Buying nappies/diapers in Japan while on the go ( or on holiday) isn’t always as easy as you might expect. Shops in the middle of major cities are small and big boxes of nappies take up significant shelf “real estate” and, for this reason, not many stores have large amounts of stock.
For this reason, I’ve written this blog post to help you get out of a messy situation as quickly as possible – oh and I say this again in this post but just to emphasize from the get-go, if coming to Japan on holidays, I recommend packing approx 3-5 days worth of diapers – just so you don’t spend that adjustment period in a search frenzy.
I talk about nappy shopping in my ‘Baby related products I buy in Japan’ post here but since I get so many diaper questions, I thought I’d make a separate post with more detail.
Nappies /Diapers
If you’re wondering where to buy diapers in Tokyo? I recommend, regardless of where you are – googling the following stores and seeing what is closest to you:
-Babies R Us/ Toys R Us
-AkachanHonpo (kind of like a Japanese version of Toys R Us.)
-Don Quijote (some stores stock nappies)
Uber Eats: Some of my readers have recently told me that they have been able to order diapers on Uber Eats while in smaller towns! Use the search word “diapers” or オムツ when searching.
In many of my area guides I mention drug stores that do stock nappies so you can also search by area on my blog here (for example “Ueno with kids” etc.)
These shops are spread around the city pretty well so you could take a cab there in an emergency. Or if it’s less of an emergency, you could ask where the closest drugstore is. Drugstore is pronounced drugstore here (dorraggu sutoaa) and see what sizes they have on offer.
Please be warned : diapers in central, central, central Tokyo (I’m talking around and inside the Yamanote/city loop line) are not always the easiest to get your hands on. Drugstores and supermarkets don’t have a lot of space so sell out fast. Also, sometimes they are sold on the second floor of a teeny drugstore and I’ve been unable to get up there with a kid and a stroller.
If you’re coming to Japan on vacation, I would make sure that you have at least 5 days worth of diapers packed. I know thats a lot. (Trust me, my kids are close in age so we had two in nappies for, what felt like, forever and that meant we had literally half a suitcase of nappies with us. But, guess what? There is then more space for shopping on the way home, right?
Also, it just meant that we didn’t have the pressure of hunting down diapers on the first few precious days ( especially if we were also dealing with jet lag – we did NOT need more worries. )
If you have an emergency and just need nappies/ diapers in the centre of Tokyo immediately, jump in a taxi and go to Babies R Us in Ikebukuro inside of Sunshine City Shopping Mall or Toys R Us in Odaiba or Toys R Us at Skytree. Use google maps to see which option is closest to you.
Extra Tip:
In Japan, pull ups are called ” Pants Type” and the stick on types are called ” Tape Type”
Incase you have any communication concerns..
Pants type in Japanese is pronounced PANTSU TAIPU or you could just show them this パンツタイプ
And Tape Type is pronounced TEIPU TAIPU or you could just show them this テープタイプ
FOR US – we switched to PANTS TYPE (aka pull ups) really early for my little boy. Firstly because he was a big baby but also because my kids are close in age so just having one type of nappies for both kids was easier. I also find Japanese pull ups to be robust, comfy and such good quality that we had so much less leakage. It also made toilet training a bit easier for us as they can be pulled down and used like underwear.
The pull ups in Japan also tear easily at the side so it’s easy to take them off a younger child like you would a tape type nappy while they are lying down.
On the flip side, if you’re out of the city and near a bigger supermarket, you shouldn’t have any problems finding diapers at all. ( This cheat sheet’ will help you with the Japanese vocabulary for travelling around little babies in Japan.)
I never regret having too many nappies. If my kids get sick, even if they are fully toilet trained? I put them in a nappy – just to make them more comfy and quick to change if we have an accident.
I also put newly toilet trained kids in nappies (over their underwear, if they were offended) when on planes ( see my Flying with Kids tips) and also when at Disneyland or somewhere we may have to wait for a loo ( other important Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea tips.)
We buy Merries nappies. Best quality nappies we have ever found.
I buy ours on Amazon. Our kids call them “the comfy nappies”
And for wipes we buy Kirkland or Pampers (purchased at Costco or Amazon Japan) but they can also be found at Japanese drugstores.
WHAT SIZES DO JAPANESE DIAPERS GO UP TO? (ie. IS IT EASY TO BUY LARGER DIAPERS IN JAPAN?)
As I mentioned in my “what to pack for Japan with kids” blog post – it is good to know the height and weight of your kids in metric before coming to Japan. Nappies/Diapers sizes in Japan are determined by the weight of the child. The “tape type” nappies are relatively easy to find for children under 14kgs.
Some brands cater for children up to 28kgs in the pull up types. If your child is bigger than 15 kgs it is harder to find diapers when just on the go so please use the shops I’ve suggested in this article or plan to have Amazon Japan ship some to your hotel.
LOOKING FOR WHERE TO BUY DIAPERS / NAPPIES IN THE TOKYO DISNEY AREA?
If it’s the day you’re visiting Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disneysea, I recommend buying them inside the Baby Centre inside the Disney Parks.
However, if you’re looking for places to purchase nappies outside of the parks, I recommend going to Tomods Drugstore on the second floor of the Ikspiari complex outside of Tokyo Disneyland (opens at 10am) or at Drug Seims Drugstore in Urayasu which is 5 mins in a cab, approx 900 yen, from Tokyo Disneyland (opens at 8am.)
LOOKING FOR WHERE TO BUY DIAPERS / NAPPIES NEAR NARITA AIRPORT?
There are some options in the Narita Aeon Mall.
See here for tips on purchasing baby food in Japan
If you’re looking for where to buy nappies in Osaka – I recommend going to Toys r Us at Namba Parks shopping mall.
If you’re looking for where to buy nappies in Kyoto – I recommend Aeon Mall Kaede Mall near Kyoto Station.
Where to buy nappies in Osaka?
If, while in Osaka you need to buy baby related items such as nappies / diapers I recommend going to the large shopping mall called
Namba Parks Shopping Mall.
Within Namba Parks are also lots of lovely places to change baby and there is a big Toys R Us and Babies R Us (selling lots of nappies and baby food etc.)
