> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://rochsociety.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Dog Friendly City Guide: Tokyo, Japan
- URL: https://rochsociety.com/dog-friendly-city-guide-tokyo-japan/
- Published: 2026-10-14T10:06:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-14T10:06:14.000Z
- Description: Shaded park avenues, a dozen metropolitan dog runs, cafes built around the dog and a riverside terrace in Asakusa. Where to stay, eat, drink and walk with a dog in Tokyo, and the rules that shape the day.
- Author: Oliver Williams
- Tags: City Guides

Tokyo is, for a dog, one of the most orderly cities anywhere. Small dogs ride the trains in their carriers, the big parks are laid out along long tree lined avenues, and the city has built something few capitals offer: a network of fenced dog runs inside its metropolitan parks, a dozen of them under one registration. The trick is to treat Tokyo as a string of neighbourhoods, each with its own park and its own places to sit down, and to plan a day around one of them rather than trying to cross the whole city in an afternoon.

## Getting There With a Dog

Japan's rules are among the strictest anywhere, and they are set by the [Animal Quarantine Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries](https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/index.html?ref=rochsociety.com). A dog that meets every requirement on arrival is released within twelve hours; one that does not is held at a quarantine facility for the time still owed, up to 180 days. Dogs coming from the [designated regions](https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/import-free.html?ref=rochsociety.com), which the service lists as Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, the Fiji Islands, Hawaii and Guam, follow a shorter procedure. From [everywhere else](https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/import-other.html?ref=rochsociety.com), including Britain, Europe and the mainland United States, the dog must be microchipped before its first rabies vaccination, vaccinated against rabies at least twice, and pass a rabies antibody test at an approved laboratory with a result of at least 0.5 IU/ml, after which it may not land in Japan until 180 days have passed from the date the blood was taken. Every owner, from any region, must notify the quarantine office at the port of arrival at least 40 days before landing, and dogs may enter only through the ports the service names.

Once you are in Tokyo, the trains are open to a small dog. [JR East's own guide](https://media.jreast.co.jp/articles/408?ref=rochsociety.com) explains that a dog must travel fully inside a pet case, with the length, width and height adding up to no more than 120cm and the case and dog together weighing no more than 10kg, and that you show the case to the staff at the ticket gate, who check it and issue a small article ticket for it. A larger dog will need a taxi or a car.

## Where to Stay

The hotel to know is [OMO5 Tokyo Gotanda by Hoshino Resorts](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/omo5-by?ref=rochsociety.com), in Shinagawa, the strongest of our ranked dog friendly hotels in Tokyo with an A. Some of its rooms are set aside for dogs, taking up to two to a room with a weight limit of 44 lb, and the welcome is thorough: a dedicated dog space and a dog wash area for after the walk, a proper bed and bowls in the room, poo bags and grooming on hand, and staff trained for canine guests. Your dog can join you on the terrace, in the lounge and in the garden, the hotel runs dog events and the staff will suggest walking routes nearby. The dog fee is 5,093 yen and there is no damage deposit.

For a grand hotel, [Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/mandarin-oriental-tokyo-tokyo?ref=rochsociety.com), ranked C, looks after a small dog in style. Most rooms take one dog of up to 15 lb, and the room comes with a bed, bowls, free treats and toys, with dog food sold on site. The hotel runs both a dog walking and a dog sitting service, so an evening out is easily arranged, and it keeps an emergency vet number ready.

Two more sit in the centre with a D. [The Square Hotel GINZA](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/the-square-hotel-ginza?ref=rochsociety.com) is the most sociable for a small dog: up to 15 lb, welcome in the bar, the restaurant, the lounge and on the terrace, with a dedicated dog space, free treats, dog food for sale and staff trained to look after canine guests. [Shangri-La Tokyo](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-hotel/shangri-la-tokyo?ref=rochsociety.com) takes one dog of up to 33 lb in most of its rooms, lays out a bed, and can arrange walking and sitting. For the full picture, with every hotel's fees and grade, see [our ranked dog friendly hotels in Tokyo](https://rochdog.com/dog-friendly-cities/tokyo?ref=rochsociety.com).

## Eat and Drink

Tokyo's great contribution to dining with a dog is the dog cafe, built from the ground up for owners and their dogs together. The best known name is [DOG DEPT + CAFE](https://dogdept.com/cafe/?ref=rochsociety.com), whose own page describes a place where dogs and people can both relax over coffee and a light lunch, with dishes made for the dog as well. It has two cafes in the city. The one in Asakusa, at the Sumida River Terrace in Komagata, has sofa seats inside and a terrace on the river with the Skytree in view, and on weekdays it opens at eight with a morning menu. The Odaiba branch, in Decks Tokyo Beach, welcomes every breed inside, has a terrace facing the sea and stays open until eight in the evening at weekends.

