Asakusa and Ueno – why everyone should visit Northern Tokyo
When people think of Tokyo they think of a megalopolis of modern skyscrapers. That’s a pretty accurate description of most of Tokyo. In fact – between earthquakes, fire, and war – very little of pre-World War II Tokyo survives. The exception to this are the northern neighborhoods of Asakusa and Ueno. It’s a part of town where you can take a traditional rickshaw ride, walk through streets of Edo-style architecture (little wooden shops and houses), and where you can explore temples, shrines and museums as well as one of Tokyo’s largest parks (Ueno Park). The area also has notable sites such as the Sensoji Temple (Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple) and the Tokyo Skytree (the tallest tower in the World).
.
Planning our itinerary in Asakusa and Ueno
We stayed 4 nights (3 full days) in Asakusa (at the excellent Gate Hotel). The first day we had a Free Volunteer Guide introduce us to Tokyo, the second day we walked to the nearby Tokyo Skytree (for the highest views in the city), Ueno Park (covered further below), and visited the Sensoji Temple at night. The third day we took a day trip to the town of Nikko (2 hours away. The Tobu rail line in Asakusa makes it the perfect base to visit this UNESCO site)
.
The highlights in Asakusa
Sensoji Temple
This is Tokyo’s most sacred and spectacular temple. But there’s much more than just the temple itself: the temple is surrounded by gardens, shrines, as well as a little street (Nakamise-Dori) which is one of the top places to pick up souvenirs in Tokyo. The temple area is worth visiting not just in the day but also at night when its lanterns are lit up.
.
Fast Facts
– Founded in 628, Sensoji Temple is the oldest temple in Tokyo.
– Around 30 million visitors from Japan and abroad visit the temple every year.
– Many people believe that the Asakusa Kannon deity enshrined here has the ability to bestow benefits on earth.
– It was at the center of Edo culture in Tokyo. “Edo” is what Tokyo was called and the Edo period (1603–1867) refers to the final period of traditional Japan under which it was ruled by the Shoguns from what is today Tokyo.
.
. 
.
.
Sensoji temple at night
Nakamise Dori is the little street that lines the entry way to the temple (see photo below – taken from the Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center). It is always packed with people buying souvenirs or snacks.
.
The neighborhood surrounding the Sensoji temple is also worth exploring. You’ll see lots of small restaurants and shops. You can also get a rickshaw ride from one of these guys.
. .
Tokyo Skytree
A pleasant 15-20 minute walk from the Sensoji Temple, crossing the Sumida River, is the Tokyo Skytree. It is the highest tower in the world with a full height of 634 meters (by comparison, the CN Tower in Toronto is the 3rd highest tower at 553 m). Tourists can go to 2 observation decks, one at 350m and another at 450m). The views are spectacular – you can even see Mt. Fuji far in the distance. Seeing Tokyo from this perspective you can see how incredibly huge the city is. It gets a lot of people – I really recommended that you buy a “skip the line”ticket.
Below: Organized Tours/activities in Asakusa
.
The highlights in Ueno
3 metro stops from Asakusa, Ueno Park has some of Tokyo’s top sites. At the bottom end of the park you’ll see temples, shrines, the Ueno Zoo (Tokyo’s best and oldest zoo), and a large pond that attracts thousands of migrating birds. That’s what we covered in the 3 hours spent walking the grounds of this beautiful park. Further up in the park, you’ll find four of Tokyo’s best museums: the Tokyo National Museum, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Nature and Science. Ueno Park is the equivalent to Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. You could easily spend days visiting the sites in this park alone. Besides all these highlights, it is a pleasant place to walk and it attracts tons of locals especially during autumn and in the spring when the cherry blossoms come out.
.
.
.
.
After 3 full days in Asakusa and Ueno, we spent the next few days in Shinjuku (the downtown heart of Tokyo).
But if you asked us what our favorite part of the city was we’ll tell you it was Asakusa and Ueno.
