Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium | 東京体育館
Adult Admission Price & Policy
Drop-in/Casual
Up to 2½ hours ¥700, add ¥350 for each additional hour begun; day pass ¥3,000. [September, 2023]
Note: Admission policies and prices shown in Swimmers Guide listings are believed to be correct as of the date shown in brackets. If not correct now, please click on the "Edit" button and tell us so this listing can be fixed and the information brought current. This site works best when its users take an active role in the maintenance of the data.
Note: Admission policies and prices shown in Swimmers Guide listings are believed to be correct as of the date shown in brackets. If not correct now, please click on the "Edit" button and tell us so this listing can be fixed and the information brought current. This site works best when its users take an active role in the maintenance of the data.
Full-Size, Year-Round Pools & Boards
Location
Location
Take the JR Line to the Sendagaya station. The facility is directly across the street; enter under the pyramid; the pool entrance is on the right side, lower level. Or take the Metro Oedo line to the Kokuritsu-Kyogijo station; use Exit A4 for easy access.
County/Region
Tokyo Prefecture
GPS
35.679745, 139.712394
Teams That Use This Facility
We have no web links or contact information for teams that train at this facility.
Facility Notes
The facility's website has a language toggle in the top-line menu for English-speaking users and there's also a downloadable, English user guide in PDF format available HERE. The English language website is current, but the PDF user guide has not been updated to reflect the new prices that went into effect in August, 2023.
Facility Reviews
The 50m pool has speed designated lanes (fast/medium/slow in both English and Japanese); the 25m pool is a bun fight.
Extremely helpful non-English speaking front desk personnel walked me through the entry procedures. Crowded, but a good deal.
A GREAT pool, clean, well managed and a perfect temperature. Highly recommended.
Lockers use magnetic locks; show your ticket at the front desk. The 50m pool is not too crowded weekend AMs or Sundays after 6 PM.
I recently visited this pool. It's a great pool, but I found it crowded. It has nice showers and onzen facilities for soaking. Hair dryers are provided for the women.
Westerners: Be advised that the Japanese have different rules for swimming from anywhere else: No swim watches. No wrist monitors. No bracelets, iPods, or flippers. I was stopped for violating all of these rules. No "outstripping", which I learned is overtaking another swimmer. Also, there are mandatory, 10-minute rest periods. I happened to be caught in a mandatory rest period after only 20 minutes of swimming, but was yanked out of the pool along with the rest of the herd. They seem to require this every two hours. And don't bring your flip flops into the swimming pool area.
[December, 2014]
Westerners: Be advised that the Japanese have different rules for swimming from anywhere else: No swim watches. No wrist monitors. No bracelets, iPods, or flippers. I was stopped for violating all of these rules. No "outstripping", which I learned is overtaking another swimmer. Also, there are mandatory, 10-minute rest periods. I happened to be caught in a mandatory rest period after only 20 minutes of swimming, but was yanked out of the pool along with the rest of the herd. They seem to require this every two hours. And don't bring your flip flops into the swimming pool area.
[December, 2014]
This is a wonderful facility.
Unlike previous reviewers, however, I have seen people with flippers, mitts, and so on use them without problem. Also, the need for ten minute rest periods was not observed in the twenty or so visits I made in December 2014/January 2015.
A swim cap is mandatory, but there is a shop there, where one can be purchased, if needed. The cheapest one is ¥1000.
The best times for weekday swimming seem to be between 1 PM and 3:30 PM and then from 6 PM on. The afternoons get busy with swim teams that can make consistent swimming a challenge. I did not swim in the morning, so cannot comment.
The hot bath afterwards is the best.
[January, 2015]
Unlike previous reviewers, however, I have seen people with flippers, mitts, and so on use them without problem. Also, the need for ten minute rest periods was not observed in the twenty or so visits I made in December 2014/January 2015.
A swim cap is mandatory, but there is a shop there, where one can be purchased, if needed. The cheapest one is ¥1000.
The best times for weekday swimming seem to be between 1 PM and 3:30 PM and then from 6 PM on. The afternoons get busy with swim teams that can make consistent swimming a challenge. I did not swim in the morning, so cannot comment.
The hot bath afterwards is the best.
[January, 2015]
This is a fantastic facility and very well organized. Enter under the pyramid, get a ticket from the vending machine (the buttons are only in Japanese but just press the one that says ¥600), put the ticket in the turnstile at the gate, choose any locker, put your ticket in the slot in the lock, remove the key to take with you swimming. Then do all those steps in reverse on the way out (you need the ticket to leave the gate so they know you haven't overstayed).
The locker rooms are spotless. Swim caps are required. Passing is not permitted, as another reviewer has said, but you can make U-turns. I visited twice on a weekday morning, when there were about five people per 50m lane, and on a weekend, when it was much busier (eight to ten swimmers per lane). But the organization is so good that it didn't feel crowded; there were slow, medium, and fast lanes, and lifeguards enforced speeds by telling the slowpokes to move if they were in the wrong lane. (Embarrassingly I chose medium and was immediately told I was too slow (~50sec/50m pace) so I picked up the pace and all was fine.)
The staff do not speak English well but are very helpful and have handouts and signs in English to help. There appeared to be three 10-minute mandatory breaks throughout the day for them to inspect and clean the pool.
