Last Updated on September 29, 2026 by A Teaspoon of Travel

Easy Things to Do in Tokyo with Kids Before 10am

Traveled in October 2025 and May 2026

One of the things that surprised me most about Japan was how late so many things open! And because of jetlag, we were awake even earlier than we would be at home. When we first visited Japan as a couple, this wasn’t much of an issue. We took our time over breakfast or enjoyed a quiet morning around our hotel. But on our first trip to Japan with our kid, we realized that our loud and bouncy toddler needed to get out of the hotel room in the morning to avoid getting stir crazy. After some research, we found several things to do with kids in Tokyo before 10am that worked perfectly for getting the wiggles out. These are the places we used to fill those early morning hours in Tokyo while we waited for more attractions to open.

Things to Do in Tokyo with Kids Before 10am At a Glance

Some of the ways we filled the early morning hours with our kid in Tokyo include:

• Kid-friendly museums and attractions that open early.
• Leveraging jetlag to beat the crowds at Tokyo Disney.
• Exploring a train station without the crowds.

Tokyo Kid Museums That Open Before 10am

*I’ve listed the opening hours as of when I researched them, but also linked to the official websites (when available). Double check the official websites for the most updated hours and cost information!

Tokyo Fire Museum

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: FREE!!
• Location: Shinjuku
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi (red) subway line to Yotsuya-sanchome station (stop M11). Take exit 2 at Yotsuya-sanchome station, which is directly connected to the museum’s basement floor.
• Hours: Tues-Sun 9:30am – 5pm, closed Mondays and New Year’s Holidays (12/29-1/3)

If your little kid loves fire trucks (because of course they do), then they’ll have a great time at the Tokyo Fire Museum! This free museum has a collection of antique fire trucks and fire equipment for kids to admire, and a floor of interactive fireman-related activities and exhibits.

The 3rd floor is the highlight of this museum for kids. This floor is where all the interactive exhibits are. There is a cartoon movie with a moving diorama about fire fighters in action, a firefighter helicopter simulator, an interactive fire truck simulator game where you drive a fire truck to a fire and then put out a fire, and an arts and crafts area where you can color a fire truck and see it driving on screen. There are also fireman dress up stations, and videos about firefighting to watch. Not surprisingly, we spent the majority of our time on this floor. Since we visited on a weekday morning, there weren’t too many other kids and we did not have to wait for any of the simulators.

Our kid’s verdict: perfect for a first morning in Tokyo activity because it was just big enough to entertain him for a couple hours without overtiring on the first day. There were enough interactive exhibits to keep him engaged and not bored. And many of them were easy to figure out even though we don’t speak Japanese

Tokyo Police Museum

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: FREE!!
• Location: third floor of the TOC building in Gotanda.
• How to Get There: 8 minute walk from JR Gotanda station.
• Hours: Tues-Sun 9:30am – 4pm, closed Mondays and New Year’s Holidays (12/29-1/4)

The Tokyo Police Museum is an interactive museum that explores the history of policing in Japan. Kids can dress up as police officers, climb on a police motorcycle or step inside a helicopter. There are dioramas showing how an accident unfolds, and kids can learn how to be an investigator. All of the exhibits are on one floor, so it’s quick and easy to explore.

We didn’t get a chance to visit the Tokyo Police Museum because it was temporarily closed while moving locations. But given how much my kid enjoyed the interactive exhibits at the Tokyo Fire Museum, I think this would be a hit for little kids.

Tokyo Science Museum

• Age Range: best for 3-12 years old
• Cost: 950 yen for adults, cheaper for school age children. Kids 3 and under are free.
• Location: in Kitanomaru Park, next to the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Tozai subway line to Takebashi Station (stop T08) and take exit 1a.
• Hours: 9:30am – 4:50pm, closed some Wednesdays

The Tokyo Science Museum is a hands-on, interactive museum about science and technology, with plenty of buttons to press and levers to pull for kids. Exhibits cover topics like energy, physics, and robotics, with plenty of opportunities for toddlers and preschoolers to experiment and explore. Kids can pedal a bike to generate electricity, launch small air-powered rockets, control robots, and build simple machines to see how gears and pulleys work. Some of the exhibits are a little advanced if you really want to understand how it works and so are best for older kids. But if your toddler or preschooler just likes to press buttons and touch stuff (as they do), then there is still plenty to keep them occupied!