Below: Views from the Terrace of The Gate Hotel. Had a great stay here, totally recommend it for anyone visiting the Asakusa area.
.
.
Related: How to see Tokyo with a Free Volunteer Guide
Related: “Hot or Not?” Visiting Shinjuku and the red light district of Kabukichō
Related: A Day trip to Nikko
Ps. If you find our blog helpful, please consider using our links to book your flights, hotels, tours, and car rentals. Have a look at our Travel Resources page.
Great article and beautiful photos, as always! I love Japan, it was beautiful experience visiting it and it’s always nice to remember it. Asakusa is good starting point to exploring Tokyo, we have also start from there. Senso-ji Temple is very photogenic and shooting it at sunset will make your images looks great that’s for sure, even I manage to take some nice photos there. 🙂
Have you try to sleep in capsule hotel? We take it for one night, just to try that and it was…hm…interesting. It was very quiet there and very clean. Maybe someone will find common showers uncomfortable, we don’t have them here in Europe but it’s common practice in Japan. It looks like in army, 10 showers one by the other without anything between them.
We have also realize that JR pass is too expensive to us and travel through Japan with bus. Maybe you heard for Willer Bus Pass, it cost 10.000 JPY for 3 days and it cover our trip Tokyo-Hiroshima-Kyoto-Tokyo. Buses are very comfortable, there is lot of space between seats which are reclining so it looks almost like laying in bed, there is even a small cover over the head like umbrella so you have more privacy. We was taking night buses, good thing is that you save money that way because you don’t need hotel for that night and also save time you would spend for traveling during the day. If someone seeking for low budget travel across Japan I always recommend Willer Bus Pass.
Japan was great experience, it’s very clean and people are very polite. That was even more stand out because we have arrive in Japan from China and after Japan gone back to China. differences between these two countries are huge.
Always love your comments Gile, you’re full of information.
I never heard of the Willer Bus pass. Great recommendation because you are absolutely right about the JR pass being expensive. We did a 6 day trip through Central Honshu and weighed the cost of JR Pass vs just paying tickets as we went – and in the end the cost was basically the same. Darn expensive. You’re the first person who hasn’t said “buy the JR pass!”. Great tip for someone on a budget, that’s a big price difference. The only thing you lose is time but for someone who’s in no rush it’s fine.
No, have not tried a capsule hotel (although I know about them). I probably would if on my own but Lissette doesn’t like shared bathroom facilities, plus we’d need 2 so in the end the cost would be the same as an Airbnb apartment. [for readers: Capsule hotels in the US 30-50 range, a bed in a dorm around $30, basic Airbnb around $75 US, same for a basic hotel room].
What we will always remember about Japan are the incredibly helpful and polite people. Remarkable. If anyone is not polite – well, chances are that they’re not Japanese. You’e absolutely correct about the differences between Japanese and Chinese (as well as Koreans – this you know being Croatian 🙂 ).
I love that you’re not a slave to Instagram, and that your photos show what it’s ‘really’ like in all the places you explore, it makes the places seem so much more alive and makes me want to visit all the more! We’ve never been to Japan but lately I’ve been considering it for the first time as we’re getting fed up of the same old islands and palm trees of SE Asia. Love the fortune idea, and I don’t think you should worry too much about yours….consider the “stop starting a trip” as a suggestion you spend more time right where you are, in Japan 🙂
Thanks Heather! 🙂 What’s your Instagram beef? I honestly hate social media and the idea to start from scratch on another medium – another place where they change the rules on you overnight – didn’t appeal.
We’ll go back to SE Asia one day when we need to save money but figured we HAD to see Japan now given the opportunity. I very much doubt that we will ever be back.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Instagram is ok, it just irritates me that so many users plaster it with strategically placed boobs, bikinis and pouts, whilst trying to ‘sell’ a destination, that leads the world to believe that’s what we should all strive for. You know, the usual sex sells stuff. Maybe I’m just feeling cranky at the moment 😉 Anyhow, it’s good to see more of the behind the scenes shots, at least then I’ll know what to expect when visiting somewhere new, rather than being disappointed that the aforementioned boobs and bikinis are sadly lacking from my real life experience. I’m waffling, so I’ll shut up. Awesome post 🙂
Yes, we’d sign up for the boobs and bikinis but you know that’s never what you see, right? Just fat middle aged people with warts on their faces.
