DISTANCE: 7.25km (4.5 miles)
TIME: A full day
START: Nippori Station
END: Ueno Station
POINTS TO NOTE: Ueno Park’s museums could easily swallow up a day, so if you want to cover the rest of the walk, plan accordingly. Avoid doing this walk on Monday if you want to visit the museums, as this is when most of them are closed.
One of the few Tokyo districts to have come relatively unscathed through both the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the fire bombings of 1945, Yanaka has somehow also managed to avoid merciless redevelopment in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This charmingly old-fashioned quarter, north of the Imperial Palace, dates from the Tokugawa Shogunate’s decision to fortify the city’s periphery with temples that would double as fortresses in the event of invasion.
Ueno Hill, where the giant temple Kan’ei-ji once stood, is now home to Ueno Park and several museums, including the outstanding Tokyo National Museum. The construction of a major railway terminus here in 1883 led to the arrival of millions of migrants from Japan’s northeastern provinces in the post-war decades, resulting in a lively multicultural quarter.
Ueno Park
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Yanaka cemetery and environs
Take the western exit from Nippori Station and follow the steps immediately on the left up to Yanaka Cemetery 1 [map] (Yanaka Reien), one of the city’s oldest graveyards, with mossy tombstones, leafy walks, wrought-iron gates and worn stone lanterns.
Follow the stone path ahead until you reach the twin ancient wood and modern cement-and-steel gates to Tenno-ji 2 [map], a temple dating from the late 14th century. In its grounds you will find a serene-looking copper statue of Buddha crafted in 1690.
Asakura Choso Museum
Follow the main road south through the cemetery, turning right at the first crossroads to exit the grounds. At the T-junction beside the temple Choan-ji, turn right and follow the road until you reach, on the right, the Asakura Choso Museum 3 [map] (Asakura Chosokan; 7-18-10 Yanaka, Taito-ku; Tue–Thur, Sat–Sun 9.30am–4.30pm; charge), an excellent gallery dedicated to the artist Asakura Fumio (1883–1964), often described as the father of modern Japanese sculpture. The museum is based in Asakura’s lovely studio-house, dating from 1935. The traditional garden to the rear of the house is of special interest, as stones around the pond have been arranged to reflect the Five Confucian Virtues, while the roof-garden provides panoramic views of the surrounding area.
Ameyoko Street
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Yanaka Ginza
Turn right out of the museum, then turn left at the junction with the road that runs back towards Nippori Station. Ahead, to the right of a fork in the road where there is a poodle parlour, a flight of steps leads down to the Yanaka Ginza 4 [map], a narrow shopping street with a retro atmosphere, full of small shops, cafés and traditional crafts stores.
Along Sansakizaka
At the end of Yanaka Ginza turn left and continue until the next major junction with Sansakizaka. Turn left here and head uphill to find, on the right, one of Tokyo’s oldest and most exquisite paper-art shops, Isetatsu 5 [map] (2-18-9 Yanaka, Taito-ku; daily 10am–6pm), specialising in chiyogami – printed designs reproduced from original samurai textiles. Here you will find well-crafted fans, combs, dolls and colourful chests of drawers, all handmade from Japanese washi paper.
Daien-ji
Opposite Isetatsu and set back from the street is Daien-ji 6 [map], a temple that contains a monument to the charms of Osen, a teashop girl used by the artist Harunobu as a model for several of his woodblock prints. A statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, stands next to Osen’s monument, and many Tokyoites, especially the elderly, make pilgrimages here to rub a spot on the statue that corresponds to the part of their body where they are suffering an ache or pain in the hope of a cure. If the more worn patches on this statue are anything to go by, stomach ailments and headaches are the most common complaints among Tokyo’s senior citizens.
SCAI The Bathhouse
Continue up Sansakizaka until you reach Yanaka Cemetery again. Turn right and follow the road downhill to SCAI The Bathhouse 7 [map] (www.scaithebathhouse.com; Tue–Sat noon–7pm; free) on the right. The current building, dating from 1951, has been a contemporary-art gallery since 1993; for some 200 years before that, it was where the locals came to scrub and soak.
Admiring art at the Tokyo National Museum
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Yoshidaya Sake-ten
At the end of the road on the left is another evocative remnant of Tokyo’s past, the Yoshidaya Sake-ten 8 [map] (Tue–Sun 9.30am–4.30pm; free). This merchant’s shop, made from wood and dating from 1910, has been preserved as a museum just like it was in its heyday, with nostalgic posters, giant glass flasks and wooden barrels.
