Must see attractions in 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…

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

This nifty, interactive museum is devoted to outer-space exploration and science. Timed entry tickets start you off with one of three impressive high…

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…

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…

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…

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

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…

Established in 1691 and later used as a school for the sons of the powerful during the Tokugawa regime, this is one of Tokyo’s handful of Confucian…

A major exhibition space, smaller art galleries and creative studios now occupy this former high school, which has evolved into a forward-thinking arts…

Operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, TOKAS (short for Tokyo Arts and Space) comprises three floors of galleries with the aim of promoting new…

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…

Among the hundreds of vintage cameras on display here is an 1839 Giroux daguerreotype, the world's first camera. Japan wasn't far behind: the ornate Tsui…

Run by longtime Tokyo art-world figure Sueo Mizuma, Mizuma Art Gallery represents some of Japan's more successful contemporary artists, such as Aida…

This is the Tokyo branch of Ise-jingū, Japan's mother shrine in Mie Prefecture. Credited with establishing the Shintō wedding ritual, Tokyo Dai-jingū is a…

Tucked away amid the Sola City development is this exhibition space occupying a relocated 1917 storehouse once used by the area's book distributors. Check…

This museum of WWII-era Tokyo gives a sense of everyday life for the common people: how they ate, slept, dressed, studied, prepared for war and endured…