Choosing a Stroller for Use in Tokyo

Buying a stroller or buggy to use in Tokyo comes with its own set of specific considerations. With packed trains, lots of stairs, small retail spaces, and busy sidewalks, it pays to ask yourself a few questions before deciding on a stroller for your child or children.

After speaking to some other mama friends as well as chatting on Facebook’s Tokyo Mothers Group, I discovered most parents tended to think about the following specs when buying a stroller to use in Tokyo.

• Weight. If you had to, could you carry your bub and the stroller up stairs? Unfortunately, elevators or escalators aren’t always on hand.
• Size, particularly width. Will the stroller fit through station gates, on the bus, in shops?
• Maneuverability. Will this stroller be easy to handle getting on and off trains, in and out of elevators, through busy streets?
• Stability. Can you hang bags on the stroller’s handles without it tipping over backwards?
• Storage. Is there any space underneath the carriage/seat for bags, goods, etc.?

To get you started, here is a list of strollers that other moms in Tokyo are currently using and would recommend:

Single Strollers/Buggies

Aprica Dribble

Aprica Stick

Bugaboo Bee

Bugaboo Cameleon

Combi Diaclasse

Graco City Cargo

Joovy Caboose

Maclaren Triumph

Maclaren XT

Peg Perego Pliko Mini

Phil & Ted’s Navigator

Double Strollers/Buggies

Aprica Twin Stroller

Baby Jogger City Select

Joovy Caboose

Phil & Ted’s Navigator

Other points to keep in mind:

• If the brand of stroller or buggy is Japanese, any issues that could arise will be quicker to fix than that of an overseas brand.
• Japanese strollers and buggies are far cheaper in Japan than names like Bugaboo and Phil & Ted’s.
• If you are after an overseas brand, look on eBay, Amazon.com, and other international sites, where these items sell brand new for far less (often including delivery too) than what they do in Japan.