Definitive Guide To Japan's Theme Parks

Above, a show at Tokyo DisneySea. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Generally, whenever I've visited Japan, including a visit to an amusement park had not even registered on my radar.

Last year, since I brought [Censored] and her son [Censored] with me to Japan, I included a day at Tokyo DisneySea on the itinerary. [Censored] is a big fan of amusement parks (particularly Disney parks) and wanted to see it.

We went to Tokyo DisneySea on a Saturday and had no luck in being able to get on any rides as it seemed that half the population of Tokyo was there. But, we had fun anyway when we wandered around and saw some shows. It would be much better to go during a workday.

Inside Japan Tours has an article on the best theme parks in Japan that you may want to consider if visiting one is one of your priorities.

They begin with:

Theme parks aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying that they’re a hit with the kids – and Japan has an excellent haul of weird and wonderful ones. Though many of Japan’s theme parks closed down after the country’s economic bubble burst, the biggest and best weathered the recession to remain in operation today.

You might not want to plan a whole trip around theme parks (like we’ve done here) but including one or two amusement parks in your itinerary is a sure-fire way to delight your kids and an excellent tactic for breaking up the sightseeing. Below is our whistle-stop (and certainly far from exhaustive!) tour of our favourite theme and amusement parks in Japan, so you can decide which is best-suited to your family.

To read more, go here.