Kōrakuen & Akihabara

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500px Photo ID: 68486621 - Somewhere in Akihabara, Tokyo.

Ante Vukorepa / 500px

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Overview

This swathe of central Tokyo runs alongside the Soto-bōri, the former outer moat of Edo Castle, and the Kanda-gawa. From west to east there's the old geisha district of Kagurazaka and the hallowed grounds of controversial shrine Yasukuni-jinja. In Kōrakuen the dazzling traditional garden Koishikawa Kōrakuen is a highlight, as is watching a baseball game at neighboring Tokyo Dome. Further east, browse the bookshops of Jimbōchō, the traditional restaurants of Kanda, and the electronic, pop-culture and contemporary-craft emporiums of Akihabara.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Autumn in Japan is very attractive season for its beautiful colors of Japanese maple, gingko and other trees.

Koishikawa Kōrakuen

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

Established in the mid-17th century as the property of the Tokugawa clan, this formal strolling garden incorporates elements of Chinese and Japanese…

Yasukuni-jinja

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

Literally ‘For the Peace of the Country Shrine’, Yasukuni is the memorial shrine to Japan’s war dead, around 2.5 million souls. First built in 1869, it is…

Origami Kaikan

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

This exhibition centre and workshop is dedicated to the quintessential Japanese art of origami, which you can learn to do yourself in classes here. There…

Kanda Myōjin

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

Tracing its history back to AD 730, this splendid Shintō shrine boasts vermilion-lacquered halls surrounding a stately courtyard. Its present location…

Yūshū-kan

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

Most history museums in Japan skirt the issue of WWII or focus on the burden of the common people. Not so here: Yūshū-kan begins with Japan's samurai…

Nikolai Cathedral

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

This Russian Orthodox cathedral, complete with distinctive Byzantine-style architecture, was first built in 1891 under the supervision of English…

Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

How did baseball come to be a Japanese obsession? This museum chronicles baseball’s rise from a hobby imported by an American teacher in 1872 to the…

Akagi-jinja

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

Kagurazaka’s signature shrine only bears a passing resemblance to the traditional ones around the city. In 2010 the shrine, which can trace its history…

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