24 Places to Find Infant and Children's Toys in Japan

Big thanks to Ashley Tieman for putting together this very useful post and to Annamarie for her contributions!

Just had a baby in Japan? Have small children? And looking for a few toys for them to play with? You may already have found some at nearby stores, but it is possible to find a range of quality, cute, safe, and educational kids' toys in Japan. And keep in mind that toy is おもちゃ (omocha) in Japanese. If you know of any others, please leave a comment below!

New Toy Stores

Don Quixote (ドンキー)
This nationwide chain is a foreigner's paradise. Once you've filled your cart with hard-to-find food items, head over to the massive games and toys section. Aisle after aisle is filled with puzzles, board games, collectibles, models, and more, often imported from overseas but with a reasonable price tag. The store also has a lot of "adult goods" nearby, so unless you are prepared for a potentially awkward question from your child, this might be a parents-only expedition. Available items may vary by store and region.

Home Centers (ホームセンター)

Japan's unique blend of hardware store+furniture store+pet goods+everyday life stores, called home centers (ホームセンター), can be an excellent, if surprising, place to find toys, especially for young children or children who like crafts/hobbies. Some examples in my area are Namba Home Center (ナンバホームセンター), Time (タイム) and Nafco (ナフコ). Cainz has stores around the country. Feel free to list your local home center in the comments (and location).

Toys R Us & Babies R Us

A typical place to find a large variety of toys is a children's store. Toys R Us and Babies R Us have been in Japan for years, but there are plenty of domestic companies as well. These stores are especially good for finding educational toys (like if you want to teach your kids hiragana or find books with animal names in Japanese).

Ultimate Guide to Baby Products in Japan - Part 1

You're having a baby. Or maybe you already have a baby or two and you've just moved to Japan. You might know what kind of stuff you need (since a lot of that information is available in English) but how do you find what you need in Japanese? Are the car seats safe? Are the bottles BPA-free? Can you find organic bedding?

I attempted to answer these in the latest issue of Metropolis magazine, which you can read here, and then went ahead and elaborated a bit more below. I know there are many, many more baby products, but I believe most of what I've listed below are some of the more important ones, plus a few extras added in. I've also added my thoughts here and there in terms of what we've done to save money or what I like, but I believe that everything is different for every baby and family, so it's just there for anyone who might be curious or wondering.

And please, let me know in the comments what you'd like me to cover next, or what you've used and liked, didn't like, or whatever. I'm particularly keen to hear from those of you who use/have used bottles, as my kid wanted them desperately for a month and then refused them, so my knowledge of slow-flow - fast-flow or whatever it's called is limited.

On to our Japanese baby products: