Shibuya and Harajuku with Kids: Exploring Tokyo’s Trendiest Spots
Last Updated on October 27, 2025 by Kay
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Wondering what it’s like to visit Shibuya and Harajuku with kids?
I used to live in Tokyo and worked in Omotesando, which is part of Shibuya ward, and I would often explore the area during my lunch breaks and after I clocked out for the day. This is why I wanted to take my daughter when we visited Tokyo from Osaka. My daughter had also heard a lot about Harajuku from her friend at kindergarten, so she was really excited to see the area.
In this article, I’ll share how we spent a day in Shibuya and Harajuku (note that Harajuku is also a neighborhood in Shibuya Ward). Hopefully, it’ll give you a realistic idea about how to spend the day (and even what maybe not to do — I am being completely transparent here!).
Shibuya with Kids
I hadn’t been to Shibuya in a while, but on this particular day, I felt like it was more crowded than usual. Of course, it happened to be a Sunday morning as well, which added to the hoards of people.
I wanted to show my daughter Hachiko, the statue of a loyal dog who waited for his owner even after death, which is located right outside the Hachiko Exit of JR Shibuya Station. However, she couldn’t take a good look at him because there was a tour group crowded around him.
For nostalgia’s sake, I planned to go to Shibuya 109, a shopping mall that’s one of the most famous landmarks in the area, because it was somewhere I loved shopping when I was in my early twenties. To get there, we quickly crossed Shibuya Crossing, which is right in front of the Hachiko Statue — it’s impossible to miss!
I made sure to hold my daughter’s hand because the crossing can be quite chaotic, and you need to be fast.
(I also personally don’t recommend stopping for photos in the crossing because you’ll be blocking people who need to get to places by a certain time. I’ve found that people in Tokyo are always in a rush!)
Would I recommend visiting Shibuya 109 with kids? Not exactly. As you’ll see further down, there isn’t much for young kids. After coming here with my daughter (age five at the time), I feel like this mall is more of a place for parents to experience.
If you’re visiting Shibuya 109, I recommend going down to B2F and riding the elevator straight to the top floor. Then you can explore each floor from the top and take the escalators down to the next floor.
A lot of stores at Shibuya 109 had changed, and unfortunately, I felt it had lost some of the uniqueness it had had a decade ago. However, there were still some fun shops for my daughter, such as a Sanrio Store, where she made her own keychain with her name on it.
I also think it’s fun to look at all the different clothes that trendy youth in Japan wear. (And I used to wear myself back when I was in my early twenties!)
The basement in Shibuya 109 has cute little bakeries and cafes, so when my husband arrived, we got an adorable bunny macaron from OVER MACARON (expensive but delicious) and shared a Nutella-strawberry waffle from Waffle Khan (also delicious).
When we were full, we went to Shibuya MARK CITY to check out a free view of Shibuya Crossing from Shibu Niwa on the 17th floor. This isn’t a very well-known spot, so there were only a few people… but the view isn’t exactly the greatest. But hey, it’s free! And not busy!
You can get a better view from the MARK CITY walkway that connects to JR Shibuya Station, but it’s very crowded, so you can’t really take your time.
If you want to eat, you can also see the crossing from above while dining at GUSTO Shibuya Ekimae, a kid-friendly family restaurant that’s located in the Shibuya Ekimae Building. The food isn’t the greatest, but my kid likes it (especially the cat server robot)!
Personally, I think the best view of Shibuya Scramble is from Shibuya Sky. It’s pricey, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. However, I haven’t taken my daughter yet because I’ve heard it has gotten incredibly crowded due to the inbound tourism boom. (I was lucky enough to visit while the borders were still closed, and as you can see below, I was basically alone!)
Shibuya Sky also closes the rooftop observatory if the weather is too hot or it’s raining, which can be really disappointing.
Afterward, we went to Miyashita Park, which is a shopping mall with a park on the rooftop.
Kids can see trains traveling in and out of Shibuya Station from here for free. They can also climb a bouldering wall for a fee of 480 yen for elementary school kids. Kids ages 6 and younger are free, but they must be accompanied by a parent (who needs to pay a 1000 yen entry fee).
Sometimes Miyashita Park holds an event on weekends called Miyashita Kids Park for 1500 yen. The fee covers up to four kids, and they can play in the sand with some provided toys. To be honest, I think it’s expensive for what it is, but I thought I would share this information anyway!
In winter, there are a lot of lovely lights and photo spots here. Kids who like Doraemon might enjoy the Doraemon statues there as well. (Just make sure they don’t climb on them.)
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend Miyashita Park to tourists, only to people who live in Tokyo.
Instead of Miyashita Park, I recommend visiting Shibuya PARCO, which has a Nintendo Store, a Pokémon Center, and a JUMP SHOP on the 6th floor.
If you have time, I also suggest checking out the Mega Donki in Shibuya, which is an amazing place to shop for affordable products and food.
For those visiting in autumn or spring, check out Yoyogi Park. It has over 15,000 trees, a majority being cherry trees, so needless to say, it’s a popular place to see fall foliage or for cherry blossom viewing (hanami).
I used to have yearly hanami parties with my friends in Yoyogi Park back when I lived in Tokyo, and I always wished I could have taken my daughter, but alas, the first two hanami seasons of her life were during the pandemic, and then we moved to Osaka!
