For a full day trip outside of Tokyo- one hour (public transport or car) from the centre of Tokyo – is Funabashi Andersen Park(Andersen, as in the infamous Danish author).
This park is big enough to spend the entire day here and is only 900 yen for entry (free for kids 3 & under, 100 yen for 4 years +, primary & junior high school students are 200 yen and high schoolers are 600 yen.)
I was, originally, drawn to this spot because of the year round splash pool facilities (almost all splash pads close the moment August finishes and children return to school). But I had he most amazing surprise when we arrived as this place had so much for families to do.
There is the swimming area, a giant roller-slide, bouncy-ball trampoline type thingy, ponyrides, mini golf, restaurants, mini-train rides, boats for rent, pedal cars, athletic outdoor climbing frames, a petting zoo and a children’s craft museum.
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The roller-slide, the pool and the bouncy area was the most popular with my children. But school aged kids were also crazy for all the climbing frames /obstacle courses and grass toboggan slides.
Funabashi is the sister city of Odense in Denmark – the birth place of Hans Christian Andersen- and this park has done its best to recreate a mini Odense in Japan. It is like stepping into a little fairytale.
I was delighted to see so many older couples sitting and painting.
I also saw these two cuties who sat in this one spot for more than 4 hours!! Cute!!!
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There are plenty of eateries inside the park. There are also food trucks just inside the entrance.
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The pizza truck was so good that I just had to make up a menu translation.
There are also little stores that sell park, swim toys, crisps and snacks. These shops don’t sell baby swim nappies so be sure to pack plenty of your own if you’re keen on having the kids splash around.
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The pool water is shallow and there are lots of different fountains and water play sections.
These kinds of dome tents are allowed inside the park and I wish we had packed ours. There were lots of small babies taking naps and many parents used them to change children’s clothing etc.
I’m really glad that we took our stroller as the park grounds are big! There are strollers to rent but I think they wouldn’t fit children over 3 years old.
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FUNABASHI ANDERSEN PARK
千葉県船橋市金堀町525番
525 KANEHORI-CHO, FUNABASHI, CHIBA
OPEN: 9:30AM-4PM (OPEN UNTIL 5PM ON CERTAIN DAYS : SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS)
CLOSED: MOST MONDAYS (SEE WEBSITE CALENDAR FOR UPDATES)
ACCESS BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT: THIS SITE HAS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS
WEBSITE
