Mie with a toddler (2–3) 3 spots
Mie is ninja country and the home of Japan's most sacred shrine. Iga runs ninja shows and rents the costume in child sizes, and the old street outside Ise Jingu is lined with things to eat.
The only aquarium in Japan keeping dugongs, said to be the animal behind mermaid legends.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
Shima Spain Village (Parque España)
A 34-hectare theme park sharing its grounds with a natural hot spring and a hotel.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
A farmhouse fitted with revolving walls, hidden stairs and trick doors, kept as a museum.
Nursing room · checked Aug ’26
In the Kingdom of Sea Animals you stand inside the world's first transparent tube above the water and watch sea lions and seals living right beside you. Times are posted for the penguin walk, the walrus meet-and-greet and the sea otter feeding, and the dugong — said to be the animal behind mermaid legends — is kept only here in Japan.Admission is 800 yen for a child from age 3. Strollers cannot go into the show arena, so park one in the marked space and hold your child to watch. To make the penguin walk and the other timed events, the TV monitors around the building show the time. If you need a break outside, get the clear stamp on your hand at the exit and you can come back in the same day.
Circus House, inside the indoor Piero the Circus, gathers play equipment for small children and is for ages up to 6. Chap Chap Lagoon is a free space where you play in fountains that shoot up to 3 meters high, with no height limit. The Fiesta Train, Gaudi Carousel, Amigo Balloon and Feliz Cruise have no height limit either, and on a quiet weekday some children ride the same one again and again.The child rate starts at age 3, and a one-day passport is 4,100 yen; children 2 and under are free, two per paying adult. On Espana Street there is a diaper-changing corner with a baby chair, a baby seat, a diaper bin and a fitting board, and a toilet just for children. The park does not page people over a loudspeaker, so if a child goes missing, tell the nearest cast member. Some restaurants have a children's menu and some have a low-allergen menu. Food and drink from outside are generally not allowed, though plastic bottles and thermos flasks are; a packed lunch is eaten at the picnic area outside the entrance.
The house looks like an ordinary farmhouse, and you follow the ninja or the kunoichi through it room by room: a wall turns, hidden stairs appear, a trick door opens, all right in front of you. In the ninja experience hall are replica tools made from the ninja manuals, among them shuriken and water spiders. Photos and video are fine as long as they are for your own trip memories.With so many steps and stairs, the baby carrier the museum recommends makes the visit easier. Allow 30 to 40 minutes without the ninja demonstration show, or 70 to 90 minutes with it; the show itself runs about 30 minutes. Eating is not allowed inside the buildings or anywhere on the museum grounds; you may eat in Ueno Park, taking your rubbish with you. Admission is 1,000 yen for adults (high school age and up) and 700 yen for children (age 4 through junior high). Some exhibits and the ninja demonstration show may not be photographed.