THE OCTOPUS PLAYGROUND, NEAR SHINAGAWA

Also 15 minutes in a cab (approx 1800 yen) from Shinagawa Station is Shinmei Children’s Playground …also known as the Octopus Park.
If you’d prefer to take public transport to the Octopus Park:
From Shinagawa take the Keihin-Tohoku Line to Oimachi Station and then walk for 11 mins.
If you’re coming from the Dinosaur Park take a cab for 9 mins ( approx 1000 yen).

There is one big and one small octopus for climbing and sliding. My 3 year old loved it but it got boring quickly for my 5 year old.
There is a Lawson* (convenience store) right on the edge of the park and a few benches to sit on for a snack too. This playground doesn’t have any shade so may not be the best place to head for in the depth of Japanese Summer. Still it’s so lovely and retro – and random ! Worth checking out – because…Japan.

*While at Lawson (convenience store brand) …
These fried chicken options are LIFESAVERS (especially if you have picky eaters with you.)
This one pictured below is available at Lawson convenience stores – it is called “Karage-Kun” (pronounced “ka-ra-ge-kun”) and inside contains approx 6 pieces of Japanese fried chicken. Be sure to get the REGULAR flavour and the other option is a bit spicy and one of the other flavours sometimes available contains cheese. (see here for other Japanese convenience store tips and our favourite foods sold here in this blog post.)