We didn’t visit this museum because our kid was still a little too young to appreciate the exhibits, so it did not seem worth the cost of the entrance fee. However, it does seem very engaging for older kids, especially those who are interested in STEM.

Tokyo Water Science Museum

• Age Range: best for 3-12 years old
• Cost: FREE!!
• Location: close to Odaiba
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station Marunouchi South exit, take the Toei bus 都05-2 for 17 stops to Musashino-Daigaku stop. If visiting from Tokyo teamLab Planets, from Shin-Toyosu Station take the Yurikamome line 4 stops to Tokyo Big Sight Station (stop U11).
• Hours: Tues-Sun 9:30am – 5pm, closed Mondays and New Year’s Holidays (12/28-1/4)

If your kid loves water play, the Tokyo Water Science Museum is a fun (and free!) place to spend a few hours. It’s filled with hands-on exhibits that young kids love, especially because they involve water. Right at the entrance, there’s a touch pool and mini waterfall where kids can splash and play. Upstairs, the Aqua Lab lets children experiment with water pressure, flow, and temperature through simple science activities like spinning turbines or sending water through pipes. There is also an Aqua Town area where kids can follow how water travels from rivers to our homes through interactive models and buttons. There’s even a 3D theater showing how Tokyo’s water system works in a kid-friendly way (and it makes for the perfect place for parents to take a break!). Definitely bring a change of clothes because your kids will get soaked between the splashing and experimenting!

We didn’t make it to the Tokyo Water Science Museum because Odaiba was not that convenient for us to reach. However, if we had visited Legoland Discovery Center Tokyo we definitely would have done the Tokyo Water Science Museum as well since they’re in the same area. If we had more days in Tokyo, we may have visited the giant mall here as well and made a whole day of it.

Tokyo Kid-Friendly Attractions that Open Before 10am

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: 500 yen
• Location: Shinjuku
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi (red) subway line to Shinjuku-gyoemmae station (stop M10). Take exit 1 at the station. The Tokyo Toy Museum is a 10 minute walk from the Okido Gate of the Garden.
• Hours: 9am – 6pm (March 15 to June 30 and August 21 to September 30), 9am – 7pm (July 1 to August 20, 9am – 4:30pm (October 1 to March 14)

If you’re looking for a green escape from Tokyo’s concrete jungle, then the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a peaceful respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. While there aren’t any play structures, the wide open lawns are perfect for kids to run and play. In spring, it’s also one of the best spots for cherry blossom viewing. It’s the perfect place for little ones to burn off energy, or even nap, while parents can relax. In the early mornings when the garden first opens, there aren’t as many other visitors so it’s a little easier to let kids run free and be loud.

Our kid’s verdict: would have preferred a play structure, but appreciated being able to run around without worrying about traffic or crowds.

Tokyo Disneyland

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: Dynamic pricing based on expected crowds ranging from 9400 yen – 10900 yen for adults. Kids 3 and under are free. Juniors (age 12-17) and child (age 4-11) are cheaper.
  • See my post on how to visit Tokyo Disney with kids for all of the details on buying tickets.
  • TL;DR: tickets on the official Tokyo Disney website go on sale at 2pm Japan time 2 months before. Buy tickets online as soon as possible, because they can sell out. Tickets are not sold at the gate. You must buy them ahead of time online!
    • Buy tickets online through Klook here if the official Tokyo Disney website does not accept your credit card. The official website often has trouble accepting foreign credit cards.
• Location: Tokyo Bay
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Keiyo Line (JE) train to Maihama Station (stop JE07). It is a looooong walk to the JE line, but there are helpful markings on the floor of Tokyo Station that you can follow to the train platform. Follow signs for Tokyo Disney (or just follow the crowd) after exiting the train. Turn right after exiting the station to walk across the walkway to the entrance.
• Hours: generally 9am – 9pm, but check the official Tokyo Disney website for daily operating hours as the park can close early on some days. Make sure to check the operating hours before booking your tickets!

