Saitama with a baby (0–1) 3 spots
Saitama is the only place in Japan where you can meet quokkas, often called the happiest animals in the world. Omiya's railway museum keeps 42 real train cars indoors, and the huge underground flood channel known as the 'Underground Temple' is here too. It suits animal- and train-loving kids, with plenty to do on rainy days.
A railway museum with 42 real train cars, most of which you can board.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
A 7.3-hectare theme park by a lake, built around the Moomin stories.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
A pork theme park where the producer's own hams have won European gold medals.
checked Aug ’26
From the Panorama Deck on the main building's roof and the Train Terrace atop the south building, you look out at real shinkansen and local trains running past. A baby in your arms sees exactly what you see, following the sound and the motion each time one goes by. There is a Kids Plaza and a Kids Library for the smallest visitors.Nursing rooms and diaper changing tables are in the same five places: Kids Plaza, the north restroom on 1F of the Vehicle Station, the south restroom on 2F of the Vehicle Station, and the 1F and 4F restrooms in the south building. The formula-water warmer is in the baby rest room. Ostomate restrooms and some women's restrooms also have fold-down changing tables. A diaper vending machine stands on 1F of the main building in front of the 455 Lunch Train, selling sizes M and L plus wipes in packs of 70. You can go through the museum with a stroller, but the loan service, Babycal, is a paid one that requires signing up as a member, so bringing your own is quicker. Eating and drinking are not allowed inside the exhibition rooms.
Every Saturday and Sunday there is a Moomin picture-book reading on the lawn in front of Kokemus. At Emma's Theatre, Moomintroll and friends lead singing and dancing, in a hall rebuilt to work in any weather. The free Moomin Valley audio guide has Moomin speak to you from your phone as you come near a spot. One family spent five hours here with a four-month-old.Children 3 and under enter free. Nursing rooms are at the Information center, on the first floor of Kokemus, and at the Nursing Station behind Emma's Theatre, which also holds the first aid room; all of them have a hot-water dispenser. There are eight diaper-changing tables in the park. Baby food may be brought in, including into the restaurants to eat alongside everyone else, telling the staff when you arrive. To warm baby food or formula, ask the staff at the Information center. Strollers may be brought in, though some indoor buildings with many stairs and steps do not allow them, and strollers are left at the marked stroller parking. The Information center also lends strollers, in limited numbers, and takes reservations for them. Diapers are sold at Moi saitama on the first floor of the Metsa Village Market Hall. From the car park to the park is about a 15-minute walk at an easy pace.
Saiboku no Mori is a wide stretch of natural lawn with a walking path about 350 metres long and lounge chairs out on the grass. You may bring in what you bought at the bakery or the cafeteria and picnic there, and Yoku, the piglet character, turns up here and there around the grounds for photographs.Preschool children enter Saiboku no Mori free. The hot spring Kachofugetsu does not admit anyone wearing diapers, training pants included, so save the bath for a later trip. The lawn area can close without notice in bad weather. The park is closed on Wednesdays, and the local buses can run more than an hour apart at some times of day.