Turn right here and continue towards Nezu Station, about a five-minute walk down Kototoi-dori. Just on the left before reaching the station, take the side road to reach the entrance to the historic restaurant Hantei, see 1.
Jomyo-in
Backtrack from Hantei up Kototoi-dori until you eventually reach the temple Jomyo-in 9 [map] on the left; you will be greeted by a 20,000-strong army of tiny Jizo figures. A minor incarnation of the Buddha, Jizo is revered in Japan as a deity – the god of health and healing as well as protector of children. He is recognisable all over the country by his red-and-white bib and, in the case of the Jomyo-in, sponge gourds held in the left hand. Jizo statues are continually donated to the temple in the hope that one day they will reach their target of 84,000.
Paper-art shop, Isetatsu
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Cherry blossom photography at Ueno Park
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Ueno Park
Tokyo National Museum
A short walk along the road almost opposite the Jomyo-in carries you to the northwestern perimeter of Ueno Park (Ueno-koen). Here, the star attraction is the Tokyo National Museum ) [map] (Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan; www.tnm.go.jp; Tue–Sun 9.30am–5pm, Apr–Dec Fri until 8pm, Apr–Sept Sat–Sun until 6pm; charge), containing the most extensive collection of Japanese art in the world. The museum consists of four main galleries housed within buildings of various styles, including classic Japanese, ferro-concrete and European Beaux Arts. The central building, called the Honkan, contains the main permanent collection, a fine display of paintings, ceramics, lacquerware, calligraphy and textiles. Look out for Pine Grove by the Seashore, a six-panel gold-leaf screen from the 16th-century Muromachi period, and the consummate brush painting Pine Trees by the 16th-century artist Hasegawa Tohaku.
Leave time to explore the west gallery, the Heisei-kan, where there are archaeological relics such as funerary haniwa statues and, from the Jomon period, bug-eyed clay figures called dogu; and also the Horyu-ji Homotsu-kan, a newer hall containing priceless treasures from the Horyu-ji, a temple in Nara.
National Museum of Nature and Science
In addition to the newer Miraikan in Odaiba, the venerable National Museum of Nature and Science ! [map] (Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsukan; www.kahaku.go.jp; Tue–Sun 9am–5pm; charge) is the second of the capital’s two major science museums. Though much of its excellent collection is introduced with Japanese text only, one doesn’t need to understand the copy to enjoy exhibitions of dinosaur fossils, or the Japanese space agency’s Hayabusa, which became the first unmanned spacecraft to land on an asteroid in 2005.
Two art museums
A short stroll south across the park takes you to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum @ [map] (Tokyo-to Bijutsukan; www.tobikan.jp; daily 9am–5pm; charge), where more than 2,600 works of mostly contemporary art are displayed in a light and spacious, partially underground, red-brick building. It is the work of architect Kunio Maekawa, who also designed the Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall (Tokyo Bunka Kaikan), where music concerts are held, and part of the National Museum of Western Art £ [map] (Kokuritsu Seiyo Bijutsukan; www.nmwa.go.jp; Tue–Sun 9.30am–5pm, Fri until 8pm; charge); both are on the park’s eastern side. The original part of the Museum of Western Art, completed in 1959, is the work of Le Corbusier and its collection includes works by Renoir, Degas, Tintoretto and Rubens, as well as Miró, Picasso and Jackson Pollock. The courtyard has 57 Rodin sculptures.
Tosho-gu
Just past the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is Ueno Zoo (Ueno Dobutsuen; www.tokyo-zoo.net; Tue–Sun 9.30am–5pm; charge), Japan’s oldest zoo. South past the entrance is a stone torii leading to Tosho-gu $ [map] (www.uenotoshogu.com), a shrine completed in 1651 and dedicated to the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The approach to the shrine is lined with 200 stone lanterns, while fences on either side of the ‘Chinese Gate’ have superb carvings of fish, shells, birds and animals attributed to Hidari Jingoro, a brilliant Edo-period sculptor. According to legend, two realistic golden dragons which are carved onto the gate would slip off each night to drink from the waters of the nearby Shinobazu Pond.
Statue of Saigo Takamori
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Saigo Takamori Statue
Follow the paths under the trees past the wooden pillars of the Kiyomizu Kannon-do, a temple housing the Thousand-Armed Kannon, and stop for a moment to admire the large bronze statue of Saigo Takamori % [map] on your left. Saigo (1827–73), one of the key architects of the Meiji Restoration, led an unsuccessful rebellion against its new leaders. He eventually committed ritual suicide. The statue shows him dressed in a kimono walking his dog. Slightly northeast of the statue is the restaurant Ito Ito, see 2.
