Tokyo One Day with Kids – Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesando, and Aoyama areas

Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesando, and Aoyama One Day with Kids

8:00: Start in your morning walking through Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Jingu Shrine which both are open from sunrise to sunset. After spending an hour walking around I would head to Bills Omotesando (located in the 7F of the Tokyu Plaza at 4-30-3 Jingu Mae) and open from 8:30 for a full-up nice breakfast. If you just want a coffee,  try the Starbucks (same building as Bills 6th floor) which has a lovely outdoor garden patio and space for kids to cruise around.  If you come back later in the day, you can enjoy Yoyogi rental bikes in the park and visit the Yoyogi ponies. 

10:30: Visit the Ukiyo-e Ōta Memorial Museum of Art (closed Mon, opens 10:30) to see amazing collections of Ukiyo-e. A small but amusing museum which kids can also enjoy – justenough art for little ones.

11:00 Takeshita Dori stores open around this time and crowds are much more manageable before lunch so go early. Check out the great clothing stores, candy stores and  Daiso 100 yen store (great place to buy value-priced Japan souvenirs). A must do is to buy a crepe at one of the 10 stores that sell them – our go to is the chocolate banana with cream – quality and price are similar at all stores. Also Rainbow Sweets and Totti Candy Factory for Rainbow Cotton Candy larger than your head and Rainbow Ice cream made with Hokkaido Ice Cream. Right around the corner form Takeshita Street is the Micro Pig Cafe if you want to hold mini pigs.

12:00 If you are looking for a lunch closer to Harajuku station and Takeshita Dori here are our recommendations. Afuri Harajuku for ramen (1F Grande Foresta, 3-63-1 Sendagaya  Shibuya), Wolfgang Puck Cafe Harajuku for burgers ( Yoshitomi Building 1F, 1-17-1 Jingumae  Shibuya), Guzman Gomez for Mexican and Harajuku Gyoza (6-2-4 Jingumae, Shibuya).  If you are closer to Omotesando X-crossing we recommend the following lunch spots. Franz and Evans, Aoyama Flower Market & Restaurant or Commune 2 which is a food truck court. Dominique and Ansel Bakery Tokyo for hot chocolate and pastries, or try amazing cool bubble tea at Gong Cho (6-6-2 Jingūmae, Shibuya-ku).

13:30: Check out some shopping at Kiddyland which has a great selection of domestic character toys and international brands (opens 11:00/10:30 weekends). For Japanese and outdoor fashion brands and second hand-stores check out Cat Street which runs parallel to Meiji Dori from Omotesando to Shibuya central area (starting point is 5-10-1  Jingu-Mae, Shibuya). Oriental Bazaar is an easy place to shop for Japanese souvenirs, however, prices are high for mediocre quality (closed Thursday, opens 10:00).  Omotesando Dori (street) is a fashion mecca of western and Japan high-end brands. If you are an Instagrammer, you will want to get a shot in the Tokyu Plaza mirrored escalator (4-30-3 Jungu Mae, Shibuya) and at the Graffiti wall near the Nadia Tokyo store (4-28-29 Jungu Mae, Shibuya) which has new designs every few months.  As you head through Omotesando check our a few of our favorite kid-friendly stores. Sostrene Grene for arts and craft items and Flying Tiger for party gifts or Kawano Gallery for used kimonos and accessories.

15:00 – 17:30 If you have older kids and want to an artistic challenge try Kintsugi class (closed Fridays). If you want to experience a very local and fun outside park try the Niko Niko park near Jingu Mae Park (about a 20 min walk from the main Harajuku area). If you would like to shop for more Japanese products we highly recommend the Spiral Gallary store, Madu for beautiful ceramics and Sou-sou for textiles.  If you love Japanese gardens and art head 

to the Nezu Museum and Garden (closed Monday, 10:00 – 17:00) which is one of our favorite Japanese gardens. The exhibits rotate so you chose to enter the museum or just the garden separately.

17:30 – 21:00 After exploring the Omotesando Aoyama area walk 10-15 mins to the Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko Dog Statue. Shibuya Crossing is a fun place to people watch as up to 2,000 people cross as the lights change – times between 18:00 – 19:30 are night commuter peak. The Hachiko Dog Statue is located directly outside Shibuya station is a popular meeting point and the memorial spot of a local loyal dog (read story here). The new Shibuya Scramble Building located above Shibuya Station is has a great selection of teen apparel stores on floors 9 and 10 and a great view of the Scramble. If you have time and money you can also get an amazing view of Tokyo and Mt. Fuji for the observatory on the top of the Shibuya Scramble Square Building. Check out shopping at Tokyu Hands, Muji and Parco. There are plenty of places to enjoy dinner in Shibuya but for families, we recommend Shokado 47, Genki Sushi, and about a 10 min walk Slice (Pizza). For night entertainment we recommend bowling and games at the EST Shibuya Bowling center (try the glow-in-the dark floor) or family karaoke at the Pasela Karaoke. 

**Note if you are visiting on a weekend (Sat/Sun) check out the Farmers Market at the UN building in Aoyama for some fresh fruit and veggies as well as slow food from vendors selling coffee to tacos.  

Tokyo One Day with Kids – Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesando, and Aoyama areas

For your other few days, we recommend:

Tokyo Bucket List

Tokyo Teen Checklist

Tokyo Attractions Open on Mondays

Free Tokyo Attractions for Kids 

Tokyo One Day with Kids – Odaiba

Tokyo One Day with Kids – Daikanyama, Meguro, Ebisu 

Tokyo One Day with Kids – Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesando, and Aoyama areas

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