Although traveling around Tokyo with a baby might seem daunting at first, with a little planning it’s not hard at all. Here is our experience spending a few days in Asakusa with our baby.
Asakusa is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Tokyo, largely in part to the famous Senso-ji Temple. You might be familiar with the big red lantern at the entrance gate. And by big, I mean huge. It’s around 36 feet tall and 37 feet wide!
First, a little bit of context.
Asakusa is the center of Tokyo’s old town “shitamachi” culture, literally translated as “low city.” Although some incorrectly translate this as “downtown,” shitamachi actually refers to the physically low lying areas of the city along the Sumida River.
Our Hotel Requirements
To give ourselves plenty of time to explore, we decided to spend two nights at a hotel here. This was our first overnight trip where we cloth diapered the whole time, so that was a major accomplishment for us! Woohoo for saving the planet!
We stayed at a hotel between Senso-ji Temple and Tokyo Skytree, each about a 15 minute walk away. We always look for two things when booking a hotel:
a) enough floor space for a Pack n Play
b) a parking lot for our car (parking is so expensive that we prefer to leave our car parked once we arrive). We can walk wherever we need to go or use the train.
Tokyo Solamachi
After settling into our hotel room, we decided to walk over towards Tokyo Skytree. Although technically in Sumida (not Asakusa), I still wanted to include it in this post since it’s so close-by! You can also take the train if you don’t feel like going by foot.
With the bitter winter wind pressing through our jackets, we knew we wanted to be inside. Luckily, there is so much to do in this area! We opted for shopping at Tokyo Solamachi, a mall at the base of Tokyo Skytree.
Malls are always an easy option with a baby, since there are plenty of nursing rooms, it’s indoors (and warm!), and there’s a food court if your little one doesn’t feel up to eating in a sit-down restaurant. Check out my blog post detailing how Japan makes life easier for parents.
A variety of fine dining restaurants on the 30 & 31st floors are an option, or you can take the elevator up just to check out the view!
There’s a free play area for babies and toddlers to crawl around on the 5th floor. It’s a large square of playmats on the floor, but definitely a welcome area for us to set down our daughter to get some exercise!
If your kids are a bit older, there’s the Kodomonoyu Playcenter on this floor. Check out this blog post from The Tokyo Chapter if you’re in this area with young children–she has some great activities for you to do!
Robot Exhibits
We were lucky enough to stumble upon a variety of free exhibits by the Chiba Institute of Technology. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures, so check out their website for a visual idea of the various displays!
My personal favorite was the Rescue Robot. This robot was employed after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. It has been collecting data in dangerous areas that are inaccessible to humans, as well as helping in shutting down the nuclear reactors. What an invaluable use of technology!
Our 8 month old baby particularly enjoyed the Gigantic Robot Screen, where we were able to manipulate the design sheets of robots via an iPad, zooming in on various parts and seeing the inside of robots that otherwise we wouldn’t be able to see. Of course, our daughter will grab at any chance for screen time in whatever form!
Tokyo Skytree
If you have some extra spending money, definitely take a ride up the Tokyo Skytree tower. You can be at the 350th floor in less than a minute! It is the tallest stand-alone tower in the world and has gorgeous views of Mt. Fuji and the city of Tokyo. While tickets for adults are a bit steep (¥2060/each), children 3 and under are free.
Nakamise Dori
The next day we got up bright and early to spend our day exploring Senso-ji temple and the surrounding areas. The street leading up to Senso-ji temple, Nakamise Dori, is overflowing with tourists and locals alike.
Street vendors call out to passersby loudly, as tourists line up for rice crackers, matcha ice cream, melon bread and other sweet and savory snacks. So much must-try street food!
Nakamise Dori is an excellent place to buy traditional Japanese souvenirs to take back home. Asakusa was once Tokyo’s biggest entertainment district and was home to many kabuki theaters. Along Nakamise Dori you can buy kabuki masks to take back home with you!
Senso-ji is one of Japan’s most iconic and photographed temples. It is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, dating back to 645 A.D. Whether you’ve seen pictures of the large lantern or paintings of the five story pagoda, you’re probably familiar with some aspect of this temple already.
At Senso-ji Temple, you can pick up an omikuji (written fortune) to try your luck. There are seven different fortunes you can receive, ranging from very bad luck to very good. Don’t worry too much if you draw bad luck, you can fold up your omikuji and attach it to a wall of metal wire. This means you can stop your bad luck streak and change your fortune!
The smell of incense washes over us as we approach the temple itself. Senso-ji is breathtaking, with beautiful paintings on the ceiling.
Even with large groups of tourists crowding the area, everyone’s voices lower as they step foot under the temple’s roof. There’s an overall sense of awe and reverence in the air.
Surrounding Areas
Stepping over even just one street removes all of the hustle and bustle of Nakamise Dori and takes you back to a Tokyo of days long past.
I highly recommend exploring the streets around Senso-ji Temple. Kappabashi Street, the kitchen street, is famous for the plastic food samples it sells. They also have a wide array of china and other handcrafted kitchen items.
Although not a child friendly area, I still have to mention Hoppy Street. This is a street lined with old fashioned Japanese bars. Since it was cold, they all had tent-like canvases pulled down to keep the heat in.
Many of the streets surrounding Senso-ji Temple have roofs over them, which was helpful in shielding us from the wind and cold. It also creates a market atmosphere. There are tons of specialty shops, vegetable stalls, sushi, ramen and yakitori restaurants.
Many restaurants in this area have only counter space, but we managed to find a family friendly restaurant called Juraku. It had plenty of tables and space for a stroller too! They had a wide range of menu options, ranging from curry and omurice to tempura and soba noodle sets.
There’s a changing table and nursing room near Juraku at Rox 3G, a shopping center across the street. If you’re not familiar with nursing apps, my favorite is Mamamap. It shows you where the nearest changing tables or nursing rooms are. Such a handy app when you’re out and about!
There were plenty of baby-friendly activities for us in Asakusa.
Even with the cold weather, Asakusa with a baby was totally doable! By renting a hotel room central to both Tokyo Skytree and Senso-ji, we were able to cover two of our main Tokyo bucket list places in one trip.
Do you have any travel tips for traveling with a baby? I love hearing from you so drop your thoughts, suggestions and comments below!
Congratulations on cloth diapering on your trip! Good account of your trip—I enjoyed the pics!