Rain in Tokyo: how to spend the day indoors without wasting it
Tokyo gets real rain. The early-summer rainy season usually runs from about early June into July, and typhoons can bring a day or two of heavy weather from late summer into autumn. The good news is that the city is built for it. Large parts of central Tokyo are linked by underground passages, stations open straight into shopping centres, and there is far more to do indoors than one trip can cover.
This guide gives you the building blocks of a wet day and then puts them together by area, so you spend your time inside things rather than walking between them.
Start with the radar, not the forecast
A forecast that says "rain all day" often means showers with dry spells. Check a rain radar before you decide where to go:
- The Japan Meteorological Agency (jma.go.jp) has an English radar and short-range "nowcast" that shows where rain is falling and where it is heading over the next hour.
- tenki.jp is the Japanese weather site most locals use; the map works fine even if you cannot read the labels.
If the radar shows a gap in an hour, you can save the outdoor walk for then. If it is solid, go underground.
Typhoon days. If a typhoon is forecast to pass close to Tokyo, trains may run reduced timetables or stop for a period, and some attractions close early. Check the JR East and Tokyo Metro service pages and your venue's site on the morning itself. Do not plan a day trip, a boat or anything high and exposed on that day.
Underground and covered routes
Tokyo Station and Marunouchi
Tokyo Station is effectively a small town under one roof. Below the station there are rows of ramen shops, a street of character-goods stores and food from all over Japan, and passages lead out to the Marunouchi office towers, the KITTE building beside the station, the Yaesu underground mall and on towards Yurakucho. You can eat, shop and see some art without going outside.
Two good stops on this route: the Tokyo Station Gallery, inside the red-brick station building on the Marunouchi side, and Intermediatheque in KITTE, a free museum of natural history specimens and odd scientific objects from the University of Tokyo collection. Check opening days for both; museums in Tokyo commonly close one day a week.
Shinjuku
Shinjuku is bigger and more confusing, but the same idea works. A long underground walkway runs east from the JR station towards Shinjuku-sanchome, with exits into the big department stores along the way, and the Subnade underground mall links the east side to Seibu-Shinjuku Station. It is easy to get lost, so follow the overhead signs for a named exit or building and use your map app's indoor directions. Our Shinjuku night guide covers what to do once the rain stops in the evening.
Museums and teamLab
Rain is the obvious moment for museums, and everyone else knows it too, so book timed tickets in advance where you can.
- teamLab Planets (Toyosu) and teamLab Borderless (Azabudai Hills) both sell timed tickets that can sell out on wet weekends. Borderless is reached from Kamiyacho Station with little time outdoors.
- Ueno has the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art and the National Museum of Nature and Science close together, though you walk across the park between them.
- Roppongi Hills has the Mori Art Museum and the Tokyo City View observation deck under one roof, but skip the view if the cloud is low.
How booking works for each is in our museums and teamLab guide, and Ueno is covered in Ueno and Yanaka.
Department store food halls
Every major department store has a basement food hall, called a depachika: bento, sushi, tempura, Japanese sweets, fruit sold like jewellery and samples on many counters. On a wet afternoon you can easily spend an hour in one, then go upstairs to the restaurant floors for a proper meal. Good ones are directly connected to stations: the stores around Tokyo Station and Nihonbashi, the Isetan and other stores at Shinjuku-sanchome, and those in Ginza along the Ginza line. In the last hour before closing, prepared food often gets discount stickers. There are few places to sit, so take your food back to the hotel.
Arcades and indoor entertainment
- Game centres in Akihabara, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro have several floors of claw machines, rhythm games, photo booths and racing cabinets. You pay a few hundred yen a play.
- Round1 and similar chains combine bowling, karaoke, darts and an all-in sports zone, priced by the hour. Popular on rainy weekends, so expect a wait.
- Karaoke boxes rent private rooms by the half hour, often with a drink plan. They are an easy way for a family or group to dry off and rest.
- Retro game shops and collector malls in Akihabara and Nakano are mostly indoors; see our Akihabara and Nakano guide.
- A sento or onsen-style spa is a classic way to spend a cold, wet evening. Our sento and onsen guide explains the etiquette.
Aquariums
Tokyo has several aquariums inside larger buildings, which makes them easy to reach in the rain:
- Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo Skytree Town, directly linked to Tokyo Skytree and Oshiage stations. A short ride from Asakusa.
- Sunshine Aquarium on the roof and upper floors of Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, with an outdoor section that is less fun in heavy rain. Timed entry has been required on busy days.
- Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa, next to Shinagawa Station, with dolphin shows and lighting effects; it stays open into the evening.
Ticket prices and hours change by season and some sell timed entry, so check the official site before you go.
Covered shopping streets
Many neighbourhood shopping streets (shotengai) have a roof. Nakano Sun Mall runs straight from Nakano Station to Nakano Broadway; Kichijoji Sun Road is a long covered street from Kichijoji Station; and Asagaya Pearl Center is another covered street one stop from Nakano. In Asakusa, the Shin-Nakamise arcade is roofed, while the main temple approach is open to the sky. These streets are a cheap, low-key way to see everyday Tokyo without getting soaked.
Rainy-day plans by area
Tokyo Station and Ginza. Breakfast in the station, Tokyo Station Gallery, lunch in the KITTE or Yaesu basements, Intermediatheque, then the underground passages to Yurakucho and Ginza for department stores and a depachika dinner.
Shinjuku. Morning in the department stores around Shinjuku-sanchome, lunch on a restaurant floor, an afternoon at a game centre, then the Subnade back to the station. If it clears, walk the side streets after dark.
Asakusa and Skytree. The temple early with an umbrella, a meal and shopping in the covered Shin-Nakamise arcade, then the train to Oshiage for Sumida Aquarium and the shops in Tokyo Skytree Town. Our Asakusa in one day has the rest.
West Tokyo. Nakano Sun Mall into Nakano Broadway, lunch, then a few stops on the Chuo line to Kichijoji's covered streets.
Roppongi and Azabudai. teamLab Borderless in the morning, lunch in Azabudai Hills, then the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills.
Practical tips
- Umbrellas. Every convenience store sells clear plastic umbrellas for a few hundred yen up to about ¥1,000, and stock goes up as soon as it rains. Folding umbrellas cost more but fit a bag.
- At the door. Shops and restaurants often have umbrella stands, some with locks, or a dispenser of thin plastic umbrella sleeves. Use them; dripping umbrellas inside are frowned upon. Clear umbrellas all look alike, so mark yours or keep the sleeve.
- Shoes. Station floors and tiled pavements get slippery. Wear shoes with grip and bring a spare pair of socks.
- Trains. Rush hour on rainy mornings is busier and slower. Start after about 9:30 if you can.
- Timing. Popular indoor sights are busiest on wet weekends. Go at opening or late afternoon.
More: 3 days in Tokyo, Tokyo shopping, Tokyo night views for the evening the sky clears.
Check the radar, then pick the plan
On a wet day you want the rain radar, the underground exit numbers and today's museum hours in your pocket, not on the hotel Wi-Fi. Install your eSIM before you fly and you can change plans the moment the sky does.
Japan eSIM from ¥480