The Low City, Dawn to Sunset

The route

• 01

  Ray in Manila / CC BY 2.0

  Tokyo · Asakusa · From Tokyo Stn · ~15-20 min · Better early

  Senso-ji

  Tokyo's oldest temple at its quietest: at dawn the 250-metre approach is near-empty.

  What to look for

  • Kaminarimon Gate — the signature gate with its giant red paper lantern
  • Nakamise-dori — about 89 shops lining the 250-metre approach
  • Main hall (Hondo) — the heart of the temple, enshrining Kannon; opens early each morning

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• Next stop · 2.1 km in a straight line
• 02

  663highland / CC BY 2.5

  Tokyo · Taito-ku / Ueno–Okachimachi · From Tokyo Stn · ~5 min

  Ameyoko

  Four hundred shops under a railway viaduct, prices shouted out loud — the postwar black market that never stopped trading.

  What to look for

  • The viaduct stretch — the section where shops trade directly under the railway arches, with trains passing overhead
  • Fresh fish and seafood stalls — the loudest part of the street — vendors call prices and cut to order in the open
  • Dried goods, nuts and sweets — the trade the street was named for, still sold by weight from open bins

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• Next stop · 0.7 km in a straight line
• 03

  Rijksmuseum / CC0

  Tokyo · Taito-ku / Ueno · From Tokyo Stn · ~5 min

  Ueno Park

  Tokyo's great cultural commons — Japan's oldest museum, a Le Corbusier UNESCO building, and a lotus pond, all in one park.

  What to look for

  • Tokyo National Museum — Japan's oldest and largest museum, founded 1882; Japanese art and archaeology across several buildings
  • National Museum of Western Art — Le Corbusier-designed building (1959), UNESCO World Heritage; the best Western art collection in Japan
  • Shinobazu Pond — a large pond at the park's southwest corner; lotus beds in summer, Benten-do island shrine, resident cormorants

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• Next stop · 1.5 km in a straight line
• 04

  Doricono / CC BY-SA 3.0

  Central Tokyo · Yanaka · From Ueno Stn · ~5 min

  Yanaka Ginza

  170 metres of postwar downtown Tokyo, five minutes off the Yamanote Line — and one of the city's few genuine eat-as-you-walk streets.

  What to look for

  • Yuyake Dandan — the flight of steps at the Nippori end, named for the sunset that falls straight down the length of the street
  • The street itself — about 170 metres and roughly seventy shops, most of them small and family-run, from butchers and greengrocers to sweet shops
  • The seven wooden cats — carved cats placed on the shopfronts and roofs along the street — spotting all of them is the local game

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