Let me preface this by saying we are not a hardcore Disney family. So our visit to Tokyo Disneyland was more lowkey since we didn’t need to go on every ride. Plus, some rides have height restrictions, so little kids can’t go on them all anyway. Still, Tokyo Disneyland is absolutely worth visiting because it’s Disney with a distinct Japanese flair! You’ll find rides, snacks, and souvenirs you won’t see at any other Disney park. Fun fact: it’s unique because it’s not actually owned by Disney. Visiting a Tokyo Disney park is one of the must-do things to do in Tokyo with kids. Especially because it’s so much more affordable than Disney parks in the US!

Our kid’s verdict: loved the rides but hated the lines. This was our kid’s first theme park experience, so he was mesmerized by everything. But we were unprepared for the long lines, which made the day a little more challenging for all of us. See our post on Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea with toddlers for tips and things we wish we did to make the day easier.

Tokyo DisneySea

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: Dynamic pricing based on expected crowds ranging from 9400 yen – 10900 yen for adults. Kids 3 and under are free. Juniors (age 12-17) and child (age 4-11) are cheaper.
  • See my post on how to visit Tokyo Disney with kids for all of the details on buying tickets.
  • TL;DR: tickets on the official Tokyo Disney website go on sale at 2pm Japan time 2 months before. Buy tickets online as soon as possible, because they can sell out. Tickets are not sold at the gate. You must buy them ahead of time online!
    • Buy tickets online through Klook here if the official Tokyo Disney website does not accept your credit card. The official website often has trouble accepting foreign credit cards.
• Location: Tokyo Bay
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Keiyo Line (JE) train to Maihama Station (stop JE07). It is a looooong walk to the JE line, but there are helpful markings on the floor of Tokyo Station that you can follow to the train platform. Follow signs for Tokyo Disney (or just follow the crowds) after exiting the station. Turn left after exiting the station and head towards the Disney Resort Line station. Ride the Disney Resort line to the Tokyo DisneySea stop.
• Hours: generally 9am – 9pm, but check the official Tokyo Disney website for daily operating hours as the park can close early on some days. Make sure to check the operating hours before booking your tickets!

If you can only visit one of the Tokyo Disney parks, make it Tokyo DisneySea. It’s completely unique to Japan, with rides and attractions you won’t find at any other Disney park in the world. It’s also amazing for families with young kids, since it has more kid-friendly rides than Tokyo Disneyland. Our little one absolutely loved Mermaid Lagoon, and the Fantasy Springs rides were so enchanting and mesmerizing that even I was completely spellbound as an adult.

Our kid’s verdict: liked Tokyo DisneySea so much better than Tokyo Disneyland. The Mermaid Lagoon was a big hit because he could go on all the rides, the lines were short, there was a playground, and a water fountain area. Although Tokyo DisneySea rides have some of the longest lines, figuring out our Disney Premier Access strategy really cut down on our line wait times.

Tokyo teamLab Borderless

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: Dynamic pricing based on expected crowds ranging from 3600 yen – 5600 yen for adults. Kids 3 and under are free. Juniors (age 13-17) and child (age 4-12) are cheaper. Buy tickets at least a month in advance because they often sell out!
  • Buy tickets online on the official website here.
  • Buy tickets through Klook here if the official website does not accept your credit card. Some Japanese websites have trouble processing foreign credit cards.
• Location: Azabudai Hills
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi (red) subway line to Kasumigaseki station (stop M15). Follow signs to transfer to the Hibiya (grey) subway line. Take the Hibiya line to Kamiyacho station (stop H05). Take exit 5 and take the underground passage to the B1 level of Garden Plaza B building (do not go up to ground level).
• Hours: varies depending on the month, but generally from 8/8:30am – 9pm.

