Senso-ji greets visitors with the mighty Kaminari-mon (Thunder Gate), a roofed gate standing almost 12 meters (39 feet) high and 12 meters wide under which hangs a 680-kilogram (1,500-pound) red paper lantern. Protected on either side by the menacing bronze statues of Raijin and Fujin, the gods of thunder and wind, Kaminari-mon is merely a taste of what’s to come. At the other end of Nakamisedori, the two-story Hozomon Gate stands 22 meters (72 feet) high and is decorated with three giant lanterns and two 362- kilogram (800- pound) straw sandals. Used to store many of Senso-ji’s most precious relics, it is guarded by two grim-faced 5-meter (16-foot)-tall statues of Nio, the guardian deity of the Buddha. Beyond that, in air heavy with pungent incense, comes a five-tiered pagoda and the larger, albeit less ornate, main building, in front of which visitors pray and wave incense smoke over themselves for its supposed curative powers.
I’m not sold on the curative effects of smoke but I am sold on Senso-ji. In the middle of a city as modern and cramped as Tokyo, it’s an incredible combination of tradition and scale.
Opening Times Open 24/7. Getting There Senso-ji is a several-minute walk from Asakusa on the Asakusa and Ginza subway lines. Contact www.senso-ji.jp. Admission Fee Free.
6 Sumida River Cruise
Take to the water for a different perspective on the city
A journey down the Sumida River from Asakusa takes you close to both Tokyo’s past and the different faces of its present. The city’s expansive but often overlooked waterways were once crucial commercial arteries that helped drive the city’s growth, and today you’ll still see giant barges plying the waters carrying industrial material. At night, you’ll also see the orange lanterns of traditional yakatabune houseboats heading up and down the rivers, nowadays carrying drinkers and diners on party cruises.
As you leave Asakusa and head south down the Sumida, the Skytree gradually shrinking in the distance behind you, the river begins to offer views of everyday Tokyo that you won’t find by wandering the streets of Ginza or Roppongi. There will be the occasional angler fishing from the concrete river bank and ageing gray apartment blocks accented by futons hung out on balconies to air—some being beaten to purge the dust mites. Every so often you’ll see a cluster of makeshift cardboard homes covered by blue tarpaulins to keep out the rain, and then enclaves of glistening high-rise, high- rent apartments that are home to more fortunate waterside residents.
For an additional ¥300 on the fare, the journey is even better if you rent one of the English audio guides that give an insightful commentary on the history of Tokyo and sights along the river. Also think about which route you want to take. There are quite a few available, all going down the Sumida River and then heading off to different parts of Tokyo Bay, but the best two for combining with other attractions are the 35-minute direct route from Asakusa to the Hama-Rikyu Gardens (page 77) and the 70-minute Asakusa to Odaiba route (see page 32) that requires a transfer at Hinode Pier.
Opening Times The first boat of the day leaves Asakusa at 9.50 a.m. They then run once or twice an hour until around 7 p.m. See the website below for timetables. Getting There The Asakusa pier is a one-minute walk from Asakusa subway station. Contact www.suijobus.co.jp (mostly in Japanese, but with some English). Admission Fee Asakusa direct to Hama-Rikyu (¥760), Asakusa to Odaiba via Hinode (¥1,220).
7 A Stroll Through the Yanaka District
Discover “Old Tokyo” in this eastside village neighborhood
Yanaka, one of three adjoining neighborhoods that together make up the area known as Yanesen (Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi; see pull-out map K2), was best described by noted American writer Donald Richie when he called it “One of the best preserved sections of village-Tokyo.” As Richie explains in his book Tokyo Megacity, Yanaka owes its preservation to having somehow avoided both the devastation of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and the fire-bombing of Tokyo in 1945. If you want to feel “old Tokyo”, then it’s Yanaka you need to visit.
Walk down Yanaka’s main shopping street, Yanaka Ginza, and you will find it lined with open-fronted mom-and-pop stores and small restaurants, ranging from Hatsuneya at the far end of the street, which sells traditional textiles and clothing, to the fine teas at Kaneyoshien halfway up and the hand-made candies at Goto no Ame at the start of the street. Wander off into Yanaka’s narrow back streets and it gets even better. You might stroll past the wooden house where Meiji-era novelist Natsume Soseki wrote his masterpiece I Am a Cat or the house-turned-museum where painter Yokoyama Taikan lived. The pair were two of many artists, literati and bohemians who, in the main thanks to Yanaka’s low rents, used to call the area home.
While Yanaka is best discovered by wandering aimlessly, letting the winding streets lead you where they will, make sure you find your way at some point to Yanaka Cemetery. The peaceful, incense-infused cemetery holds some 7,000 graves, including the resting place of the last shogun. It’s also one of Tokyo’s most tranquil spots except, that is, when the cherry blossoms turn much of its main walkways pink in early spring, attracting crowds of picnickers.
Opening Times Different shops along Yanaka Ginza close on different days. Most are open by 10.30 a.m. Yanaka Cemetery is open 24/7 (the office, where you can pick up a map of the famous graves, is open daily 8.30 a.m.–5.15 p.m.). Getting There Yanaka Ginza is a five-minute walk from the west exit of Nippori Station on the Yamanote Line. Yanaka Cemetery is one minute from the same station.
8 Akihabara
Japan’s home electronics and geeky mecca
Akihabara, which is located almost halfway between the Imperial Palace area (page 26) and Ueno (page 33), has come to mean two things to the Japanese: electronics and otaku. The first of those associations can be traced back to the black market trading of radio components in the area, which began shortly after World War II and then morphed into the legitimate trading of home electronics and gadgetry that today has made Akihabara the home electronics retail center of Tokyo. The latter association is more recent, Akihabara becoming the focal point for otaku (which you can translate somewhere near to geek), initially on the back of video gaming in the late 1980s but more recently on anime (animation) and manga (comic books).
What that means for visitors to modern day Akihabara is that from side street computer component specialists to one- stop megastores like Yodobashi Akiba (page 36), you won’t find a bigger or more varied collection of home electronics shops anywhere else in Japan. Nor will you see a better or at times more bizarre selection of stores specializing in manga, anime, video games, cosplay (costume play) outfits and all manner of hobby goods and collectibles.
If you wanted to build your own robot, you’d come to Akiba—as Akihabara is often called—for parts. Want to collect models of every character ever to have appeared in a Godzilla movie? This is the place to find Mothra and more. Need to complete your poster collection of super cute (or super irritating, depending on your stance) teen idol girl group AKB48? Come here before seeking out a counselor. Or just come and have a browse, not only at the stores but of the occasional oddballs in fancy dress wandering the streets. You don’t need to be an otaku or a techie to enjoy Akiba. For a fuller look at the area and a detailed run-down on many of its stores, look at the Akihabara and Shinjuku section on pages 36–7.
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