The rule
No tickets are sold at the museum. Entry is by date-and-time-specific ticket purchased in advance through Lawson, in the same way as the Ghibli Museum.
If you arrive without one, you will not get in.
Where it is
Kawasaki, between Tokyo and Yokohama. About 30 minutes from Shinjuku on the Odakyu line to Noborito, then a shuttle bus from the station. Noborito is also on the JR Nambu line.
The station itself is decorated with Doraemon, which is a reasonable sign you are in the right place.
Buying the ticket
- Tickets are sold in advance for specific dates and entry times.
- Purchase runs through Lawson — either the website or the in-store Loppi terminals.
- Register your account before you try to buy. Doing registration during the rush is what causes most failures.
- Have a second choice of date and time ready before you start.
The interface has English support but behaves like a Japanese ticketing system. If you have already dealt with Ghibli Museum tickets, this will feel familiar.
Closed on Tuesdays
Along with occasional maintenance periods. Check the calendar before you plan the day around it.
What is inside
- Original artwork by Fujiko F Fujio, across Doraemon and his other series
- A recreation of his studio, including his desk and materials
- An outdoor area with full-size characters, including the empty lot with the concrete pipes
- A café and a shop with museum-exclusive goods
Allow about two and a half hours.
Why it is worth it for overseas visitors
Doraemon is one of a very small number of Japanese characters that is genuinely a household name across Asia — in some countries more so than in Japan. Despite that, the original artwork exists in exactly one place, and this is it.
The museum is also considerably easier to reach than the Ghibli Museum and, in practice, its tickets are less brutally competitive.
If you cannot get a ticket
- Tokyo Character Street in the basement of Tokyo Station carries official Doraemon merchandise with no ticket required.
- Doraemon goods are also widely available in the character floors of large stores, unlike Ghibli merchandise which is more tightly controlled.
The museum is the only place for the original art, but merchandise is not the constraint.
Practical notes
- Photography rules vary by area — the outdoor spaces are generally fine, the exhibition rooms are not.
- The shuttle bus from Noborito is themed and runs frequently on museum days.
- Combine it with Kawasaki or Yokohama rather than trying to fit it around central Tokyo — the geography does not favour that.
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