Tokyo’s paid attractions are cheap by world-city standards, and several of its best ones cost nothing at all. The money goes wrong in two predictable places. People buy at the counter when the same ticket is cheaper online, and they pay for a view they could have had free from a government building three minutes from Shinjuku station. This page prices seventeen of them, says which four you have to book before you fly, and names the ones we would not pay for.
The short answer
Book four things in advance and walk up to everything else. The Ghibli Museum, because there is no other route in. Shibuya Sky, because the good slots go and the counter charges ¥300 more. teamLab, because entry is timed. Grand Sumo, because the September 2026 tournament sold out before it opened. Everything else on this list you can decide on the morning.
The single best-value hour in Tokyo is free. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories sit at 202 metres and charge nothing, which makes Tokyo Tower’s ¥1,500 Main Deck at 150 metres a hard ticket to justify.
| Attraction | Adult price | Book ahead? | Time needed | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TMG Building observatories | Free | No | 45 min | Best view per yen in the city |
| Sensoji and Nakamise, Asakusa | Free | No | 1 hr | Go before 8am or not at all |
| Meiji Jingu | Free | No | 1 hr | Worth it, pair with Harajuku |
| Imperial Palace East Gardens | Free | No | 1 hr | Worth it, check the day |
| Toyosu Market tuna auction | Free | Lottery, a month out | 2 hr | Upper walkway needs no ticket |
| Shinjuku Gyoen | ¥500 | No | 1.5 hr | Cheapest good hour in Shinjuku |
| Ueno Zoo | ¥600 | No | 2 to 3 hr | Only with children |
| Tokyo National Museum | ¥1,000 | No | 2 to 3 hr | Worth it |
| Ghibli Museum | ¥1,000 | Yes, and it is the only way in | 2 hr | Worth it if you win the timing |
| Tokyo Tower Main Deck | ¥1,500 | No | 1 hr | Skip, the free deck is higher |
| Tokyo Skytree Tembo Deck | From ¥1,800 | Yes, saves ¥500 | 1.5 hr | Worth it once, not with Shibuya Sky |
| Kabukiza single act | ¥2,000 to ¥3,500 | Noon the day before | 1 to 1.5 hr | Worth it, the cheapest culture in Ginza |
| Shibuya Sky | ¥2,700 or ¥3,400 | Yes, essential | 1 hr | Worth it, book the early slot |
| teamLab Planets, Toyosu | ¥3,200 | Yes, timed entry | 1.5 hr | Pick this or Borderless, not both |
| Tokyo Tower Top Deck Tour | ¥3,300 online | Yes, saves ¥200 | 1.5 hr | Skip |
| teamLab Borderless, Azabudai | From ¥3,800 | Yes, timed entry | 2 to 3 hr | The better of the two if you pick one |
| Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo | From ¥6,600 | Yes, non-refundable | 4 hr plus | A whole day, price it as one |
Prices are adult admission, checked August 2026. Skytree, teamLab and Warner Bros. all price by date, so the figure on your day can be higher than the floor quoted here.
What actually has to be booked before you fly?
The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka is the only one on this list with no walk-up option at all. Admission is by advance reservation through Lawson Ticket, and the museum states plainly that no reservation or ticket purchase can be made at the museum. Tickets go on sale at 10am Japan time on the 10th of each month for the following month. Adults pay ¥1,000, ages 13 to 18 pay ¥700, ages 7 to 12 pay ¥400, and ages 4 to 6 pay ¥100. If your trip is in April, you are buying on 10 March at 10am Tokyo time, which is 1am in London and 8pm the previous evening in New York. Set an alarm.
Shibuya Sky charges by time of day as well as by channel. Online it is ¥2,700 for entry up to 14:59 and ¥3,400 from 15:00. At the counter the same slots are ¥3,000 and ¥3,700, and counter tickets exist only when the online allocation has not sold. That is a ¥300 penalty for turning up and a ¥700 penalty for wanting sunset. If the view matters more than the light, book 14:00 and save ¥700.