I’m sure that you have seen the stunning photos of floating lights and digital art from Tokyo’s teamLab Borderless. But experiencing it in person is something else entirely! I had read that it is an art museum kids will actually enjoy since the exhibits are dynamic and constantly changing. After visiting with our child, I’d say that’s true – unless your kid is afraid of the dark like ours is right now. It was just bad timing for us since he just reached this developmental stage. The museum is almost completely dark to enhance the light-based exhibits, and some rooms go entirely dark for a bit during transitions. There’s also no set route, so exploring feels like wandering through a dark maze. Beautiful for appreciating the cinematic experience, but terrifying for kids afraid of the dark.

Our kid’s verdict: his favorite room was the room where you could draw an ocean animal and see it animated on the walls. But otherwise, our kid could not wait to leave the museum. If your kid is in a phase where they are afraid of the dark, skip Borderless for now.

Tokyo teamLab Planets

• Age Range: all ages!
• Cost: Dynamic pricing based on expected crowds ranging from 4000 yen – 4800 yen for adults. Kids 3 and under are free. Juniors (age 13-17) and child (age 4-12) are cheaper. Buy tickets at least a month in advance because they often sell out!
  • Buy tickets online on the official website here.
  • Buy tickets through Klook here if the official website does not accept your credit card. Some Japanese websites have trouble processing foreign credit cards.
• Location: Toyosu
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station Marunouchi South exit, take the Toei bus 都05-2 for 11 stops to Shin-Toyosu Station. To use the train from Tokyo Station, take the Tokaido Line (JT) to Shimbashi station (stop JT02), transfer to the Yurikamome line and get off at Shin-Toyosu Station (U15).
• Hours: 8:30am – 10pm

Tokyo teamLab Planets is the newer digital art museum from the teamLab group. teamLab Planets is more of a sensory experience, with more interactive exhibits that you experience with your entire body. Instead of just watching the art flow across the walls, you interact with it. Another difference is that there is a set route for the exhibits at Planets. The exhibits include trampolines, balance beams, slides, and even a room where you wade through water. Sometimes the water can be up to knee height for adults, and if your clothes get wet you will be asked to change before moving to the next room. It feels a bit like an indoor playground, except that it’s dark, glowing, and alive with light-based art. The interactive and sensory exhibits make it especially fun for kids.

Although the interactive exhibits in Planets sounded a lot more fun for kids, we ultimately chose Borderless because it seemed easier to manage a little kid in Borderless than Planets. However, we plan to take our kid when he’s a little older, because the obstacle course-like exhibits do seem very fun for active kids (and even adults!).

Kidzania Tokyo

• Age Range: best for 3-12 years old
• Cost: varies depending on weekday vs holidays. More expensive for the first shift (9am-3pm), cheaper for the second shift (4pm-9pm).
  • Buy tickets online through Klook here to book ahead for a Wednesday for activities led in English!
• Location: Toyosu
• How to Get There: from Tokyo Station, take the Keihin-Tohoku line (JK) to Yurakucho Station (stop JK 25) and transfer to the Yurakucho Line. Take the Yurakucho line to Toyosu Station (stop Y22) and exit via 2a.
• Hours: First shift 9am – 3pm, second shift 4pm – 9pm. If you don’t speak Japanese recommend visiting on Wednesdays when half of the activities are in English.

Kidzania Tokyo is an indoor theme park where kids can try their hand at a variety of different jobs. Popular activities for little ones that are available in English include the fire department, subway, pizza shop, police department, and airplane, just to name a few. Keep in mind that this isn’t just free play though. These kids are actually “working” a shift, so they will need to follow directions from staff. Because of this, some of the activities have a minimum age to ensure kids can participate fully.

We skipped this because ain’t no way our kid would have followed directions well enough at that age to fully participate. He would only want to free play, and not actually follow the work tasks. But at an older age, I could see this being very fun for kids who are interested in certain professions.

