The Best Playgrounds in Osaka
Last Updated on September 24, 2024 by Kay
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Whether you’re living in Osaka with kids or on a family trip, you might be wondering where the best playgrounds are in the city.
In this article, I’ll share my personal recommendations as a mom living in Osaka about where you can find excellent playgrounds that kids of all ages are bound to love.
Note that although the cost of entering the playground may be free, if you go by car you may need to pay for parking.
Table of Contents
Northern Osaka
Expo 70 Commemorative Park
Expo 70 Commemorative Park is one of my favorite places to visit in Osaka. It’s not only home to one of Osaka’s most famous landmarks, the Tower of the Sun, but it also has lots of greenery and luscious nature that makes it beautiful to visit during any season.
I’ve come here on many playdates but I especially love to go during cherry blossom season. It’s absolutely stunning and I highly recommend stopping by during this time.
Of course, this is an article about playgrounds, and this park has plenty! My daughter absolutely loves exploring all the different playgrounds, including one that’s basically a pirate ship and another with a huge roller slide. There is so much for kids to do that you can easily spend the entire day here!
This park is also super easy to get to since it’s located along the Osaka Monorail Line (get off at Banpaku Kinen Koen Station).
Cost: 260 yen for adults, 80 yen for elementary and junior high school students, free for children ages 6 and under.
Ogimachi Park
Ogimachi Park is in a great location about fifteen minutes on foot from Osaka Station.
This park has tons of different kinds of slides for kids, which my daughter had a lot of fun with, as well as some animals to ride on and jungle gym equipment.
Cost: Free!
Kids Plaza Osaka
This is an indoor playground that I highly recommend visiting if you have young kids. There is so much to do that I wrote an entire article about it!
I’ve also written an article about indoor activities (including playgrounds) for kids in Osaka, which is great for when the weather isn’t great. So feel free to read or bookmark that as well!
Hattori Ryokuchi Park
Hattori Ryokuchi Park is another massive place with lots of nature, old Japanese houses, a botanical garden, as well as playgrounds.
This is another place where it’s easy to spend the entire day. They have seasonal flowers as well, including cherry blossom trees.
If you’re meeting up with friends, make sure to choose an exact location because the park is so big that you may end up walking fifteen minutes with cranky kids to find your party (not based on my personal experience, of course not…).
It takes about 15 minutes to reach the closest station, Ryokuchikoen Station, on the Midosuji Line from Osaka Station. From there, it’s about a six-minute walk.
Cost: Free!
Saito Rainbow Park
Saito Rainbow Park is located in Minoh (which is another one of my favorite places in Osaka) and offers a lovely view of the city below. The playground equipment is suitable for older toddlers and kids, but the park’s claim to fame is its freefall slide.
I’ll be honest, I’m a bit terrified to let my five-year-old try it out so we haven’t been yet but if you have an older child, they will likely really enjoy it!
Note that this park is a little far from Osaka Station. You have to take a bus for 20 minutes from Minoh-kayano Station.
Cost: Free!
Eastern Osaka
Oeda Park
Oeda Park is a fairly new and popular place where families love to get some outdoor time with their kids.
It has two playgrounds, one for kids ages three to six (although I’ve seen younger kids here):
And another playground for older kids:
The park has an area where people can cool off in some mist.
There is also an area where kids can play in the water (I only took a picture of a small section of it since I don’t want to post photos of kids in their bathing suits on my blog).
For those who want to play some light sports, there is a massive, grassy field. I saw lots of families tossing a baseball or playing soccer here.
There are food trucks as well so you can get something to eat here. We got kakigori (shaved ice) from the pink truck below. They have a raffle where you can win an extra kakigori for free and we won!
You can also grab a meal at this really cute cafe owned by the most adorable elderly couple. They were really friendly and the food was amazing. The coffee was the best my husband and I had in a while, and he’s a former barista so if he says it’s good, it is. Their desserts are also fantastic.
Oeda Park has paid parking at 200 yen for every hour and a daily rate of 800 yen max. Their parking fills up quickly but there are several other paid parking lots towards the direction of the aforementioned cafe.
Cost: Free (for the park, not the cafe obviously)!
Hanazono Central Park
Hanazono Central Park is quite an impressive park! You can easily spend an entire day here.
There are two playgrounds, one for younger children and the other for older kids. I will say straight out that the playground for older kids is old and probably hasn’t been renovated since the 1980s. But I like the retro look of it and it’s still safe for kids. It has two massive roller slides (which hurt our butts so my family isn’t the biggest fans) and plenty to climb on.
The park also has lots of nature, including seasonal flowers such as cherry blossom trees in spring. They have little streams kids can walk and play in so make sure you bring a towel for your child and have them wear shorts.
Kids can also spend their time catching insects so if your child likes that, bring a net and other supplies.
I highly recommend also checking out the children’s hall that has indoor playgrounds and a planetarium.
You have to pay for the indoor playgrounds but they’re really affordable and worth it. My daughter went to the one on the first floor, called Exploration Plaza, which is more about learning than a playground but she had a blast.
It has lots of interactive exhibits about science and nature, which is perfect for budding minds. My daughter and I quite enjoyed the planetary exhibit where you can select a planet on the screen and see it show up above. Kids can turn the planet around to see all 360 degrees of it, which I thought was pretty cool.
There are two floors of things for kids to do so it’s quite easy to spend at least an hour here. Note, however, that explanations are only in Japanese. But I think it’s fairly straightforward and easy to understand. You can always use Google Translate if you’re in a pinch!
The playground on the 3rd floor can only be used during an allocated time and is filled with gymnastics equipment for kids of all ages.
The planetarium has different shows for kids throughout the day, but note that tickets sell out fast on weekends so you better be early if you want a spot!
You can purchase tickets for these areas on the 1st floor.
The Children’s Hall also plays movies a couple of times a month.
Hanazono Central Park is located less than an hour east of Osaka Station and is easy to get to by train. They have paid parking as well but it fills up quickly on weekends and holidays. Park on the East side so that you can reach the playgrounds easily.
Cost: Free for the outdoor playgrounds.
Southern Osaka
Oizumi Ryokuchi Park
Oizumi Ryokuchi Park boasts two playgrounds for kids, Oizumi Ryokuchi Kaiyu Land, which has a huge pirate ship playground similar to Expo 70, Wanpaku Land, and Adventure Land, which has a huge roller slide and a big concrete slide. The park also sometimes holds events where kids can play in bouncy castles.
This park is quite difficult to get to without a car so I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t have one or don’t live nearby.
Cost: Free!
Tonboike Park
Tonboike Park is the perfect place for nature lovers. After all, the name means “Dragonfly Pond” in English! It has seasonal flowers, animals such as ducks, and a massive playground. They also have a little observation deck that’s perfect for kids.
This park is located about 1.5 hours from Osaka Station by train.
Cost: Free!
Hamadera Park
Hamadera Park has it all — a playground, a waterpark in summer, go karts, and an antique train that kids can ride!
Kids might also enjoy the colorful rose garden.
You can reach Hamadera Park by train from Osaka Station in less than an hour.
Wrap-up: The Best Playgrounds in Osaka for Kids
I really loved writing this article on my favorite Osaka playgrounds so I hope it’s been helpful for you! I’ve found that the playgrounds here are quite large and nice, so if you were ever disappointed by playgrounds anywhere else in Japan, make sure to give these playgrounds a try!
Know a playground that should be on this list that I missed? Then feel free to contact me and share!