Top choice in Ueno & Yanesen
Sawanoya is a gem in quiet Yanaka, run by a very friendly family and with all the traditional hospitality you would expect of a ryokan. The shared cypress and earthenware baths are the perfect balm after a long day (a couple of slightly more expensive rooms have their own bath, too). The lobby overflows with information about travel options in Japan.
Bicycles are available for rent, and lion-dance performances are occasionally held for guests.
0.67 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…
11.06 MILES
This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…
3.85 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…
5.57 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…
19.63 MILES
This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…
4.27 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…
2.72 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,…
1.84 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…
0.09 MILES
Before the 1860s, only samurai lords could see these fascinating clocks, called wadokei, that tell time according to variable hours named after animals of…
0.13 MILES
One of Yanaka's many ambient temples, this is home to an ancient chinquapin tree that's been designated a national monument. Ask someone from the temple…
0.15 MILES
The deity at this temple is Nichika-sama, also known as the 'god of strong legs'; for this reason the temple is popular with runners.
0.23 MILES
Not only is this one of Japan's oldest shrines, it is also among the most beautiful – a tough call in a district packed with attractive, historic…
0.32 MILES
This 200-year-old bathhouse is now an avant-garde gallery, showcasing Japanese and international artists: the vaulted space just as suited for…
0.35 MILES
This century-old liquor shop (which operated until 1986) has been returned to its original state, but as a museum of bygone Tokyo, with old sake barrels,…
0.35 MILES
This small, peaceful temple, one of many scattered around Yanaka, houses one of the seven gods of good fortune, Juro-jin.
0.37 MILES
Looking like something straight from a woodblock print, this gorgeous pocket park is worth the stroll from the Sendagi end of Yanaka to view its brilliant…