©Rebecca Milner/Lonely Planet
Asakusa & Sumida River
Chef Hosokawa Takashi grinds buckwheat fresh daily for the soba he kneads and cuts by hand. Get them in hot broth (kake-soba) or at room temperature on a bamboo tray (seiro) – and definitely with a side of crisp, seasonal tempura. With ochre walls and wildflowers on the table, Hosokawa brings a touch of country to the city.
No reservations and no small children.
1.95 MILES
If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it the Tokyo National Museum. Here you'll find the world's largest collection of Japanese art, including…
12.8 MILES
This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…
5.24 MILES
Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…
6.05 MILES
Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all…
18.89 MILES
This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…
3.95 MILES
Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are…
2.7 MILES
The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world,…
1.25 MILES
Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of…
0.11 MILES
Tokyo's history museum documents the city's transformation from tidal flatlands to feudal capital to modern metropolis via detailed scale re-creations of…
0.14 MILES
The woodblock artist Hokusai Katsushika (1760–1849) was born and died close to the location of this museum, which opened in 2016 in a striking aluminium…
0.24 MILES
On the ground floor of Ryōgoku Kokugikan stadium, this small museum displays pictures of all the past yokozuna (top-ranking sumo wrestlers), or, for those…
0.27 MILES
This late-17th-century stroll garden offers beautiful views across its central tidal pond and is well worth a visit if you're in the area. It used to take…
0.3 MILES
For visitors with a keen interest in Japanese sword-making – an art that continues to this day – this museum, which relocated to a new building in 2018,…
0.91 MILES
This jet-black, inverted obelisk, part of Asahi Beer's headquarters, was designed by Philippe Starck and completed in 1989; atop it sits a 'golden flame'…
0.93 MILES
Originally built in 1774, this bridge was once the point of departure for boat trips to the Yoshiwara pleasure district, north of Asakusa.
1 MILES
The Sensō-ji temple precinct begins at this majestic gate, from which hangs an enormous chōchin (lantern); look under this to see a beautiful carved…