Tokyo is the world’s largest city and offers plenty of fantastic areas to explore. Asakusa for example, is one of the most interesting and authentic neighbourhoods in the Japanese capital. Trot Op! took to the streets and visited the best and most surprising sights.
Asakusa – say “Asáksa” if you want to sound Japanese – is one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Tokyo. This is not all too surprising: it’s home to the biggest tourist draw in the entire city and it has some of the cheapest hotels. On top of that, Asakusa is one of the few remaining parts of Tokyo where you can still get a clear picture of the much older city that once was. Narrow streets and wooden houses with electric cables still running from building to building like jungle vines; lots of hidden temples and shrines (over 150 of them) and covered shopping arcades full of small family businesses where English menus are non-existent. Asakusa exudes the kind of authenticity and nostalgia you yearn for as a visitor in the ever fast-paced Tokyo. Despite the recent construction frenzy fuelled by the Olympics – which caused the loss of several old-fashioned but iconic buildings all over the city – Asakusa often still feels as if time stood still here for at least six decades. A bit like Bruges, but with fewer Japanese tourists.
Tokyo Travel Guide: Discover Asakusa in 13 Tips and Top Attractions
Asakusa is located in the northeast of Tokyo – almost in the suburbs – and is the main part of the so-called shitamachi (“the low city” where plenty of old buildings are still standing). The beating heart of the district is the large Sensoji Temple, which is also where every tourist is drawn to like a moth to a flame. As a result, it’s always incredibly busy around the temple grounds until the evening when the shops close. I stayed in a cheap but cosy hotel in Oku Asakusa, about half an hour’s walk from Sensoji. This is the mostly residential area north of the temple. Hardly any tourists come here, and from nine to five there’s almost no one on the street except for the occasional 200-year-old Japanese grandmother shuffling about. It was wonderful: after an intense day of taking pictures and subways, I could always walk home to my beckoning bed (tatami in my case) over almost deserted streets. I fell in love with nearly all of Tokyo during my stay, but Asakusa might just be my favourite neighbourhood, and I spent quite some time here. There’s plenty to see and experience, but some places you’ll walk straight past if you don’t explicitly know where they are. This is why I wrote this overview. It’s as thorough as I could make it as a passer-by.
1. Visit Sensoji Tempel
Sensoji isn’t only the most important temple in Tokyo, it’s also by far the oldest. Founded in the year 628 (which is indeed a long time ago) it had to be reconstructed several times over the centuries. This is because Tokyo was built over several volatile fault lines, while most of its homes were originally put together with wood and those flimsy paper sliding doors. Every time a wok flew off the stove during a quake, half the city would go up in flames. Tokyo suffered badly during WWII as well, which is why the current version of the temple is actually quite recent. There’s a legend attached to its founding. Instead of the usual carp, two fishermen had caught a statue of Kannon in their lines: the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Because statues don’t feed people, they threw it right back in and called it a day. Surprisingly it stood back on the shore the next morning, after which they decided to play it safe and build a temple around it. Can’t be too careful with goddesses after all – even with the merciful ones.
“Sensoji is the beating heart of Asakusa. It’s also the oldest and most important temple in Tokyo, which of course attracts huge crowds. Want to explore the temple grounds in peace? Come back after sunset for a quieter visit.”
When you enter Sensoji through the main entrance as you should, you’ll have to pass through Kaminarimon (“The Thunder Gate”). This is a photogenic entrance gate supporting a 700kg red lantern. Here, photo sessions are being held all day, usually carried out by the well-trained boyfriends of an ever-present horde of kimono-wearing, ribbon-braided Chinese tourists. In the actual temple, you can of course pray and pay your respects, but you can also predict your own future. To do this, you’ll need to throw a hundred yen coin into a slot and shake a metal box until a stick falls out. The number on it corresponds to a nearby drawer, in which your faith will be waiting for you on a crisp piece of paper. Unexpected bad news? Tie it to one of the racks outside or you’ll have to take your misery home. The temple becomes much quieter after sunset. The whole site is wonderfully lit, and most of the tourists will leave after the shops close. Perfect for a more peaceful and ethereal visit.
