Best things to do in Osaka with kids

Few kids will need convincing to visit one of the world’s best theme parks. USJ is one of Osaka’s unmissable attractions. Not only does it have all sorts of classic rides featuring characters from Sesame Street, Snoopy, Hello Kitty and the Minions – most of which are great for younger children – it’s also home to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World, both of which are worth separate day trips in their own right.

Kids and adults alike will adore exploring the village of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle in the Harry Potter-themed area, while Super Nintendo World is astounding for its sheer fidelity to the original 2D games experience. Whether you’re racing on a real-life Mario Kart track, riding Yoshi’s Adventure, or racking up points by ‘punching’ blocks and collecting gold coins, you’ll have a hard time dragging your children away when the day is over.

With around 30,000 marine and freshwater creatures across over 600 species from the Pacific Rim, Japan’s largest and most famous aquarium is a perfect rainy day option for families. Once inside the aquarium, visitors spiral their way down eight floors around a central tank, observing animals at different depths, with an opportunity to see the largest fish in the world – the whale shark.

You’ll also encounter dolphins, seals, penguins, turtles and more; there’s even a dreamy jellyfish exhibition area. If you’re feeling brave, visit the Maldives area to try touching some sharks and rays (supervised by staff, of course).

For a magical and otherworldly experience, take the kids to the Kaiyukan Night Aquarium, which begins every evening from 5pm. There’s nothing quite like watching fish swimming in ‘moonlight’ right in front of you.

Located right opposite the Kaiyukan, this indoor Lego playground is another fantastic rainy day activity, especially for parents who need a break from herding the kids around.

The 11 attractions designed to spark the imagination make this a day trip in its own right. Besides playing with a million toy bricks, you can watch a 4D movie, try the Kingdom Quest ride, let your younger kids run off their energy at the City Play Zone, and much more.

A particularly impressive option for older children with a yen for creation is the Master Model Builder’s workshop, where they can learn how to make their own models like those on display at Legoland.

Located in Tenma, Kids Plaza Osaka is a multi-level science discovery and play area perfect for curious and active children of all ages. There are all kinds of experiences and activities: cooking classes, creative hands-on science exhibits (like ‘Soap Bubble Supreme’), a TV studio where you can pretend to be a newscaster, and even a section where you ride a train on a wheelchair to encourage thinking about accessibility. Parents with infants are also well-catered for, with nursing rooms, diaper-changing spaces, rest areas, lockers and even rental strollers. 

Designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the brightly-coloured Kids Town Playground on the fourth floor is a great way for hyperactive kids to burn off excess energy. If it’s not raining, Ogimachi Park just behind the plaza building also has a large, well-equipped playground for some outdoor play. Think sand pits, obstacles, slides and a climbing wall.

Spacious, open and conveniently located in central Osaka, Tennoji Park is one of the city’s best-loved green spaces. Tenshiba, located in the part nearest to Tennoji Station, is popular with local families spending time outdoors, with many cafés and restaurants alongside futsal courts and a kids’ play centre. The rest of the park also has lots of beautiful greenery in addition to a Zen garden and an art museum for the adults.

Tennoji Zoo right next to the park is also a decent, budget-friendly activity for those who can’t make it out to the Kaiyukan: just ¥500 per adult (¥200 for elementary and junior high school students) nets you entrance to one of the oldest zoos in Japan, with over 1,000 animals to see. Some highlights include the polar bears, Malayan sun bear, Humboldt penguins, and California sea lions.

Trust star architect Tadao Ando to design one of the most stylish children’s libraries around and donate it to Osaka City. Located in Nakanoshima Park, the Children’s Book Forest is a bibliophile’s fantasy come to life: three levels of dramatic, ceiling-high gridded shelves full of books, with smaller, more intimate areas defined by sloping ceilings.

Unusually, books here are neither strictly organised by genre or age-range. With picture books sitting happily next to art books and short stories, the aim is to encourage free exploration.

The majority of the library’s collection is in Japanese, but they have a small number of English-language books, which the staff will be happy to guide you and the kids to. Entry is free, but do note that entry to this facility is by prior reservation only. 

Osaka’s landmark Tsutenkaku Tower got a whole lot more exciting in 2022, when this 60-metre-long, tube-shaped transparent slide was attached to the elevator tower next to the main spire. Spiralling down from a height of 22 metres, the slide offers plenty of thrills for the young and the young at heart.

