Fukuoka Anpanman Children’s Museum Review: Discount Tickets With a 13-Month-Old
If you’re traveling to Fukuoka with a baby, the Anpanman Children’s Museum is one stop that absolutely deserves a spot on your itinerary.
For reference, the Anpanman Children’s Museum isn’t just in Fukuoka—you’ll also find locations in Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, and other cities across Japan.
Basic Info
Location: It’s in the Nakasu area, on the 5th floor of Hakata Riverain Mall, right in front of Nakasu-Kawabata Station.
How to get there: From inside Nakasu-Kawabata Station, head toward Exit 6 and you’ll find direct underground access to Hakata Riverain Mall. It’s also very close to Don Quijote Nakasu and within walking distance of Canal City Hakata.
Hours: Open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM
Admission: 2,200 yen at the door (On Klook, it’s about 19,500 KRW!)
We were staying near Gion, so it was only about an 8-minute walk and we just went back and forth on foot. I’d heard strollers weren’t allowed inside, so I figured an 8-minute walk each way would be easy and brought a baby carrier instead. I regretted that decision immediately ^_
As you get closer to the Fukuoka Anpanman Children’s Museum, you’ll start spotting character designs even on the sidewalk tiles. The building itself also has plenty of Anpanman graphics, so it’s actually very easy to find.
The museum itself spans the 5th and 6th floors, but the entrance and ticket counter are on the 5th floor.
There are lockers, and there’s also a designated area where you can fold and leave your stroller. When I researched before going, I saw people say there wasn’t staff managing the strollers, which is why I wore the baby carrier—but when I got there, there was actually an employee organizing and watching over them.
How to Book Discount Tickets
You can either buy tickets on-site or book online, but before my visit, I searched for the Anpanman Museum on My Real Trip and Klook and didn’t really see anything obvious, so I just bought ours at the counter.
Babies get in free through 11 months old, but starting at 12 months—so basically once they turn one—the ticket price is the same as an adult: 2,200 yen.
With the exchange rate these days hovering around 950 KRW per 100 yen, 2,200 yen comes out to roughly 21,000 KRW, but if you buy your tickets in advance on Klookyou can book them for 19,500 KRW, which is definitely cheaper.If you do the math backward, that price is basically like getting 2,200 yen at an exchange rate of 886 KRW, so it’s worth buying ahead if you can.
There’s no requirement to book by the day before, and the reservation is confirmed instantly, so you can even purchase it on the day of your visit. Just show the QR code and you can go straight in without stopping at the ticket counter.
My baby was 13 months old, and since it was just the two of us—mom and baby, no dad—the total came to 4,400 yen. It definitely didn’t feel cheap, but after going, I honestly didn’t think it was a waste at all.
Best Place to Visit in Fukuoka With a Baby
As soon as you walk in, you’ll see the main stage where the live performances happen,
and around it there are restaurant and café tables. During showtimes, those tables seemed to fill up almost completely.
After entering, the flow naturally leads you up to the 6th floor first. As soon as we got upstairs, I noticed a line and found out it was for photos. I asked a staff member how long the wait would be with a line that size, and they said around 20 to 30 minutes, so I decided to go for it.
They take a photo of you in front of an Anpanman backdrop with their camera, and they’ll also take one with your phone. The small card-sized print is free, while a larger printed version is available for an extra charge—around 1,600 yen, I think.
This was the free photo. I skipped the paid print, but even though it was small, it still felt worth the 20-minute wait to have a sweet keepsake with my baby.
This was the version they took on my phone from the same setup, and they actually guide you through a few different poses too.
Once we finished the photo line and went inside, I realized there were photo spots everywhere.
There were lots of pretend kitchen play zones, and the whole area felt spacious. Every corner had such cute backdrops that all the moms were completely busy taking pictures of their kids.
My daughter still wasn’t walking well yet, so she crawled around instead… Everyone else had shoes on, but I just let her crawl anyway ^^;
You can even step inside Anpanman’s face. It’s such a simple thing, but kids absolutely love it.
The museum opens at 10 AM, and we arrived around 10:30 on a weekend. It wasn’t too crowded at that point, but after noon it got noticeably busier, so keep that in mind.
My daughter has never even watched the Anpanman cartoon, but I guess the characters are just naturally lovable—every time she saw one, she’d wave and say hi.
I also used the baby room on the 6th floor. The diaper-changing area and the sink area were separated by a wall, and everything felt clean, tidy, and really well maintained.
There are so many gift shops scattered throughout the 5th and 6th floors of the museum. Seriously, watch your wallet—there are way too many cute things, and none of them are cheap ^_
You can find Anpanman clothes at places like Akachan Honpo or Nishimatsuya too, but the selection there is nowhere near as varied as it is here.
Even a basic cotton T-shirt with Anpanman on it was running about 30,000 to 50,000 KRW, so I definitely hesitated before putting anything in my basket.
