Tokyo at Night with Family

Written and checked by Upward Inc. · Last updated 2 November 2026 · How we check

Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya at night are mostly izakaya and bars, and plenty of them either keep under-20s out or allow smoking indoors. The useful part is that the age rule and the smoking rule are written down, shop by shop, so you can decide before you walk in. This page lists the places that say children are welcome, and names the ones that will turn you away.

Ueno, Shibuya and Shinjuku differ on exactly this point. Ueno has two bars that admit no one aged 20 or under, Shibuya has four places that publish an age rule, and in Shinjuku almost nothing is written down either way.

Where to start

Eat earlier than you would at home, because most of the restaurants in these three areas are drinking places that fill up later in the evening. Several open in the afternoon: KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Shibuya Hyakkendana and UOTAMI Shibuya Jinnan open at 13:00 at weekends, and TORIKIZOKU Shinjuku Higashiguchi at 12:00.

In Ueno, start in Ueno Park while it is still early. It is free, two minutes from JR Ueno Station by the Park Exit, and open from 5:00 to 23:00.

In Shinjuku, Sushizanmai Shinjuku Higashiguchi is three minutes from the East Exit, non-smoking at all times, with child seats, a waiting area, free Wi-Fi and ordering by tablet. It closes at 22:00 from Monday to Thursday and at 23:00 from Friday to Sunday.

In Shibuya, Umegaoka Sushi no Midori is inside the Shibuya Mark City terminal building and closes at 21:00, so an early dinner needs no walk outside. Seating is by numbered ticket from the machine at the entrance from 10:00, and the restaurant asks guests to keep the meal within two hours.

Five places in Ueno that work with children

Each of these either states that children may come or lists something for them on the menu.

• KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Ueno 6-chome — people under 20 may enter without an adult, because the restaurant does not serve them alcohol. It has kids' chairs, 57 seats across counter, table, tatami and box seating, and no smoking booth at this branch. Guests aged 20 or over pay ¥319 including tax each and must order at least one drink.
• Shutei Juraku Ueno — the restaurant states that children are welcome and lists a children's menu. All seats inside are non-smoking, smoking is only allowed at the outside seats, and there are tatami private rooms for up to 40 people, a minute from the Shinobazu Exit. There is no English menu.
• Chiba-chan Ueno Ameyoko — kids welcome, 180 seats with tables and sunken kotatsu seating, an English menu and free Wi-Fi. All seats are non-smoking and the smoking room is separate. It opens at 12:00 on Saturdays and Sundays.
• Nihonshu Genka Sakagura Ueno Okachimachi — the company's own question-and-answer page says children are welcome. There are private rooms and free Wi-Fi, it opens at 12:00 at weekends, and food orders stop at 22:30.
• ICHIRAN Atre Ueno Yamashita-guchi — children's ramen is on the menu, and it is inside Atre Ueno at JR Ueno Station and open 24 hours. Note that all 36 seats are individual counter booths with no table seats, so you will not sit facing each other.

Five places in Shinjuku that work with children

Shinjuku's places mostly do not publish an age rule, so what follows rests on what they do publish: children's menus, child seats, seat counts and where the smoking happens.

• KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Shinjuku Kabukicho — people under 20 may enter without an adult here too, as the restaurant does not serve them alcohol. There are 56 seats at counters and tables and no smoking booth at this branch, but no kids' chairs and no free Wi-Fi. Guests aged 20 or over pay ¥319 including tax each and must order at least one drink.
• SHIROKIYA Kabukicho Sohonten — a children's set at ¥658 including tax, and all-you-can-drink soft drinks for children at ¥200 for under-primary age and ¥400 for primary school age. It has 479 seats, private rooms, karaoke, a TV and free Wi-Fi, and there is a smoking booth; the official page does not say whether the other seats are non-smoking.
• Sushizanmai Shinjuku Higashiguchi — 84 seats, non-smoking at all times, with child seats, a waiting area, free Wi-Fi and dish names printed in English. Nigiri starts at ¥140 a piece and the restaurant is open every day.
• Isomaru Suisan Nishi-Shinjuku 1-chome No.3 — one minute from JR Shinjuku Station, open 24 hours all year, with 93 seats, free Wi-Fi, takeout and a lunch service. All seating is non-smoking and the smoking booth is separate.
• ICHIRAN Shinjuku Chuo Higashiguchi — children's ramen is on the menu and the shop is open 24 hours, three minutes from the station. All 28 seats are individual counter booths with no table seats.

