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Take the tram.
There's a wide variety of trains here, including the Metro, JR trains, and Subways from different companies. It's a good value to buy a day pass or multi-day pass, whether for 24 hours or 72 hours. Children love buying their own tickets and finding their way to the station. When boarding, carefully observe your seating arrangements to identify priority areas for the elderly, children, and pregnant women.
Shopping at Uniqlo
When shopping at Uniqlo, you (or your children) simply place the shopping cart in the designated area, the cash register automatically counts the items and adds up the total. In an instant, you've paid, checked the items yourself, and put them in your bag. If you need assistance, there will be a staff member nearby.
self-service restaurant
Children would surely be thrilled to enter a restaurant with a vending machine. The menu has full pictures; you just select what you want and put the money in the machine. After a few minutes, a bell rings, and the children will eagerly and willingly go to the counter to pick up their chosen items and bring them back to their table!
Go up the Tokyo Skytree television tower.
If you're traveling alone, buy your ticket at the Fast Track counter to go up to the 350m level, then buy your ticket for the 445m level to avoid the 30-45 minute long queue. Lunchtime is the quietest time. Exploring Japan from above, you'll see... it's all buildings everywhere.
Visit the Digital Art Museum.
The museum's artistic lighting system is quite beautiful and very appealing to children. Here, you have to queue for easily 45 minutes just to get into a dark, spiderweb-like hammock, lie down, and gaze at the lights, even seeing shooting stars in an imaginary sky. You get mesmerized for 5 minutes, then jump up and queue again in different rooms. My child was so excited that he wanted to take tons of photos, but in the end, he wanted to delete them all because his face wasn't clear in the pictures. Disappointing!
Watch the Drummer show
The entrance fee for the drum performance was quite high, 850 Yen. I was starving, but I made up for it by laughing and cheering with the kids until my hands ached. Worth it!
Meiji Shrine
Starting at the large Togi gate, remember to bow before entering and go to the left, and wash your hands before entering the ceremony. Drop a coin with the number 5 on it for good luck, clap twice - offer your prayer - clap once before leaving. Children may not understand these rituals but enjoy clapping along to the rhythm.
And... the gateway to Tokyo.
Because the police here always say hello and thank you after completing immigration procedures for someone. From these simple things, children will naturally compare and contrast the behavior between their own country and other countries, and between themselves and others.
Also, don't forget to visit Omiya Bonsai Art Museum to see the bonsai trees; it's guaranteed to make you forget all your worries.