2. Nakamise-dori: shopping on an Edo-era street
Nakamise-dori is the street leading straight from Kaminarimon to Sensoji Temple. It’s been here since the 17th century, making it one of the oldest shopping streets in Japan. Many of the close to a hundred businesses flanking the street have been run by the same families for generations. Nakamise-dori is often even busier than the actual temple, so you’ll usually shuffle through at a snail’s pace. This isn’t all too bad, because there’s a ton of souvenirs to score. Everything is sold, from Japanese craftwork, kimonos and sandals to general tourist crap and even samurai swords for those who love to be strip-searched by customs. Traditional sweets are on sale as well. Ningyouyaki for example, are cookies in all sorts of shapes filled with sweet red bean paste – not bad. Opposite Nakamise-dori is the uniquely designed Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Centre. Here, all of your not-too-personal questions will be answered, and you can take the elevator to the top floor for a free view over the temple grounds.
3. Atmospheric strolling in Asakusa: Denboin-dori, Hoppy Street and Nishi-Sando Shopping Arcade
There’s more than a few pleasant streets to explore around Sensoji. Some of them are covered arcades and the most beautiful of those is Nishi-Sando Street. The first shop you’ll see here when you come from the temple is Kagetsudou, selling fresh melon pan. These are crusty Japanese sweetbuns sold with all kinds of different fillings. Denboin-dori on the other hand, is a side street of Nakamise-dori and another beautiful relic from the Edo-era. The street is lit by old lanterns and many of the facades are still made of wood. Asakusa used to be the place where people went for entertainment. They’d go to a Kabuki theatre or catch a movie and then they’d be off to the pub (or to the brothel, but keep it quiet). At the time, there were plenty of geishas working in this area (and prostitutes, but keep it quiet). Those days are long gone, and the main party crowd moved to places like Shibuya and Shinjuku, but in Denboin-dori and nearby Hoppy Street, you can still get a sense of how it used to be. Hoppy Street is full of lively izakaya (small Japanese taverns) that stay open until late in the evening. Think cheap food and great atmosphere. Hoppy is a cider-like drink that was invented here by the way: barely alcoholic, but feel free to try.
4. Buy plastic food in Kappabashi Kitchen Street
Anyone with functioning eyes who’s ever been to Japan for more than five minutes will have noticed them for sure: the eerily realistic plastic dishes in the shop window of just about every restaurant. Who makes these things? Where does everyone buy them and why don’t they just take some pictures instead? You’ll find the answer to at least two of those questions in Kappabashi Street. This is a street in Asakusa with dozens of shops selling everything the average restaurant owner could possibly need. From crockery and napkins to whole stoves, razor-sharp chef knives and in some stores the previously mentioned fake food. These look quite strange when they’re all on display next to each other. The enormous range is particularly fascinating. In some shops, you’ll see entire racks full of all possible variations of plastic sushi, and whole rows of ice cream sundaes arranged by colour and taste. Hundreds of different dishes are available, all made with an extreme sense of realism and several times more expensive than the dish you can actually eat. Kappabashi Street is hard to miss. They’ve bolted the giant head of an angry-looking chef to the roof of the first building you’ll see, possibly causing some interesting traumas to the poor kid trying to sleep in the apartment across from it.