Grand Sumo is the one people leave too late. The September 2026 tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan runs 13 to 27 September, advance sales opened on 8 August, and by late August the official ticket site listed it as sold out with no tickets sold on the day. Tokyo holds three of the six annual tournaments, in January, May and September. If sumo is the reason you picked your dates, buy on the day sales open.
teamLab is timed entry at both sites and the Toyosu one involves walking through water, so bring or wear something that rolls above the knee. Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo at Toshimaen recommends pre-booking, prices by date from ¥6,600 for adults, and warns that tickets are non-refundable. The official Tokyo guide puts a visit at more than four hours. Treat it as a day, not an afternoon.
When is everything open, and where do you get off?
| Attraction | Nearest station | Hours | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| TMG Building observatories | Tochomae, or Shinjuku on foot | 9:30 to 22:00, last entry 21:30 | North: 2nd and 4th Mon. South: 1st and 3rd Tue |
| Sensoji | Asakusa | Grounds open, Nakamise shops from mid-morning | None |
| Meiji Jingu | Harajuku or Meiji-jingumae | Sunrise to sunset, so it moves monthly | None |
| Imperial Palace East Gardens | Otemachi | 9:00, closing 16:00 to 18:00 by season | Mondays and Fridays, 28 Dec to 3 Jan |
| Toyosu Market | Shijo-mae | 5:00 to 17:00 | Wednesdays, Sundays, holidays |
| Shinjuku Gyoen | Shinjuku-gyoemmae | 9:00 to 16:30, 18:00 or 19:00 by season | Mondays, and 29 Dec to 3 Jan |
| Ueno Zoo | Ueno | 9:30 to 17:00, last tickets 16:00 | Mondays, 29 Dec to 1 Jan |
| Tokyo National Museum | Ueno or Uguisudani | 9:30 to 17:00, to 20:00 Fri and Sat | Mondays |
| Shibuya Sky | Shibuya, direct | 10:00 to 22:30, last admission 21:20 | 1 January |
| Tokyo Tower | Akabanebashi or Kamiyacho | Main Deck 9:00 to 23:00 | None |
| teamLab Planets | Shin-Toyosu, 1 min | Seasonal, last entry 60 min before close | Irregular |
| teamLab Borderless | Kamiyacho or Roppongi-itchome | 9:00 to 21:00, last admission 20:00 | Irregular |
Three of the paid ones close on Mondays and the East Gardens close on Mondays and Fridays, so a Monday in Tokyo is a day for shrines, markets and observation decks. Toyosu closing on Wednesdays and Sundays catches more people than the Monday rule does.
Which ones are not worth the money?
Tokyo Tower. The Main Deck is 150 metres and costs ¥1,500. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories are 202 metres, cost nothing, and open until 22:00. The Top Deck Tour at 250 metres costs ¥3,300 online and ¥3,500 at the counter, which is Shibuya Sky money for a lower and less interesting view. Pay for Tokyo Tower only if the building itself is the point.
Both teamLab sites in one trip. They are the same company, the same idea and roughly ¥7,000 for the pair. Borderless at Azabudai is the larger and stranger of the two and takes two to three hours. Planets at Toyosu is shorter, wetter and more photographed. Pick one.
Two observation decks. Skytree at 350 metres and Shibuya Sky at 229 metres are both good and they show you the same city. Skytree is higher and further out, Shibuya Sky is open to the sky and easier to reach. Buying both is ¥4,500 to see one skyline twice.
Tokyo Disney Resort, if your trip is short. It is in Urayasu in Chiba prefecture, not in Tokyo, and the official city guide files it under places beyond Tokyo. Prices are set by date and the resort does not publish a single figure, so check your own date on the official site rather than trusting a number in a blog. Either way it costs you a full day plus the fare, and on a four-day trip that is a quarter of your time.
What can you do for nothing?
- Both TMG observatories, free, open to 22:00, better than any deck under ¥2,000.
- Sensoji and the Nakamise approach in Asakusa. Free, and genuinely quiet before 8am.
- Meiji Jingu. The shrine grounds are free. The Inner Garden and the Meiji Jingu Museum are ticketed separately.
- The Imperial Palace East Gardens, free, on the Edo castle keep site.
- Toyosu Market. The second-floor visitor walkway needs no application. Only the lower tuna auction deck is balloted, monthly, for the following month, and losing the ballot does not stop you watching.
