The first few posts have been focussed on tactical aspects of traveling in Tokyo. There are a few more posts on that topic, like on transportation within Tokyo, but for this and most of the following posts, I will cover one thing to do in Tokyo with your kids.

Today we cover Kidzania!

What is Kidzania?

Kidzania is model city for kids. The city consists of various pavilions, like a grocery store, fire station, veterinarian, hospital, dentist, airport, construction site, pizza shop, etc. Kids can “work" (i.e., perform some guided activities) at most of the pavilions and get paid in “kidZos", the currency of Kidzania. The KidZos can be spent at other pavilions like the department store to buy items like pencils and erasers, etc. A 50 kidZos traveler’s cheque is included in the admission price which should be enough to buy one item at the department store. You’ll have to get the traveler’s cheque cashed at the bank.

There are also some bigger ticket items to be purchased. But you’ll probably have to get your kids to open a bank account and deposit the kidZos for the next time you come (you’ll get a bank card). Of course, they can store the kidZos in a box under their bed if they want.

Shifts

There are two shifts, one from 9AM to 3PM and one from 4PM to 9PM. For the older kids, doing a full shift allows them to get at least 5 to 6 activities done. With careful planning, and a little luck, you can probably get up to 10 activities done in a full shift. Each shop will have an information board at the front. If the line up is long, you can reserve one shop in advance and be told when to come back for your turn.

If you got some younger ones who won’t be able to handle a full shift, you can try the 2-hour “Star Flex Pass". Just a warning that 2-hours may not allow your child the opportunity to experience some of the more popular pavilions as the wait time to the next opening may be more than 2 hours. They could try some part-time jobs which only take 15 minutes. Staffing and the number of activities are adjusted based on how many people have reserved. (My wife worked at Kidzania for a period of time.)

I won’t go into great detail about admissions and activities as Kidzania’s English website is quite good, but I will provide some hints.

  1. Activities are for kids only. Parents are usually not allowed to participate. So let them do there own thing. No helicopter parents. Just take lots of pictures.
  2. Make reservations in advance. If you’re planning far out ahead, you can save 20% on the afternoon shift if you book four months in advance. Check out the 2nd shift advance ticket on the admissions page.
  3. If you want to get the most time out of your shift and get to do some of the popular activities, get to the mall at least one hour before your shift and get a spot in line (so before 8AM for the morning shift). During peak season, like summer vacation (End of July to End of August), Golden Week (April 28 to May 5), spring break (Last two weeks of March) and end of the year, you may want to get there even earlier, like 6AM. You can enter through the front door of the mall. There will be a line, I can almost guarantee it.
  4. If you are in the afternoon shift, you can go to the counter starting at 10:15 AM and get a numbered ticket (“Seiri-ken", 整理券). This numbered ticket will be your place in line. The afternoon shift lineup to get in starts around 3:15 for the people in the first group of numbered tickets. Your ticket should state when you need to be in line. If you don’t have a “Seiri-ken", you have to line up at the end of the line.
  5. Do a little planning to choose what activities you want to do. Popular activities are usually food related (Bakery, Hamburger Shop, Pizza, Candy Factory) as you get the food you make (well, except for maybe the bakery where the croissants come out magically from the oven in the back), so book those early. If you’re in the morning shift, you might want to eat a light breakfast and time your lunch and snacks based on when you get booked into a food related activity.
  6. Other popular activities are pavilions where you get “stuff" like the glasses shop or the pencil factory. Certain activities are also popular based on age and gender, like the subway and fire station for 3-5 year-old boys and the beauty salon for younger girls.
  7. Some of my recommendations are:
    1. Department of Motor Vehicles and Car Rental - if your child is >110 cm, they can get a drivers license and rent a car! Your child may need some Japanese to pass the test though.
    2. Radio Station - Your child gets to perform a radio show and get a CD of it afterwords. It’s mostly in Japanese though.
    3. Security Center and Courier - Your child gets to work in the actual economy of Kidzania by transporting KidZos or products to the various pavilions.
  8. This is Japan, so almost everything will be done in Japanese. If your kids have some basic Japanese, this is a great place for them to practice in a supportive environment. If your kids have little to no Japanese, I recommend booking (for some extra cost) an EAP or EAP eKspress where your child will be taken through a pre-determined set of activities in English with no waiting time. There is time before and after the EAP to try to do other activities. Or you can try the “English Wednesday" program where they have some English speaking staff on about half the Activities. Other days will have some Activities in English. For English Wednesday and regular days the English is done by Japanese staff who use some English. It may not be very fluent.



Nearest Station: Yurakucho Line - Toyosu Station (Y-22) , Yurikamome Line - Toyosu Station (U-16)

Target Age Range: 3 to 15