5. Descend into the depths of Asakusa Underground Shopping Street
Beneath the streets around Asakusa Station lies a tiny stretch of Tokyo lost in time. The Asakusa Underground Shopping Street could have come straight out of Bladerunner or Cyberpunk 2077. It was built in the fifties and looks like it hasn’t been touched ever since. There are a dozen charming/somewhat shady-looking businesses in here, none of which have seen the light of day for seventy years. Gobble up a cheap bowl of noodles or some gyoza, get yourself a 1000 yen haircut or buy some old DVDs (you’ll have learn Japanese though) but above all enjoy the atmosphere of days long gone elsewhere. A slightly hipper and probably more recent addition is the NinjaBar. It opens in the evening and your cocktails and beers will be refilled without you even noticing by an ever vigilant and illusive ninja bartender. Asakusa Underground Shopping Street has several entrances that are not so easily found (one of them is in the actual metro station). I usually descended via the stairs in the covered arcade across Ekimise. Places like this are disappearing at a rapid pace, which is a shame. The history and atmosphere lost by their demolition can never be compensated with another shiny skyscraper.
6. Asakusa Hanayashiki: Japan’s oldest amusement park
Near Sensoji Temple – you can even see one of the rides from its gardens – lies Asakusa Hanayashiki. This is the oldest amusement park in Japan and it’s almost fully surrounded by apartment blocks. Behind this humble little urban theme park – it looks like the budget version of Copenhagen’s Tivoli – lies a history of more than 150 years. The park opened as a botanical garden in the Edo-period, and served as a zoo for many years later. It was rebuilt after WWII, which was also when it got its first real rides. These feel wonderfully retro nowadays. You can take a ride on the country’s oldest rollercoaster, try out all kinds of merry-go-rounds, get spooked in a haunted house or cycle through the air on a track in a pedalled helicopter to enjoy the Asakusa skyline. The entrance fee is 1.200 yen (7 euro) and you pay for the individual rides with coupons from the vending machines (never more than a few hundred yen). Asakusa Hanayashiki is the perfect place for those who want something completely different for their Tokyo experience. It’s not exactly Disneyland, but it’s charming for sure and I didn’t see any waiting lines.
7. Sumida Park: take a breather at the riverside
Want to escape the hustle and bustle for a while? Walk towards the Asakusa waterfront. The neighbourhood is bordered by the Sumida River, and they’ve constructed a beautiful promenade/park on the river bank. In Spring, Sumida Park is filled with blossoming cherry trees, and it has the best view on the Tokyo Skytree across the water all year round. You can even walk straight to it over the Sumida River Walk. The park is just a few minutes away from the busiest part of Sensoji, and yet it’s almost always extraordinarily quiet. This was by far my favourite place in Asakusa to get a breath of fresh air. Near the waterside you’ll find Matshuchiyama Shoden: a lesser-known and somewhat hidden temple that could serve as a more quiet alternative to Sensoji. Praying here is apparently good for your love life, your career and your family, so you might as well. There’s usually a pile of daikon radishes in front of the altar. These are left by worshippers as a gift for Kangiten (the Japanese version of the elephant god Ganesha). Kangiten doesn’t seem to eat any of them though, so they’re handed out for free every morning. Rabid radish fans should rise early.
8. Climb the Tokyo Skytree
The Tokyo Skytree itself is a short walk from Asakusa on the other side of the river and is a whopping 634 meters tall. That makes it the tallest freestanding tower in the world and the third tallest building in general. The Skytree’s main function is to serve as a transmission tower for radio and television signals. The Tokyo Tower – a slightly taller version of the Eiffel Tower in central Tokyo – used to have this job, but all the new skyscrapers surrounding it started to disrupt the signal. To make some extra dough out of the project, a huge mall was opened under the tower, as well as two observation platforms at a height of 350 and 450 meters. Tickets are quite expensive, and because you’re basically in a remote corner of the city, there are better and cheaper views to be had elsewhere. None of them are higher though, so there’s that. Downstairs, in addition to 300 shops and restaurants, you’ll find a planetarium, a Pokémon Centre and a Kirby Café where all the food is kawaii (book in advance). The Skytree’s most famous attraction is probably the Sumida Aquarium. It was briefly in the news during covid, because their garden eels were no longer used to visitors and hid whenever they saw someone coming. To remedy this, the aquarium asked people to videocall the animals, which turned out to be a huge success because nobody had anything else to do at the time. Nice aquarium with some beautiful tanks, but unfortunately it offers far too little space for the sea lions they keep.