Highly recommended. They even have free wifi!
[July, 2017]
The locker rooms are spotless. Swim caps are required. Passing is not permitted, as another reviewer has said, but you can make U-turns. I visited twice on a weekday morning, when there were about five people per 50m lane, and on a weekend, when it was much busier (eight to ten swimmers per lane). But the organization is so good that it didn't feel crowded; there were slow, medium, and fast lanes, and lifeguards enforced speeds by telling the slowpokes to move if they were in the wrong lane. (Embarrassingly I chose medium and was immediately told I was too slow (~50sec/50m pace) so I picked up the pace and all was fine.)
The staff do not speak English well but are very helpful and have handouts and signs in English to help. There appeared to be three 10-minute mandatory breaks throughout the day for them to inspect and clean the pool.
Highly recommended. They even have free wifi!
[July, 2017]
This is a great, clean, large facility. Tickets are purchased from a ticket machine in the entrance that can be switched to English. The ticket has a QR code which is read both at entry and exit. The ticket is also inserted in back of the locks on lockers in change rooms to activate the locks. Use of the lockers is free with entry with wristband keys.
The water was a comfortable 29ºC (84ºF) in the 50-meter pool. The lane signs are in English, as well as Japanese and, in my experience (two morning swims), almost everyone was in an appropriate lane. There were two, occasionally three swimmers per lane in my mid-morning swims. The pool water is clear and clean. I saw one person with a kick board and a couple doing flip turns in the faster lanes. I swam only in the 50-meter pool.
The lockers and showers are large and clean. There’s a large, rectangular hot tub in men’s locker room (and no doubt in women’s). If you aren’t familiar with Japanese hot tub etiquette: full bathing with lots of soap in adjacent bathing room is required prior to use; no trunks or other clothing is permitted in the hot tub; your hair should not be put in the water; neither a towel nor any other personal object should be placed in the water or on the edge of the hot tub (many Japanese carry a small towel and place it, folded, on top of their heads while in a hot tub).
The facility is super easy to find from JR Sendagaya (main exit) or the Kokuritsu-Kyogijo Metro Station (Exit A3). The staff is very helpful. This is a great pool.
[April, 2023].
The water was a comfortable 29ºC (84ºF) in the 50-meter pool. The lane signs are in English, as well as Japanese and, in my experience (two morning swims), almost everyone was in an appropriate lane. There were two, occasionally three swimmers per lane in my mid-morning swims. The pool water is clear and clean. I saw one person with a kick board and a couple doing flip turns in the faster lanes. I swam only in the 50-meter pool.
The lockers and showers are large and clean. There’s a large, rectangular hot tub in men’s locker room (and no doubt in women’s). If you aren’t familiar with Japanese hot tub etiquette: full bathing with lots of soap in adjacent bathing room is required prior to use; no trunks or other clothing is permitted in the hot tub; your hair should not be put in the water; neither a towel nor any other personal object should be placed in the water or on the edge of the hot tub (many Japanese carry a small towel and place it, folded, on top of their heads while in a hot tub).
The facility is super easy to find from JR Sendagaya (main exit) or the Kokuritsu-Kyogijo Metro Station (Exit A3). The staff is very helpful. This is a great pool.
[April, 2023].
This well-kept, 50-meter pool has designated lane speeds, and no passing is allowed. Pull-buoys and kickboards are available for use. You cannot wear smartwatch or any (!) jewelry in the pool.
You purchase your ticket at a kiosk - it is also used to enter the gymnasium so you could theoretically swim AND use the gym during the 2½ hours. But make sure to keep your ticket, as you insert it on the inside of the locker to lock it and you have to scan it on the way out in order to ensure that you haven't overstayed your 2½ hours.
[September, 2023]
You purchase your ticket at a kiosk - it is also used to enter the gymnasium so you could theoretically swim AND use the gym during the 2½ hours. But make sure to keep your ticket, as you insert it on the inside of the locker to lock it and you have to scan it on the way out in order to ensure that you haven't overstayed your 2½ hours.
[September, 2023]
The pool here is part of a larger sports complex. It’s somewhat difficult to find, but head for the glass pyramid and you’ll see the entrance underneath. The 50m pool was clean, well-organized by swim speed, and the water was a comfortable temperature. Lockers were available, though there were also open poolside cubbies to place your things.
Like other pools in Japan, swim caps are required, and water bottles cannot be kept on the pool deck (although you may leave them on the benches 10 feet away). Kickboards and buoys are available to use, but you aren’t allowed to bring your own equipment. The pool enforces the 10 minute hourly break period, so keep that in mind.
For those with tattoos, this seemed to be one of the few Japanese pools where I saw people with tattoos allowed to swim.
Overall, it’s a great place to do laps.
[October, 2023]
Like other pools in Japan, swim caps are required, and water bottles cannot be kept on the pool deck (although you may leave them on the benches 10 feet away). Kickboards and buoys are available to use, but you aren’t allowed to bring your own equipment. The pool enforces the 10 minute hourly break period, so keep that in mind.
For those with tattoos, this seemed to be one of the few Japanese pools where I saw people with tattoos allowed to swim.
Overall, it’s a great place to do laps.
[October, 2023]