Tokyo Kid-Friendly Museums and Attractions Open Before 10am At a Glance

Activity	Opening Time	Best For	Why it Works
Tokyo Police Museum	9:30am	All ages	Interactive exhibits about policing, with dress up opportunities
Tokyo Fire Museum	9:30am	All ages	Interactive exhibits about firefighting in Japan
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden	9am	All ages	Large green space where kids can run
Tokyo Disneyland	9am (but line up earlier)	All ages	It’s Disney! No explanation needed.
Tokyo DisneySea	9am (but line up earlier)	All ages	Disney with a Japanese twist
Tokyo teamLab Borderless	8/8:30am	All ages	Digital art museum with dynamic art installations
Tokyo teamLab Planets	8:30am	All ages	Digital art museum with more sensory and interactive exhibits
Kidzania Tokyo	9am	3-12 years old, but better for older kids who can follow instructions	Indoor theme park where kids pretend to work different jobs
Tokyo Science Museum	9:30am	3-12 years old	Interactive museum about science and technology with hands-on experiments
Tokyo Water Science Museum	9:30am	3-12 years old	Hands-on, interactive museum about water with lots of opportunity for water play

Outdoor Playgrounds in Tokyo

When we’re sightseeing with our kiddo, I usually like to break up the day with a playground stop so that he can have a chance to just run around and play. Playgrounds are also great for early mornings because they’re pretty much open early. But Tokyo being the big city that it is, we found that playgrounds weren’t always conveniently located along our route to the attractions. They do exist, but you’ll usually need to walk a bit out of your way to find them. The play structures are also a little more basic (you won’t find many themed structures), but they’re still great for climbing, sliding, and burning off energy.

Here are a few playgrounds I bookmarked near the areas we visited during our trip. We didn’t actually make it to all of these playgrounds, but many of them are close to the museums and attractions above. So if you need an earlier start to the morning, it would work to visit the playground first before the museum or attraction.

Shinjuku:

• Shinjuku Chuo Park Children’s Square: close to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (which has a free observatory).

Tokyo Station:

• Hibiya Park: next to the Imperial Palace and close to Ginza. The children’s play structure is small, with just a couple slides, zipline, and swings. The children’s play structure is open 9am-4:30pm. But the park also has a koi pond and fountains, and many festivals are held here throughout the year.
• Hanzomon Kids Pond at the end of Chidorigafuchi Park: a long narrow park along the moat on the opposite side of the Imperial Palace from Tokyo Station. Most popular for cherry blossom viewing. There is a small children’s play structure here. Open Mon-Fri 8am-8:30pm, Sat-Sun 9am-8pm.

Azabudai Hills (near Tokyo teamLab Borderless):

• Shiba Water Supply Station Park: the play structure next to the field has great views of Tokyo Tower! Open from 10am-6pm.

Explore Train Stations Before the Crowds

We stayed in a hotel that was connected to Tokyo Station and that location was probably the best decision I made to make Tokyo travel easier with a toddler. Not only did we have a room overlooking the train tracks for my train-loving kid, but we basically had a giant indoor plaza right next door at Tokyo Station.

On our first early morning in Tokyo, we actually just wandered around Tokyo Station. Since it was not nearly as crowded as usual, we could let our kid skip ahead in the corridors and stop to look at whatever he found interesting. We also found the way to Character Street, so we didn’t get lost trying to get there in the crowds during opening hours.

• Tokyo Station can feel like a maze. Check out our practical guide to Tokyo Station for an overview on the station layout, what to eat, and where to go with kids!

Explore a Konbini

Japan’s konbini, or convenience stores, are lifesavers for parents visiting Japan on so many levels. We used them for ATMs, easy kid dinners when our kid refused to eat at the restaurant, midday snack and drink breaks, and for breakfast in the early mornings. Konbini like 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart are literally everywhere, and many are open 24 hours a day.

An easy early morning activity with kids is just exploring a konbini, looking for breakfast or prepping snacks for the day. If this is your first time visiting a konbini, don’t underestimate the quality of the food. Popular foods to try that can work for breakfast are onigiri (rice balls with different fillings), tamago sando (egg salad sandwich), baked goods like melon pan, fruit sandwiches, and smoothies. My husband and I like the onigiri and our kid is obsessed with melon pan. Konbini are also an easy place to buy milk cartons if your kid needs their morning or bedtime milk.

