Asobōno! — Attraction in Tokyo

A part of Tokyo Dome City, and a brief 5 min walk from Suidobashi station (JR, less for Toei), neighbouring a bustling food court and several attractions, Asobōno is by far the best experience we’ve had with our toddler in Tokyo.

As we read a lot online but we were still a bit confused prior to showing up, I’ve summarised some key points that we clarified on the day.

Access and hours: you can access Asobōno from the roadside. weekday hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for weekends There is a last entrance time listed on the front door which is approximately 70 minutes prior to closing.

Tickets: You can purchase a one hour ticket, or 1-day pass for children. Parent / supervisor fees apply to whichever ticket you purchase. The one hour ticket allows only one entry and once you leave you cannot reenter. In contrast, the 1-day pass allows you reentry. For example, we purchased one 1-day child entry ticket for 2,100 JPY and one adult for 950 JPY (adult tickets are the same price). Discounts do apply for a membership (possibly Tokyo Dome City, not sure as we are visitors only).

Staff and Facilities: The staff are extremely welcoming and kind. Some staff are capable of speaking English. They are very professional and caring for customers, and clear with instructions. Upon entry, you are able to park your stroller / pram in a dedicated area with locks available for collapsible strollers. There are also lockers available for 300 JPY. Upon admission, you can enjoy the many facilities, a large playground and ball pit, a toy area equipped with a large variety of toys, a pretend-market area, and general play areas. There is even an inflated jumping area. Inside, there are restrooms and parent rooms, and even vending machines. Most of the surfaces are soft and therefore the entire facility is very safe, even for tumbling.

Note for rules and procedures: Do not take food inside, you are permitted to have resealable water bottles supervision is always required the staff accepted Visa / Card payment It is not possible to reserve the tickets, you must purchase them upon entry

Overall, the experience was so good we will be going back before returning to our home country. Our 2.5 year old thoroughly enjoyed the play time and being able to leave the facility for lunch and then return was a huge help. My wife was also able to do shopping at the Tokyo Dome mall while my son and I played. If I could give a...

This place is so popular! We arrived at 10:30 am on a weekday morning and there's already a line waiting to get in! We waited half hour and finally got in around 11 am. Luckily, we were able to get the day pass for our kid to play. They have English instructions so don't worry about not speaking Japanese.

You will check the stroller first before you enter the play area. Then, they will ask if you want to pay for a locker to store your bags. We did and put our jackets and backpacks there during our time. Our kid was extremely excited to get in. The ball pool was a lot of fun and they have staff on duty to make sure the kids are safe. After a while, my kid went to check out the train toy area. They have all kids of train sets available for the kids to assemble and run the trains. Even with so many other kids, there are still plenty of toys available.

There's a designated rest area for kids and parents to snack or drink water. We were able to get juices from the vending machine to keep us hydrated. If you get the day pass, you can go out and come back in without limits. Just get the stamp on your hand and bring your tickets back in. We went to the food court next door to grab a quick lunch and then come back.

When we come back, our kid went to play the kitchen and the other toys. At 3 pm, they have an event going on and most of the kids gather in the ball pool area and dance together. It was really cute to see all the kids dancing with the cheerleader pom poms in their hands.

My kid did not want to leave this place and we had to drag him out in order to leave. This is like a...

Hmmm…We visited during a holiday, and we waited about 3 hours to go in.

If there is a wait when you get there, you will have to get a ticket with a QR code on it. Scan it on your phone. It is a live waiting list, and it will let you know when you can go back in.

The good news is that there is plenty to do in the Tokyo Dome area. Arcade, restaurants, Tokyo dome attractions (if it isn’t raining), shopping around the area.

Bigger kids (3/4 and up?) and adults have to wear masks, but it is not really enforced. Many kids were not wearing masks.

Put away shoes, pay for the time, get a locker (¥500) if you need it, then go play!

60 minutes is the base time (about ¥1,000 per person) then it is ¥450 per extra 30 minutes per kid.

It’s a nice place to play if it weren’t so crowded. It was kind of like a giant jidookan. There is large ball ‘pit’ and a bouncy ‘castle.’

Then there are areas to play with things like blocks, train tracks, puzzles, board games, kitchen pretend toys, etc. The bathroom was kind of dirty, but it was really busy, so I get it.

I did not like that babies and older kids were all mixed together — it can be dangerous for everybody, but nobody seemed to care.

Would I wait 2-3 hours again to play here with my kid? Probably not, but it was a nice experience.

You cannot eat in there, so I recommend walking over to Meets Port building. The food court right across is super packed, and there’s...