Five places in Shibuya that work with children

Each of these publishes something about children, whether an item on the menu, child seats or the age rule itself. Two other Shibuya venues set a time for children rather than an age, and they are further down this page.

• KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Shibuya Hyakkendana — people under 20 may enter without an adult, as the restaurant does not serve them alcohol. There are 58 seats, free Wi-Fi and no smoking booth at this branch, and no kids' chairs; the restaurant also notes that the tips of the skewers are sharp.
• UOTAMI Shibuya Jinnan — a children's plate at ¥638 including tax, and all-you-can-drink soft drinks for children at ¥100 for under-primary age and ¥300 for primary school age. It has 115 seats, private rooms, karaoke and free Wi-Fi, opens at 13:00 at weekends and closes at midnight, and there is a smoking booth.
• Umegaoka Sushi no Midori Shibuya — children's nigiri at ¥990 including tax, 62 seats on the fourth floor of Mark City East, open 11:00 to 21:00 every day except 1 January. Seating is by numbered ticket and the meal is kept within two hours.
• Sushizanmai Shibuya Tokyuhontenmae — 62 seats, non-smoking at all times, with child seats, free Wi-Fi and ordering from your phone. It serves from 11:00 to 6:00 the next morning, so an early dinner and a very late one are the same restaurant.
• ICHIRAN Shibuya — children's ramen and children's tableware are both listed, and the shop is open 24 hours. All 21 seats are individual counter booths with no table seats.

Where you will not get in

These are not warnings about atmosphere. They are the rules the places themselves publish.

In Ueno:

• The TRAD — no one aged 20 or under may enter. Smoking is allowed throughout the bar, and the bar itself states that this means it does not suit non-smokers or families.
• The Auditorium — no one aged 20 or under may enter. Smoking is allowed throughout here too, with the same note from the bar that it does not suit non-smokers or families.
• SAKE BAR UENO SHOJYO — counter seats only, and the bar does not admit parties made up only of people who are not drinking. The stairs up to it are steep and staff cannot help anyone up or down them, so it does not suit wheelchair users or anyone unsteady on their feet.

In Shibuya:

• Bar Ishinohana — guests must be 20 or over, and under-20s are not admitted in any circumstances. The bar publishes its other house rules as well: no shots, no cigars, no baseball caps and no bomb-style drinks.
• Tower's Bar BELLOVISTO — from 18:00 no one under 20 is admitted, even when accompanied by a parent or guardian. Before that the bar opens at 16:00 on weekdays and 13:30 at weekends, and the whole bar is non-smoking.
• WOMB — guests under 20 are not admitted to late-night events, and a photo identification document is required at the door: a driver's licence, a passport or a My Number Card. Some events start earlier than the usual late-night schedule and may carry a different age limit, which is stated on that event's page.
• clubasia — guests under 20 are strictly refused entry to night events, and photo identification must be shown at the door. Opening times are set per event and the closing time is not published.

In each of the three, one chain applies the same rule:

• TORIKIZOKU Ueno Chuo-dori, TORIKIZOKU Shinjuku Higashiguchi and TORIKIZOKU Shibuya Center Gai — people under 20 cannot come on their own. They may enter with a guardian or someone aged 20 or over, on condition that no alcohol is served to them, and staff may ask for identification. All three branches state that they have no baby chairs and no barrier-free access, and their official pages do not say whether the restaurants are non-smoking.

Shinjuku is the gap in all this. Apart from the two chains that publish a nationwide rule, TORIKIZOKU above and KUSHIKATSU TANAKA, none of the Shinjuku places on this site publish an age rule at all. That is not the same as children being welcome: it means the rule is not written down, so ask at the door instead of assuming.

Two of the Shinjuku bars sit inside Golden Gai, which is a dense lane of very small rooms. OPEN BOOK is about ten square metres and has no signboard, and Sugoi Niboshi Ramen Nagi has ten counter seats on a second floor.

Under Japan's smoking law, a person under 20 may not enter an indoor smoking area even if they have no intention of smoking. That is why a bar which allows smoking in the whole room is closed to children outright, while a restaurant with a separate smoking room is not.