Picking snacks was another popular konbini activity for our kid. Some of the picks were misses, but we liked trying new and interesting flavors of snacks. We also love bringing snacks home as souvenirs, so exploring konbini in the morning was an easy way to research souvenir choices when nothing else was open

Where to Stay in Tokyo to Make Early Mornings with Kids Easier

When you’re awake at the crack of dawn and not much is open, where you stay in Tokyo can make a big difference in how easy it is to find something to do with your kid.

What I would prioritize when looking for a Tokyo hotel with kids:

• Easy kid-friendly food options nearby
• Park or green space nearby
• Less than 10 minute walk to the train station
• Near a train station with easy connections to your attractions

After considering different areas, we chose to stay near Tokyo Station as the perfect fit for our trip.

Tokyo Station

We have stayed in the Tokyo Station area during all of our trips with our kid. Our train-loving kid loves watching the trains go by right outside our hotel window, there are plenty of delicious and easy food options in Tokyo Station that don’t require reservations or long waits, and it has the fewest train transfers to everywhere we want to go.

Our picks for the best places to stay near Tokyo Station with kids based on family-friendly amenities:

• Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Marunouchi ($$) – where we stayed (twice!). Our kid loves the train-view rooms, and spent many mornings just watching the trains and pretending to be a train controller. We loved that it’s directly connected to Tokyo Station because the short walk and many food options saved us from many hangry or tired meltdowns.
• Mimaru Tokyo Station East ($$$) – where we would stay if our budget was bigger. The apartment-style rooms with kitchenettes are great for families who need more space or picky eaters who want a kitchenette.
• Karaksa Hotel Tokyo Station ($$) or Karaksa Hotel Colors Tokyo Yaesu ($$) – more budget-friendly options with different room types that can accommodate larger families of more than 4 people.
• Oakwood Premier Tokyo ($$$$) – where we would stay if we wanted a more home-like apartment rental experience. These serviced apartments feel like home, with a full kitchen and washer dryer, but come at a premium.
• Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo Station ($) – budget-friendly option for a small family (parents and one small child)

Ueno

Our friends had stayed in Ueno and recommended it because they found it less chaotic and crowded with kids than other neighborhoods in Tokyo. Ueno Park and Ueno Zoo are in this neighborhood so there is more green space for kids. Ueno is on the Yamanote Line, so it is convenient for sightseeing within Tokyo, but requires more train transfers for day trips. Food and transportation convenience were more of a priority for us, but if a calmer neighborhood is a priority for you then Ueno is a good choice.

Our picks for the best places to stay in Ueno with kids based on family-friendly amenities:

• Mimaru Tokyo Ueno East ($$$) – where we would stay if we wanted an apartment-style stay with a kitchenette.
• &Here Tokyo Ueno ($$$) – where we would stay if we wanted spacious rooms right next to Ueno Park.

Our Early Morning Tokyo Routine with a Toddler

We usually fly into Tokyo when we arrive in Japan. And it usually takes us 3-4 days to adjust to the time in Japan, so we have had our fair share of early mornings in Tokyo.

A typical early morning in Tokyo with our kid looked like this:

5:30am-6:30am (sometimes earlier): awake thanks to jetlag. Watch trains from the hotel window, sticker books or activity books, or sometimes iPad time as a last resort. (We were still working on transitions so tried not to give screens in the morning.)

6:30am-7am: get dressed and ready for the day

7am-7:30am: eat baked goods we had bought the day before for breakfast or go to a konbini to buy breakfast

7:30am-7:45am: head out on the train to one of the activities above. Morning rush hour in Japan usually peak around 8am-9:30am, so if traveling around the center of Tokyo we would try to leave before 8am. However, if we were traveling to areas that salarymen are not going to (like Tokyo Disney), then leaving around 8am or after would be fine.

Those first few mornings in Tokyo can be rough when your toddler is wide awake hours before the rest of the city. But having some kid-friendly activities that are open early can make those early hours manageable. Getting everyone out of the hotel early before your kid starts bouncing off the walls can start the day on a much better note. And fitting these kid-oriented activities in the mornings can make more time for adult sightseeing later in the day when things are actually open (and may earn you a stroller nap).

Planning a Japan trip with kids?