If you’re wondering how much time to spend in Shibuya, we spent a few hours here but it’s easy to spend an entire day in the area.
Harajuku with Kids
In the afternoon, we took the JR Yamanote Line to JR Harajuku Station. If the weather is nice and you feel up for it, you can walk from Shibuya to Harajuku as well, which takes about fifteen minutes. I used to do this often before I had a kid.
As mentioned earlier, I used to work in Omotesando, which is right next to Harajuku, so I would walk to Harajuku during my lunch breaks. Back then, Japan wasn’t as popular with tourists as it is now, so I was very shocked to see how many people were in Harajuku, especially along Takeshita Street. I think it being Sunday also didn’t help whatsoever.
(So it goes without saying — if possible, it is best to avoid Shibuya and Harajuku on weekends.)
Despite how crazy crowded it was, my daughter had a really great time in Harajuku. She loved checking out all the little shops lining the streets, especially PARIS KIDS, an adorable store that sells hair accessories, bags, and keychains.
There’s also a huge (and crowded) DAISO here, as well as purikura (sticker picture) booths.
We also spent some time in good day, which is one of my favorite shops that sells cute character goods in Harajuku.
You’ll see lots of adorable crepes for sale along Takeshita Street from vendors like Santa Monica Crepes and Marion Crepes, but personally, I don’t think they taste very good. Kids might not mind, though.
If your kids want all-you-can-eat pasta and sweets, I suggest visiting Sweets Paradise. The taste isn’t anything to write home about, but Japanese kids and teenagers still love this place because it’s quite affordable and has a great selection. My daughter is a huge fan.
If you care more about taste and aren’t interested in a buffet, check out Spaghetti Goemon. It’s a chain restaurant that has Japanese-style pasta, and I remember being fascinated when my Japanese friend took me there over a decade ago. Now it’s somewhere I take my friends and family when they visit me in Japan.
Kiddy Land in Omotesando, a short walk from Takeshita Street, is a must-visit spot with kids if you’ve never been. It’s filled with several floors of toys and character goods, and I believe this location is one of the biggest Kiddy Lands in Japan.
My daughter has been to various Kiddy Lands many times, so I felt there was no need to take her on this trip, especially since we had a tight schedule. But due to its size, I definitely want to take her on our next trip.
If you want a beautiful view of Harajuku, check out the Starbucks in Tokyu Plaza OMOKADO. The name OMOKADO is a combination of Omotesando and Kado (corner).
(I also love the entrance of the building, all the angled mirrors make it beautiful!)
You don’t have to order something to see the view from Starbucks, although it’s polite to do so if you’re going to sit down. Starbucks in Japan has drinks you won’t find anywhere else, and you can buy some Japan souvenir mugs, so I always recommend that visitors to Japan go at least once.
There are also washrooms here and a nursing room on the 6th floor.
Below is what the outdoor seating area at Starbucks looks like:
And here’s the views:
If you’re curious about that lovely building with all the mirrors, that’s Tokyu Plaza HARAKADO, its name coming from Harajuku and kado (corner). You can see a view from here as well, from along a garden staircase that spans the 5th to 7th floors.
After we looked at the view from Starbucks, we headed to LaForet, which was another favorite shopping mall of mine when I was younger. LaForet carries so many different styles of clothing, ranging from Lolita to casual, as well as everyday clothes for both men and women. (No children’s clothes are available here, though.)
My daughter and I really like Sailor Moon, so we made sure to visit the Sailor Moon store in the basement of LaForet. It was so stunning and had great photo spots, so if you’re a fan, definitely give it a visit!
There’s a cute store on the fifth floor selling Sanrio plushies as well.
My favorite area in Harajuku is around Harajuku Street. The number of people thins out compared to Takeshita Street, and you’ll find more unique shops here that have kept their wild and wacky Harajuku charm.
At age five, my daughter was too young to appreciate it, but I think when she’s a bit older, she’ll love this area just as much as I do.
While in that area, we decided to get some 3D lattes at Latte Pocket. This cafe has a takeout store as well as a sit-down one called LATTEART CAFE REISSUE. The sit-down cafe was completely full, so the staff recommended we visit Latte Pocket and get some lattes to go.
You can choose among several designs, including Pikachu and Hello Kitty, or have the staff try to make 3D lattes from a cartoon image.
We decided to go with Totoro (latte for me) and Kirby (strawberry milk for my daughter).
At 1500 yen per drink, it’s expensive, but the drinks are so unbelievably cute that we had trouble deciding when to drink them!
When we were done, we had dinner at Harajuku Dacci Pasta Labo. We chose this location because we had been there before and liked it enough, but this time the taste just wasn’t there. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant.
⭐️ Kay’s Tip: Instead of what I did, I suggest visiting Harajuku before visiting Shibuya! That way, you can see the night view of Shibuya and enjoy Harajuku during the day. We did it the other way around because of our dinner reservation.
Had we visited Harajuku earlier in the day, I would have taken my daughter to Meiji Jingu Shrine, which was about a 5-minute walk away. However, a friend of mine from Kyoto who visited recently with her family said it was very crowded, so perhaps the earlier you go (and on a weekday), the better.
We easily spent four hours in Harajuku, but if you want to see everything properly and not feel rushed, I suggest spending an entire day here.