Further out, in Den-en-chofu, [Deco's Dog Cafe Den-en Sabo](https://hot-dog.co.jp/cafe/?ref=rochsociety.com) is the most devoted of them all. It was created by Deco, who develops treats and meals for dogs and cats, every seat inside and on the terrace is open to dogs, and the dog menu runs to dozens of dishes, from everyday meals to birthday cakes. It also holds dog yoga every month.

For a proper dinner, [Ushisuke](https://ushisuke-oneshot.net/restaurants-list?ref=rochsociety.com) is a group of meat restaurants built around dining with your dog. Its Odaiba restaurant, on the ground floor of Decks Tokyo Beach, is a bright room with a wall of glass facing the bay and the lights of the Rainbow Bridge at night, with dishes for the dog alongside yours, and a beach for a walk a few minutes away. In Ikebukuro, the Minami-Ikebukuro branch of [Hachikuma Cafe](https://www.hachikumacafe.com/?ref=rochsociety.com), known for honey French toast, lets small dogs of up to about 9kg come inside, held on your lap or in a carrier.

## Walks and Parks

Every walk in Tokyo starts with one rule. The [Tokyo Metropolitan ordinance on the welfare and management of animals](https://www.hokeniryo.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/documents/d/hokeniryo/tojourei-r6?ref=rochsociety.com) requires a dog to be kept under control, and outside it must be held securely on a lead by someone able to control it. The parks repeat it, and ask you to carry waste home.

[Yoyogi Park](https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/yoyogi/index.html?ref=rochsociety.com), three minutes on foot from Harajuku station, is the walk to begin with: a zelkova avenue, a great open field at its centre and paths under the trees. Its dog run, described on the [park's facilities page](https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/yoyogi/facility/index.html?ref=rochsociety.com), is divided by weight into three areas, for the very small, the small and medium, and the medium and large. That page also explains the system that makes Tokyo unusual. Twelve metropolitan parks have dog runs, and a single online registration lets you use them all.

Across the river in Koto, [Kiba Park](https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/kiba/facility/index.html?ref=rochsociety.com) is the big green space of the east side, with a broad meadow, a bridge with a view of the Skytree and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo within its grounds. Its dog run covers 2,040 square metres at the south end of the meadow, split into an area for small dogs and one for medium and large.

To the west, [Komazawa Olympic Park](https://www.tef.or.jp/kopgp/map.html?ref=rochsociety.com) in Setagaya, home to the Tokyo Olympic Memorial Gallery, is another of the twelve parks with a dog run, alongside a jogging and cycling course through its grounds. Out in the western suburbs, [Koganei Park](https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/koganei/index.html?ref=rochsociety.com) is one of the city's celebrated cherry blossom sites, with paths made for a long stroll and a dog run on the west side of its Eucalyptus Square. Closer in, [Roka Koshun-en](https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/rokakoshun-en/facility/index.html?ref=rochsociety.com) in Setagaya keeps the old house and garden of the writer Tokutomi Roka, and has a dog run looked after by a volunteer group of local owners.

![The footbridge in Kiba Park with the Tokyo Skytree in the distance](https://rochsociety.com/content/images/2026/10/tok-kiba.jpg)

Kiba Park, Koto, with the Skytree beyond. Photo: NMaia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

## A Day Out

A good Tokyo day with a dog begins early in Yoyogi Park, under the trees before the crowds arrive. From there, take the train east with a small dog in its case, or a taxi with a larger one, to Asakusa for a late breakfast on the DOG DEPT terrace above the Sumida River. In the afternoon cross to Kiba Park for a long walk over the bridge and through the meadow, and end the day in Odaiba, with a stroll by the bay and dinner at Ushisuke as the Rainbow Bridge lights up.

## Good to Know

Keep your dog on a lead everywhere outside a dog run and carry bags, because the city expects both. The metropolitan dog runs are open only to registered dogs, and registration needs the current year's rabies vaccination tag issued by a Japanese city or ward office: the parks say plainly that a vet's rabies certificate or the import quarantine certificate alone will not do, and the registration card takes seven to ten days to arrive. A visiting dog will usually enjoy the parks on the lead rather than the runs. Hotel weight limits in Tokyo are low and the trains take only a dog that fits a small case, so the city suits a small dog best. Summers are hot and humid, so walk early and late and keep paws off sun warmed paving.