Shinobazu Pond and Benten-do
Take the steps behind Kiyomizu Kannon-do leading down to Shinobazu Pond^ [map] (Shinobazu-no-ike). Once an inlet of Tokyo Bay, the pond is now split into three freshwater sections. The first, carpeted with lotus plants and reeds, is a sanctuary for many species of bird and fowl, including black cormorants, egrets, grebes and pintail ducks. The second part of the pond abuts Ueno Zoo, and the third is a small boating lake. A short causeway leads to Benten-do & [map], an octagonal-roofed temple located on a small island. An eight-armed statue of Benzaiten, goddess of the arts, is enshrined here in the main hall.
Penguins in Ueno Zoo
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Famous graves
Among the some 7,000 graves at Yanaka Cemetery are those of several distinguished figures. At the graveyard offices (daily 8.30am–5.15pm) attendants will provide a map (in Japanese) and direct you to the last resting places of the composer and blind koto-player Miyagi Michio (1894–1956), the botanist Dr Makino Tomitaro (1862–1957), the well-known artist Yokoyama Taikan (1868–1958) and the female mass-murderer Takahashi Oden (1848–79). Japan’s last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837–1913), is buried here too, alongside the ignominious and destitute whose unclaimed bodies were once requisitioned by Tokyo University as teaching aids for their medical faculty.
Shitamachi Museum
Facing the southeastern corner of the pond is the interesting Shitamachi Museum * [map] (Shitamachi Fuzoku Shiryokan; www.taitocity.net/taito/shitamachi; Tue–Sun 9.30am–4.30pm; charge). Extremely well designed, the museum evokes the huddled world of the common people who lived in the central areas of the city. Exhibits include utensils, tools, toys and furniture. There are also video presentations and photo exhibits, reconstructions of a merchant’s house and narrow one-storey homes called nagaya. Near the museum you will find the venerable grilled-eel restaurant Izuei, see 3.
Ameya Yokocho
When you leave the museum, walk across Chuo-dori to the area slightly south of Ueno Station to find the entrance to the effervescent shopping street and market area called Ameya Yokocho ( [map]. The name comes from the ame, meaning ‘sweets’, and yokocho, the word for ‘alley’, and it was a black-market zone for many years after World War II. Here, under the railway tracks, among the cheap clothes, fried-noodle vendors and dried-fish stalls, where young men hack blocks of ice and bellow the latest prices for strips of black seaweed, kelp and octopus, the working-class spirit of Shitamachi lives on.
On Ameyoko Street
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications
Food and drink
1 Hantei
2-12-15 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku; tel: 3828 1440; Tue–Sat noon–2.30pm and 5–10pm, Sun until 9.30pm; station: Nezu; ¥¥¥
Kushiage (deep-fried skewers of fish, meat and vegetables) are served in a charming wooden building, constructed around a stone storehouse and located in one of Tokyo’s best-preserved historic areas.
2 Oto Oto
Bamboo Garden, 1-52 Ueno-koen, Taito-ku; tel: 5807 2244; Mon–Fri 11am–3pm and 4:30–11pm, Sat 11am–11pm, Sun 11am–10pm; station: Ueno; ¥¥
On the middle floor of the Bamboo Garden dining complex, where you will also find Korean and Chinese restaurants, Oto Oto serves a broad range of Japanese favourites, including soba noodles, donburi rice bowls and sashimi platters.
3 Izuei
2-12-22 Ueno, Taito-ku; tel: 3831 0954; www.izuei.co.jp; daily 11am–9:30pm; station: Ueno; ¥¥¥
Overlooking Shinobazu Pond, Izuei has been serving succulent unagi (grilled-eel) dishes for over 250 years. Sit at a table on the ground floor or on tatami mats on the upper levels.
4 Kurofunetei
4F-2-13-13 Ueno, Taito-ku; 3837 1617; www.kurofunetei.co.jp; daily 11:30am-10pm; station: Ueno; ¥¥
This revered “yoshoku” (Japanese-style Western food) eatery specializes in hayashi raisu - beef braised in a demiglace sauce, topped lightly with cream and served over rice, along with other Japanese-Western comfort food delicacies like omu raisu (ketchup-flavored rice wrapped in omelet) and hamburger rice. The restaurant is named for the “black ships” of Commodore Perry, the American officer who forcibly opened Japan to trade in the 19tthe century.