- Shibuya Scramble Crossing, and the walk through Golden Gai’s alleys before the bars open.
A day built from that list costs the fare and nothing else. Rikugien, an Edo-period garden in Bunkyo, is ¥300 if you want one paid thing in it.
What catches people out in Tokyo?
Counter surcharges. Tokyo Skytree adds ¥500 per ticket for anything bought at the fourth-floor counter or the machines. Tokyo Tower’s Top Deck Tour is ¥200 more at the desk. Shibuya Sky is ¥300 more. Buying on your phone in the queue is usually still cheaper than buying at the window you are standing at.
The 15:00 step at Shibuya Sky. The price rises by ¥700 for slots from 15:00, which is exactly when everyone wants to go. Sunrise-side views in the morning cost less and queue less.
Touts in Kabukicho and Roppongi. This is the one warning on the page that is not about money you chose to spend. UK government travel advice records increased reports of drink spiking and credit card fraud in Kabukicho, Roppongi, Shibuya and Ikebukuro, with victims waking with no memory and large sums billed to their cards. It advises against following street touts, known as kyakuhiki, into bars, and notes that British nationals have been arrested after disputes with staff over excessive bills. Confirm the price before you go in, and do not go in with someone who approached you in English on the street.
Buying a transport pass by reflex. The Tokyo Subway Ticket is ¥1,000 for 24 hours and does not cover JR lines, so it loses to a stored-value card on a day of three subway rides and a Yamanote hop. We ran that break-even in the Tokyo neighbourhood guide, and the answer depends entirely on where you sleep.
Treating a rail pass as an attraction budget. Nothing on this list is covered by the Japan Rail Pass, and the pass loses money on a Tokyo-heavy trip. The arithmetic is in the Japan Rail Pass piece.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Ghibli Museum really impossible to get into?
No, but there is exactly one route. Lawson Ticket, 10am Japan time on the 10th of the month, for the following month. There are no tickets at the door and no second chance later in the month. Adults pay ¥1,000, which is the cheapest ticket on this page after Shinjuku Gyoen.
Skytree or Shibuya Sky, if I only do one?
Shibuya Sky, booked before 14:59 at ¥2,700. It is open air, it is attached to a station you will pass through anyway, and it is ¥900 cheaper than the Skytree combo ticket. Choose Skytree if you want height for its own sake or you are already in Asakusa.
Can I still see the tuna auction without winning the lottery?
Yes. The lottery is only for the lower observation deck. The second-floor visitor walkway is open to anyone, free, with no application. Both need a very early start and both are closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and public holidays.
What is the cheapest way to see kabuki?
Single act tickets at the Kabukiza in Ginza. In August 2026 the fourth-level single act prices ran ¥2,000 to ¥3,500 depending on the act. Reserved seats go on sale online at noon the day before with a small system fee, and unreserved seats are sold at a dedicated window on the day.
How much should I budget for attractions per day?
¥3,000 a day covers one paid headline attraction plus a garden or a museum, if you keep the free list in rotation. ¥6,000 a day is a teamLab site and an observation deck on the same day, which is more screen and glass than most people want.
Which day should I keep free?
Monday. The Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Zoo and Shinjuku Gyoen all close, and the Imperial Palace East Gardens close on Mondays and Fridays. Use a Monday for Sensoji, Meiji Jingu, the free observatories and Toyosu, and save the ticketed sites for another day. Plan your arrival day around the airport transfer costs, because a late Narita landing eats the first evening.
Sources: GO TOKYO on Shibuya Sky, Tokyo Skytree ticket prices, Tokyo Tower fees and business hours, Ghibli Museum tickets, GO TOKYO on teamLab Planets, GO TOKYO on teamLab Borderless, Ministry of the Environment on Shinjuku Gyoen admission, the Imperial Palace East Garden guide, Tokyo National Museum admission, Ueno Zoo fees, Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Toyosu Market, GO TOKYO on the Metropolitan Government Building observatories, Kabuki Web single act tickets for August 2026, the official Grand Sumo ticket site, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo tickets, GO TOKYO on Meiji Jingu and UK FCDO travel advice for Japan.
Researched from primary sources and checked August 2026. General information, not advice.
