favourite countries and my kids’ favourite holiday destination. Starting with this issue, I’ll be doing a mini-series on where to go and what to do in Japan with young kids. Travel can be highly enriching and educational for children, but parents need to be intentional about what to include in the itinerary. Hopefully, this week’s newsletter on kid-friend Tokyo will give you ideas of things to do.

Let’s dive in!

Most people think bright lights, big city and small spaces when they think of Tokyo. Hardly the first destination you think of bringing young children for a family vacation. In fact, Tokyo is incredibly kid-friendly, with playgrounds, children’s museums and amusement parks all over the city. You just need to know where to go.

Tomigaya (富ヶ谷) near Yoyogi Park (代々木公園, Yoyogi Kōen) is my favourite neighbourhood in Tokyo. It’s only a 10-15 minute walk from Shibuya, but completely different. Everything in Shibuya is densely packed - buildings, shops, people. Tomigaya almost feels like the anti-Shibuya, a leafy suburb to get away from the tourists taking selfies at Shibuya Crossing.

Start your day with a coffee at Little Nap, a popular coffee roaster in Tomigaya. Limited seating indoors, but order a takeaway and walk thirty seconds to Haru no Ogawa Play Park across from the cafe. This is a mud park constructed out of wooden planks and found materials. Kids are expected to get dirty. It’s called a mud park for a reason.

In Singapore, there are many playgrounds designed and built by commercial playground manufacturers. These are safe, clean, sterile and not particularly fun. Haru no Ogawa Play Park is fun precisely because there are no plastic slides and seesaws. Instead, kids spray water from a hose to make rainbows, roll around in the mud, and climb wooden structures designed by self-taught playground architects. It is not a big park, but my kids were quite happy to spend a couple of hours running around, shooting hoops and playing with traditional Japanese toys like spinning tops. Pro tip: bring a change of clothes for the kids. There are taps in the park for washing up.

Kids hungry after rolling around in the mud? Walk five minutes to Kitchen Tomigaya. My local friends tell me this tiny restaurant serves the best curry tonkatsu in Tokyo. Don’t worry if you are not used to spicy food. Japanese curry is more sweet and savoury than it is spicy. The curry at Kitchen Tomigaya is certainly kid-friendly enough.

After lunch, take a five-minute stroll to Fuglen, one of the most popular cafes in Tokyo with the Instagram brigade. Originally from Oslo, Fuglen is one of the few cafes in Tokyo that serves hot/iced chocolate. I have no idea why most cafes in Tokyo don’t, but a hot chocolate on a cold winter day (or an iced chocolate in summer) is a nice treat for the kids after lunch. Check out Yoyogi Park nearby. Great picnic spot.

If you don’t fancy curry in Tomigaya, another great option for lunch is Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場, Tsukiji Jōgai Shijō). The wholesale seafood auctions may have moved to nearby Toyosu, but there are still plenty of shops and restaurants to check out in Tsukiji. Pro tip: if you are at Tsukiji in winter, visit one of the many fruit stalls and ask for beni-madonna. Usually only available from mid-November to late-December, it’s a Japanese orange (mikan) that is the most delicious citrus you’ll ever taste.

Another good reason to go Tsukiji is its proximity to teamLab Planets. teamLab is a multisensory experience that is quite unlike any other museum you’ve ever visited. An online article described it as a fairy-tale labyrinth. I’ve been twice, most recently in June this year, and I still find the experience highly immersive and deeply moving.

The kids loved it so much we exited the installations and went a second round. Pro tip: buy tickets online and show up 30 minutes before your slot.

Another play park I love is Setagaya Play Park (世田谷公園, Setagaya Kōen). It’s a risky playground where kids learn to start fires, saw wood, hammer nails, and roast marshmallow, all under adult supervision. My kids had a lot of fun climbing, running and scaling. Check out this list for the best mud parks and play parks in Tokyo.

About twenty minutes walk from Setagaya Play Park is Nakameguro, one of the best spots in Tokyo to see cherry blossom. It’s a lovely neighbourhood, with many shops, cafes and restaurants along the river. Onibus is another highly Instagrammable cafe. Fuku Sushi nearby is run by a lovely Japanese couple. Pro tip: many restaurants in Japan don’t allow kids, especially sushi restaurants. Call ahead to find out and make a reservation.

One final recommendation. In nearby Meguro, kids (and adults) can fish for their own meal at Zauo. The restaurant has other outlets in Shibuya and Shinjuku. It is a lot of fun for kids, and the food is great value.

Next week, I’ll write about kid-friendly places in Chiba, just outside of Tokyo. There are many more spots in Tokyo I can recommend, but this list is probably good for a 3-4 day stay in Tokyo.

To Chiba next week!

Registration is open for Saturday Kids Unplugged Karuizawa Oct 16-18. Autumn is the most beautiful time of the year in Japan.

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