After purchasing your ticket (¥1,000 for adults, ¥500 for kids aged 6 to 15), you’ll be guided to an elevator taking you up to the third-floor observation deck. From there, it’s a 10-second ride down to ground level – blink and you’ll miss the city views.

Located along the Higashi-Yokobori River right next to Osaka’s oldest bridge, this facility is the starting point for a variety of water sports and activities, including stand-up paddleboarding and river cruises. The Hanshin Expressway runs above the river, so dropping by is an option on rainy days too, though note that most of the activities are offered only on weekends and holidays.

If you’re not into water sports, borrow a board game and enjoy a relaxed afternoon by the river. At β Kiosk you can pick up refreshments, eat lunch and shop for local sweets and fresh vegetables.

On a clear day, one of the best and least stressful ways to see Osaka is from the water. Two vessels depart from the boarding deck at Osaka Castle: the Aqua Liner cruises along the central Okawa river for around 40 minutes, while the Aqua Mini connects the castle park with bustling Dotonbori.

The Aqua Liner is the larger of the two, has a transparent glass roof and is equipped with air conditioning and toilets, so you can look forward to a comfy ride whatever the weather.

Having grown from a tiny one-room shop into a collectibles behemoth with global reach, Kaiyodo remains one of the world’s premier producers of anime figurines. Fans of the company’s creations travel from near and far to experience founder Osamu Miyawaki’s personal theme park, Kaiyodo Hobby Land, a spectacularly geeky museum exhibiting a collection of some 10,000 figurines and plastic models across 13 areas.

You won’t be able to miss the life-size models of the heads of a Tyrannosaurus and a Triceratops, created in collaboration with special effects visionary Chris Walas, the man behind the creatures in films such as Gremlins and The Fly. If you’re lucky, you may also spot some of Kaiyodo’s figurine artisans and monster-makers at work in the demonstration zone.

All kinds of dolls and figurines are sold at stores along the Matsuyamachisuji shopping street, aka the Town of Dolls, a one-way southbound road connecting Nakanoshima in the north with Namba to the south. The centre of this commerce is around Matsuyamachi Station, where countless little shops also deal in items like toys and candy.

Matsuyamachi is busiest around the festivals of Hinamatsuri in March and Children’s Day in May, when traditional dolls are lined up in the shop windows along the street, attracting hordes of onlookers. The area is also fun to visit in summer, when the shops do a roaring business in fireworks, yo-yos and other summer festival essentials.

Spent after a long day at USJ? Make a beeline to the nearby Chidori Onsen for a traditional sento (communal bath) experience with the kids.

Before entering the bathing area, make sure to pick up Chidori Onsen’s bilingual guidebook. It introduces you to every corner of the bathhouse and features a short manga on how to use the sento.

And if you’re getting around by rental bike, know that Chidori Onsen is also called the Bicycle Bath due to the owner’s passion for cycling and the fact that guests can store their two-wheeled rides in a dedicated space in the back.

Operated by Osaka University, this four-storey public library in the city of Minoh holds a collection of more than 700,000 publications. Kids are invited to discover books and find a comfy nook to read them in at the spacious, light-filled Nigiyaka Area on the second floor, which includes colourful spaces for small children and facilities such as a nursing room.

The rest of the second floor is devoted to books held by Minoh City, with that trove totalling around 110,000 items. This zone also includes a café. The only drawback is that the library is quite far from Senri-Chuo Station; it’s best to take a bus or taxi from there.

On a sunny day, grab the kids and head out far south to the bayside Satoumi Park in Sennan, about an hour by train from Namba. With sandy beaches, barbecue areas and an array of marine activities from canoeing to digging for clams, there’s plenty to do in the area for visitors of all ages.

Also of note is the park’s diversity of plant life, with cherry trees blooming in spring and hydrangeas in early summer, whereas a variety of oaks cover the ground with acorns in autumn. Satoumi Park is well equipped with accessible toilets and has slopes for prams and wheelchairs.

Noted for the Japanese productions of titles such as The Lion King, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, the Shiki company’s main theatre in western Japan is located on the seventh floor of the Herbis Plaza ENT shopping complex right by Osaka Station.

Besides its plentiful family-friendly plays and shows, Shiki offers a number of convenient services for little theatre-goers, from booster seats to special rooms where kids can move around and make noise during the show without parents having to worry about them disturbing fellow onlookers.