9. Marvel at the Golden Poo
There are two other buildings that stand out when you look across the water from Sumida Park. One of them is a secret Skytree competitor. It serves as the headquarters of the Asahi brewery and it looks like a large pint of beer with a foamy head. It’s in this head on the 22nd floor you’ll find the Asahi Sky Room: a rooftop bar with a great view. Order one drink and you’ll have an almost equal view over Tokyo for a fraction of a Skytree ticket. The building to the right is the Asahi Beer Hall. On the roof is a golden sculpture that was supposed to represent a proud flame. Because it turned out way too heavy to stand up, the designer mounted it to the rooftop horizontally. Unfortunately, this made the prestige project look like a huge turd. It’s been called “The Golden Poo” ever since. Popular place for selfies, and no need for Asahi to despair: pooping gold apparently brings good fortune here.
10. Ryogoku Kokugikan: attend a sumo wrestling tournament
*Picture by Yves Picq
Ever wanted to watch two huge mountains of meat violently charge into each other wearing nothing but a thong? Go to a psychologist first and then buy a ticket to a sumo show in Ryogoku Kokugikan. This is the largest sumo wrestling arena in Japan, located south of Sensoji on the other bank of the Sumida. Eleven thousand people can enter – five thousand if the spectators are sumo wrestlers as well – which makes for an impressive atmosphere. I sadly didn’t get to experience any of it, because during my time in Japan no tournaments were held. When that’s the case, all you can do is visit the Sumo Museum, showcasing a bunch of artifacts from the sport, or order some chanko nabe: a traditional hotpot dish the wrestlers eat on an almost daily basis to maintain their bulk. Full of protein and not necessarily unhealthy, but if you’re on a diet you might want to sit this one out.
11. The Edo-Tokyo Museum: a look at Tokyo’s history
*Picture by Kakidai
Opposite Ryogoku Kokugikan is the Edo-Tokyo Museum. This is the main museum in the Asakusa area, which you can’t visit at the moment because it’s being thoroughly renovated. Housed in an impressive modern building, the museum showcases Tokyo’s history, culture and development from the beginning of the Edo-period (when it became the capital of Japan out of nowhere) to the modern megacity it is today. The museum is divided into two thematic parts. The Edo section is full of life-sized models and artifacts: from iconic bridges to samurai houses and kabuki theatres. The modern part is more informational and provides lots of details on the reconstruction and development of Tokyo after the great earthquake of 1923 and the World War bombings. The museum is planned to reopen somewhere in 2025.
12. Throw some shuriken in the Samurai Ninja Museum Tokyo
I was very lucky with the weather in Tokyo, especially for November. On one of the few rainy days, I was googling for a more waterproof alternative to my original itinerary when I suddenly stumbled upon the Samurai Ninja Museum Tokyo – which was located just a short walk from my hotel. The photos mainly showed tourists posing in plastic samurai outfits – which looked quite corny – but the review scores were numerous and almost universally high. I decided to book a ticket and have a look, and while I didn’t manage to escape the photoshoot myself and all of the guides were dressed as ninjas, the museum itself is actually very interesting. You’ll get a lot of info on samurai culture and life in Japan under the Shoguns. The guides know their stuff and spoke the best English I heard on my entire trip. There are plenty of original katanas and meticulously crafted samurai armours on display and after the tour you can try and throw some ninja stars into a bullseye, which is fun. Winner takes one home. Pleasant visit and it takes just an hour.
13. Buy a bag of souvenirs in Don Quijote
Don Quijote is a bit of a thing in Japan. It’s a chain of huge department stores selling just about anything mankind has ever managed to produce (think Target in the US). There’s one in Asakusa on Rokku Broadway, which is the main shopping promenade in the area with plenty of street artists performing on weekends. It’s a garish maze divided into several floors, and the entrance is hidden behind a couple of strangely decorated fish tanks – one of them full of moray eels. Inside they sell everything from snacks, clothes and household products to Mario-dolls, chopsticks and even a kawaii toenail clipper. There’s also a whole rack full of fleshlights on display (for the non-connoisseurs: vibrating tubes to stick a particular part of your body in). The brand name is Tenga, they’re suspiciously cheap and reviews can always be posted below.
