Must see attractions in Ueno & Yanesen

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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…

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Considered by many to be Tokyo's most elegant garden, Rikugi-en was originally completed in 1702, at the behest of a feudal lord. It is definitely the…

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Sculptor Asakura Fumio (artist name Chōso; 1883–1964) built his home studio in the early 20th century and it's very much representative of architecture of…

Best known for its profusion of cherry trees that burst into blossom in spring (making this one of Tokyo's top hanami – blossom-viewing – spots),…

Japan’s oldest zoo, established in 1882, is home to animals from around the globe, but the biggest attractions are the giant pandas from China, Rī Rī and…

One of Tokyo's few remaining open-air markets, Ameya-yokochō got its start as a black market, post-WWII, when American goods (which included ameya – candy…

Yanaka Ginza is pure, vintage mid-20th-century Tokyo, a pedestrian street lined with butcher shops, vegetable vendors and the like. Most Tokyo…

This grand residence offers a Western-style mansion designed by Josiah Conder in 1896, connected to a Japanese house built by Ōkawa Kijuro at the same…

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…

Kuroda Seiki (1866–1924) is considered the father of modern Western-style painting in Japan. This 1928-vintage hall, an annex to Tokyo National Museum,…

A key feature of Ueno-kōen is this large, natural pond, much of which is completely covered with giant lotuses that bloom in summer. Go bird- and botany…

This shrine honours Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who unified Japan; it's the (much smaller) Tokyo counterpart to Nikkō's grand Tōshō-gū. Resplendent in…

This enchanting gallery, part of the Tokyo National Museum, displays masks, metalwork and sculptures from the temple Hōryū-ji (in Nara Prefecture, dating…

Occupying a handsome brick-clad building dating from 1906, this branch of the National Diet Library stores hundreds of thousands of volumes including…

The Japan Gallery here showcases the rich and varied wildlife of the Japanese archipelago, from the bears of Hokkaidō to the giant beetles of Okinawa…

The permanent collection here runs from medieval Madonna-and-child images to 20th-century abstract expressionism, but is strongest in French impressionism…

Part of the Tokyo National Museum, this building houses the Japanese Archaeological Gallery, full of pottery, talismans and articles of daily life from…

This museum hosts blockbuster shows with art on loan from local and international museums (such as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art); you could be…

Take a stroll down the causeway leading to the island on which Benten-dō stands. The temple is dedicated to Benzaiten, the Buddhist goddess of the arts,…

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…