The hair clips were in the 8,000 KRW range though, so I ended up buying one.
Toys, stationery, and all kinds of adorable little impulse-buy items—this place is full of them.
I’m a total sucker for canvas tote bags, so I was tempted, but then I thought… do I really need to spend another 14,000 KRW on yet another tote when I already have so many at home? So I put it back.
There’s also a miniature village area,
and a Happy Birthday photo zone too. My daughter’s birthday had already passed ages ago, but of course we still took pictures.
There was also a shop upstairs selling Anpanman bread, but the line was so long that I couldn’t bring myself to wait with a baby. They looked like soft steamed buns with character faces on them.
As showtime got closer, we headed back down to the 5th floor. Anpanman, Shokupanman, Currypanman, and a cheerful performer came out for the stage show.
The performance was all in Japanese, so of course I didn’t understand every detail, but honestly that didn’t matter because my baby wouldn’t have understood it in Korean either. Even without knowing Japanese, it was easy enough to follow along just by reading the room—when they did the equivalent of “Ready, set, go!” you could tell it was time to join in.
My baby had never seen a live show like this before, so I honestly expected her to be uninterested—but she loved it way more than I thought. She clapped, squealed, and watched the whole thing with so much excitement.
Kids around four to five years old seemed to enjoy it the most and responded really well, so if your child is that age, I’d definitely recommend sitting near the front.
The show was actually pretty long, so we didn’t stay for the whole thing. We watched for a while and then moved on because standing there with a baby in the carrier was getting rough ^_
There was also a Baikinman photo zone downstairs, and honestly Baikinman was ridiculously cute.
And yes, there are tons of gift shops on the 5th floor too. What’s fun is that each one has a different concept and sells different items, so it’s worth popping into all of them.
I kept thinking that once my daughter gets older, she’s definitely going to start asking me to buy everything she sees, so maybe it’s better to save my money while I still can…
There’s even a Dokin-chan shop,
and Butter’s Craft House! This is where you can buy custom goods, and in the end, this was the one place I couldn’t walk past.
You can embroider a name onto things like bags or handkerchiefs and add patches however you want.
Naturally, Korean isn’t available for the embroidery, but you can choose Japanese or English.
Even the handkerchiefs were adorable…
I went back and forth on what kind of custom item to make for my daughter. She already has plenty of bags, so I decided on a keychain instead. As long as we don’t lose it, it’ll probably last longer than a handkerchief.
For the strap keychain, you can choose either a long strap or a short one, and you can also decide whether to add one face patch or two.
Prices ranged from 2,255 yen to 2,530 yen, which felt pretty reasonable for a souvenir.
You do have to fill out an order form, but the instructions are detailed enough that it’s easy to follow.
There were lots of physical samples on display, so I used those as a reference while filling mine out. Then you just hand it in at the counter and pay.
It wasn’t mine, but I even got to watch one of the embroidery pieces being made like this.
Meanwhile, my daughter fell asleep…
It took about 30 minutes, though it could take longer if they’re busy. Just hold onto your receipt and show it when you come back to pick it up.
When I came back 30 minutes later, there was the finished name tag waiting for me. I loved how it turned out.
While the baby was asleep, I looked around a few more gift shops and then went to grab a quick bite.
The sock prices were honestly wild. Also, good to know: once you leave the museum, you can’t come back in just to shop for souvenirs. If you walk out and then keep thinking about the merch you didn’t buy, you’ll need to purchase another ticket to re-enter ^_ So if you want something, buy it before you leave.
I thought about getting ice cream or something light, but that shop didn’t take cards, so I wandered around a bit more. Prices varied depending on the food stall, but if you look around, there were actually a few fairly affordable options.
After searching for a place that accepted cards and had an empty table, I ended up at a burger spot. Laying out all the things I’d bought was such a small but satisfying little joy.
If I remember right, the burger combo without a soda—just the burger and fries—was in the 1,500-yen range. I don’t think there was an option to order just the burger without fries.
It was actually my first time eating a burger in Japan, but with a sleeping baby in my arms, it was basically the only practical option. Still, part of me felt like eating a burger for one meal in Japan was somehow a little wasteful.
After I rushed through the burger, my baby woke up, so we checked out a play area too. But there were so many bigger kids running around that it felt like she might get knocked over, so we mostly just looked around and went on the slide once.
My daughter is still too young to go down a slide by herself, but thankfully adults are allowed to ride down with their child, so we gave it one try.
There were so many spaces for kids to play, and honestly, older children could easily spend three or four hours here. That was my impression of the Fukuoka Anpanman Children’s Museum.
Even for a one-year-old, it’s a place where you can easily spend one to two hours, so if you’re heading to Fukuoka with a baby, I really recommend stopping by. I’ve even heard from people who’ve been to Fukuoka multiple times that once they travel with kids, they come here every single trip. Next time, hopefully dad can come too!
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