Travel tips for Tokyo: hotels, public transport and how to behave
** Disclaimer: This section contains a couple of (useful) affiliate links. This means that if you book for example a hotel, tour or e-sim via a referral on this page, I’ll receive a small fee in exchange, putting food on the table without having to sell my body on the street for it. It doesn’t cost you even an extra penny, so why wouldn’t you? Thank you very much.**
Where you stay in Tokyo doesn’t really matter that much and depends on your budget and interests. Make sure you’re close to a metro station though. It’ll save you plenty of time every day and apart from the occasional bus, you don’t need to use any other means of transport. I stayed in the basic but cosy and cheap Juyoh Hotel, which I found on Booking.com.
Buy a local eSIM card before you get to Japan, you’ll need it. I’ve been using Airalo for years. This is an app that lets you buy easy and cheap data in almost every country on the planet. It just takes a couple of clicks. Install the sim at home and activate it after landing: that’s it. You really need mobile data in Japan, so you can use Google Maps to navigate through the subway system in real time. Google will tell you which train to take when, which carriage is best for your transfer and which exit you need to use to get to your destination fastest. Without online help you’re guaranteed to get lost. Tokyo’s subway network is vast, but extremely reliable.
You’ll need a Suica Card to use public transport smoothly. The Welcome Suica Card is specifically catered to tourists and can be ordered online. You can top up the card with cash in any station, and it works in other Japanese cities as well. The Suica Card also serves as an electronic wallet. The Japanese economy is surprisingly cash-focused, so if you don’t pay with your Suica Card, you’ll be carrying around a whole pouch of nearly unusable coins after a couple of days.
If you plan to visit a lot of different cities with the Shinkansen bullet train, it’s best to buy a Japan Rail Pass (book it here directly). You’ll have to do this from home and long before your departure, because they’ll actually send you the pass by mail and you can’t buy one in Japan. If you’re only visiting three or four cities like I did, it might be better to buy separate tickets on the spot – you’ll have to do the math to see which option is preferable. JR-passes can be booked here. Don’t want to bother with all of this and looking for a tailor-made trip (either individually or in a group) instead? Check out Japan Experience: they offer plenty of wonderful itineraries throughout the entire country.
7-Eleven and Lawson are every budget traveller’s friend. These convenience stores (“konbini” in Japanese) are on almost every street corner and many of them are open 24/7. Unlike in the rest of the world, they actually offer decent microwave meals (they’ll warm them up for you for free), delicious pastries and deserts and lots of adventurous stuff I was too afraid to try. Supermarkets are cheaper still, but they’re closed at night. 7-Elevens always have an ATM in store, accepting all foreign cards. You’ll want to use these, because plenty of other places won’t be as compliant.
EU citizens do not need a visa to enter Japan for trips up to ninety days. You could basically leave tomorrow should you want to. The yen is historically low these days, so now is the time.
Japanese society is very structured and disciplined. Universal politeness and consideration for others are expected. Don’t be a loud obnoxious tourist. Put your phone on silent mode in the subway, stand to the side when you’re using an escalator, keep your trash with you when you don’t see a garbage bin (joke’s on you: there basically aren’t any). It’s not that difficult. Most people will not speak English, so memorise some basic Japanese phrases to be able to say good morning and thank you – they’ll love it. Also: don’t book one of those Mario kart tours where you’ll race through the city dressed as Nintendo characters. You’ll be in everyone’s way on public roads dressed like a moron and the local commuters will almost universally despise you. They literally call them “stupid cars”. For better Tokyo tours and activities, book them on GetYourGuide.
Looking for another Asian Trip? Read my blog posts on Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Hanoi.
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