Good to know

• Non-smoking throughout in Ueno, with no indoor smoking area at all: KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Ueno 6-chome, UENO TORIFUKU, 2nd COOPER, Ramen Kamo to Negi and Tachinomi Kadokura, which includes e-cigarettes and heated tobacco in its rule.
• Non-smoking throughout in Shinjuku and Shibuya: Sushizanmai Shinjuku Higashiguchi, Sushizanmai Higashi Shinjuku, YONA YONA BEER WORKS, FUUNJI and Tsunahachi in Shinjuku; Sushizanmai Shibuya Tokyuhontenmae, Oreryu Shio-Ramen, KAIKAYA, SUSHI GONPACHI and GONPACHI in Shibuya.
• All seats non-smoking but with a separate booth or room: Chiba-chan and Isomaru Suisan in Ueno, Isomaru Suisan Nishi-Shinjuku in Shinjuku and Isomaru Suisan Shibuya Udagawacho in Shibuya, the last of which has 104 seats and is open 24 hours.
• A smoking booth with the rest not stated: SHIROKIYA and YAMAUCHI NOUJOU in Shinjuku and UOTAMI in Shibuya all have one, and their official pages do not say whether the other seats are non-smoking. Oreryu Gyozaro in Shibuya states that smoking is allowed and does not mention a non-smoking section at all.
• Children's chairs are rarer than children's menus. KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Ueno 6-chome lists kids' chairs and the Sushizanmai branches list child seats, while the KUSHIKATSU TANAKA branches in Shinjuku and Shibuya state that they have none, as do all three TORIKIZOKU branches.
• Two places in Shibuya set a time for children rather than an age. GBF – Goodbeer faucets says children are fine earlier in the evening and asks that they not come after 22:00, and KAIKAYA by the sea takes bookings for children of 10 and under only at 17:00, 17:30 or 18:00 and does not allow pushchairs inside.
• The adults still pay a per-person charge. In Ueno it is ¥319 including tax for each guest aged 20 or over at KUSHIKATSU TANAKA, ¥473 including tax per person at Chiba-chan, which also adds 10% after 22:00, and ¥540 including tax per person at Nihonshu Genka Sakagura. Shutei Juraku adds one too, but its own pages give two different amounts, so ask at the table.
• The same applies in the other two areas. In Shinjuku it is ¥319 at KUSHIKATSU TANAKA, ¥471 at SHIROKIYA, which adds 10% between 22:00 and 5:00, and ¥526 at YAMAUCHI NOUJOU. In Shibuya it is ¥319 at KUSHIKATSU TANAKA and ¥498 at UOTAMI, which adds 10% to a first order placed after 22:00.
• Two small treats worth knowing in Ueno. At KUSHIKATSU TANAKA, guests aged 19 or younger can play rock, paper, scissors when ordering a soft drink: a win makes it free, a draw halves the price and a loss is the listed price. At TORIKIZOKU, children of junior-high age and younger can have all-you-can-drink craft juice for ¥410 including tax, if an adult brings them.
• The other branches do the same. The craft juice at ¥410 is also on the English menus at TORIKIZOKU Shinjuku Higashiguchi and TORIKIZOKU Shibuya Center Gai, which also lists two kids' plates, and at KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Shibuya Hyakkendana guests aged 19 and under can play rock, paper, scissors with the staff for a free soft drink.
• Eitaro Sushi says children are welcome but may not be able to take them depending on its other bookings, so ask when you reserve rather than turning up.
• Ameyoko is practical with children: the area has public restrooms, dining facilities, an escalator and diaper changing facilities, and it is open daily, though every shop keeps its own hours. The Ameyoko Center Building itself closes at 20:00 and shuts on the third Wednesday of the month, except in December.
• Ueno Park's rules are posted: no fireworks, no drones or radio-controlled models, no skateboards, dogs on a lead with waste taken home, no feeding the animals, and no smoking where crowds gather or near children. Food stalls are not allowed in the park except at permitted events.
• Tokyo treats 23:00 to 4:00 as night-time for anyone under 18, and some venues may not admit them during those hours. That is a Tokyo-wide rule rather than an area one, so it applies in Shinjuku and Shibuya as much as in Ueno.
• Lines through Ueno stop between about midnight and 1:00, so fix your train home before dinner. At JR Ueno Station the ticket offices at the Iriya, Central and Shinobazu exits sell until 23:50, while the Park Exit office closes at 20:00.

Plan the rest of the night

The early part of the evening in Ueno, from the Park Exit into the park and down through Ameyoko, is laid out on the Ueno page, and Shinjuku and Shibuya are set out the same way. Every place on the site lists its age rule, smoking policy and per-person charge under all venues.

If this is also your first evening in Japan, the first time in Japan page explains the charges and the ordering systems in more detail.

If the children go to bed before the adults do, the Shinjuku evening and the guides cover the later part of the night separately.

Every area in this guide

Ueno · Asakusa · Shibuya · Shinjuku · Roppongi · Ginza · Tsukiji · Tsukishima