Newbie Planner

[voleball]

To answer the question of "Family friendly things to do in Tokyo". Here are the things I'm currently looking into. These are not the typical things many people would recommend. Most of below ideas are more focused on "entertainment" value than traditional "cultural" value. (We are going to Kyoto for a few days to do the cultural things there.) I have two 9 year old girls to entertain.

- Ninja restaurant There is one in NY and Kyoto also
- Cup Noodle Musium You can actually make your own customized cup noodles. They provide English instructions (so I heard.)
- The Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel It looks super cool - looks like the underground thing in the Lord of the rings. Only caveat is that you have to have at least one Japanese speaker in your group due to the safety concerns. English page
- Sumo wresting practice tour (Azumazeki group) When we'll be there, they'll be in the middle of the tournament so I'm not sure if they will be practicing in house.
- Skytree
- Ebisu Yokocho Collection of small traditional restaurants
- Omoide Yokocho The same
- KidZania The place kids can pretend to become any profession they want to be, like a police officer, a cook, a flight attendent, etc

 

[tinibee]

I went to the cup noodle museum for the first time last week. Surprisingly fun place and relatively cheap. Definitely get your cup noodle making reservation when you buy your tickets. The time slots for it full up fast. If you are looking to entertain young ones, I would suggest going to Sylvanian Kitchen located in World Porters, across the street from the museum. The menu looks pricey, but includes drink bar and buffet with your entree. Leonard's is also in World Porters. My Hawaiian friend says the Japanese malasadas taste better than the ones in Hawaii, go fig

 

[voleball]

And if you are looking for typical Tokyo sightseening spots, here are some good info.

http://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/guideservice/index_guide.html

 

[amyren]

Thanks for the info & suggestions! I feel like there is plenty to do in Kyoto that our 6 year old will enjoy but Tokyo seems so overwhelming! We are doing a guided tour on our first full day and will take your suggestions on our second day then I think we may take a day trip to Nikko.

 

[shelemm]

I highly recommend going to Sunshine City Ikebukuro while you are in Tokyo. Sunshine City is a multi-skyscraper complex with an indoor zoo, aquarium, planetarium, a 60th floor observation deck, a shopping mall, an ancient history museum, and an indoor theme park called Namjatown. Namjatown is quite a sight, though for an English speaker the highlights will be looking around, playing some pinball/amusement games, and visiting the two food area: Gyoza Stadium to try terrific Japanese dumplings, and Fubukuro Dessert Yokocho, for a spectacular array of desserts.

Below is a link for the Namjatown brochure (in English). If you go to Namjatown, just pay for a basic admission as you probably can't take full advantage of everything they have to offer.

http://www.namco.co.jp/tp/namja/pdf/english_guide.pdf

Sunshine City website:
http://www.sunshinecity.co.jp/english/