Rain in Tokyo is not the problem. The problem is arriving at a closed door with a wet child. Each of these places is fully indoors — and each has one thing you need to know before you set off.
Sumida Aquarium — the one that opens longest
At the foot of Tokyo Skytree, the aquarium calls itself “an aquarium like a park”, and it is open 10:00–20:00 on weekdays and 9:00–21:00 at weekends and holidays (last entry one hour before closing). It is the easiest choice for a day that falls apart late.
Indoors throughout, step-free, with a lift, two nursing rooms, three family restrooms, hot water for bottles, and you may bring your own food. You can also leave and come back — get a re-entry stamp on your hand at the information counter. There are no coin lockers inside; the official guidance points you to the ones in Tokyo Skytree Town.
Tickets: ¥2,700 adults, ¥2,000 high school, ¥1,400 elementary and junior high, ¥900 for ages 3–5. Under 3 free.
Tokyo Toy Museum — wooden toys in a 90-year-old school
The Tokyo Toy Museum is an old primary school building in Shinjuku, used as it stands. Open 10:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30), closed Thursdays (open if Thursday is a holiday, closed the next day instead).
The trap: strollers cannot go inside. The official FAQ gives the reason — many narrow corridors. There is a lift, one nursing room and two nappy-changing tables, but no eating inside, and re-entry is weekdays only.
Tickets online: ¥1,100 for junior-high and older, ¥800 for ages 6 months–elementary. Under 6 months free. At the door it is ¥200 more each.
Miraikan — hands-on science in Odaiba
Miraikan is a national museum of new science where most exhibits are made to be touched. Open 10:00–17:00 (tickets and entry until 16:30), closed Tuesdays (open when Tuesday is a holiday). Indoors, step-free, lift, nursing rooms, nappy tables and bins, hot water, loaner strollers, English signage. Eating is allowed in designated places only.
Two things to plan around:
- The whole building closes from 1 October 2026 to 22 April 2027 for construction work. It reopens on 23 April 2027.
- The free parent-and-child space, Oya?kko Hiroba, is for ages 3 and up, in 45-minute slots, and an adult must stay with the child. On weekends, holidays and busy days you need a numbered ticket handed out on the day.
Tickets: ¥630 adults (19+), ¥210 for elementary through age 18, preschoolers free, and free for under-18s every Saturday.
National Museum of Nature and Science — the biggest rooms
If the rain is going to last all day, the halls of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno are the largest of the four: dinosaur skeletons and a life-size blue whale at real scale. Open 9:00–17:00, closed Mondays, daily in August. Free through high school, ¥630 for adults. Two loaner strollers, two nursing spaces, a family restroom, a lift and English signage.
Book ahead if you want Compass, the hands-on room for roughly ages 4–6: everyone entering needs a timed reservation, including babies.
Lunch without going outside: Solamachi Tabe-Terrace
Solamachi Tabe-Terrace, the food court under Tokyo Skytree, opens at 10:00, an hour before the restaurant floors, and runs to 21:00. Eleven counters — udon, ramen, rice bowls — around one set of tables, so everyone eats what they want at the same table.
For families it is unusually well equipped: four nursing rooms, four nappy-changing tables, a nappy bin, a family restroom, hot water, a microwave, loaner strollers, a lift, and children’s sets at 8 of the 11 counters (¥500–¥1,100; the cheapest is ¥500). There is one high chair, so at busy times expect to hold a small child on your lap.
Pairing them
Sumida Aquarium and the food court are in the same complex — that is the rainy-day pair that needs the least walking. Miraikan is a long way from both, so treat it as a whole day rather than half of one. And if it is a Monday, Ueno is closed and the aquarium is not.