Spanky always says the same thing, she complains that people crowd her or bump into her and “that’s it’s not like she’s Cindy Crawford or something. Why can it never be Cindy Crawford?”.
And in a plane I’m never next to a hot babe in a mini skirt who smells good, I always have smelly guy who dresses like a bum.
Reality sucks! 🙂
I spent 3 nights in Kyoto and 4 in Osaka. Did a side trip to Nara. If I went back I’d go to Tokyo but the small rooms put me off and I would only go if I got a cheap flight and wouldn’t stay long. Just a 4 or 5 day stopover to somewhere else.
I find Japanese to be rather inward looking people. They are friendly but tend to stick to Japanese groups.
I like the food and beer but it can be found all over the world so I have no great desire to go there unless circumstances fell into place.
I like Korean food and beer too but likewise would want a cheap flight to make the effort to go. Never been.
Interesting. Yes, I can see some of that.
Korea doesn’t hold much appeal for me. Nor China honestly.
Very nice intro to Tokyo, very well ‘supported’ by the great (as always) photos. The overall generalised urban image of Japan for most ,(especially Tokyo , but excepting specific city gems like Kyoto) is rather a messy one – generally faceless, characterless modern buildings, webs of external electric wires and neon signs – more a reflection of “Blade Runner” urbanism than anything else – so it was great to learn about and see these wonderful ‘outposts’ of Japanese culture, history , religion and architecture in the overall teeming metropolis. Japan is (with a very few other countries) the most homogenous nation on earth. No multiculturalism or immigration here. The only ‘ethnic’ group in the country are reportedly the Koreans – a few hundred thousand of them – who have been there for 600 years plus, and who are still not integrated into the Society at large …
The Japanese attention to detail, beauty, presentation and appearances is legendary. Their culture (possible exception made for the “punk, whacky youth orientated sub-culture ?) is renowned as being the most refined, structured and formalized anywhere. And likewise their professional and personal human relationships are also strongly defined, channeled, formalized and structured as well – the hugely important professional and social hierarchy for example; the classic reputation that the Japanese have for never being able to directly say “NO” on a wide range of topics and subjects. Their social culture is (in comparison to ours) “soft”, delicate, pacific, considerate, polite, courteous – one where many unpleasant aspects of the human character and spirit have been buried (controlled?) under layers of courtesy, ethics, and politeness , – and often leading to the classic reputation that the Japanese have for being ‘inscrutable’ .
A great many travellers to Japan report on the warm welcomes and friendliness of the locals, but at the same time, the near impossibility, the difficulty of forming relaxed non-formalised relationships with the Japanese themselves . All to say, is it possible that the warm welcome, the great friendliness you have experienced in Japan, just be part of their structured social approach to foreigners and guests – a normal and classic ‘duty’ , like the exchanging of gifts, rather than a real, spontaneous, personalised individual reaction ? As so often said, “Beauty is skin deep” .
Could the warm welcomes and friendliness be likewise ? Just a question.
Great analysis Tony.
– Between the historical buildings and temples on one extreme, and the modern skyscrapers on the other, the average Japanese town or city is just as you say “generally faceless, characterless modern buildings”. Very, very clean but unremarkable.
– detail, presentation and appearance. You’re spot on. You can buy vegetables and meat at the local convenience store (like 7/11) and they be sold in beautiful vacuum wrapped packaging and bright colours. Everything is cute, colorful and shiny. Bento meals, the pre-packaged meals that you can buy everywhere (like the tv dinners we used to have in the west) are affordable (best thing to buy if trying to save money) and fresh (I’m told nothing is allowed to sit on the shelf more than 2 hours). Visiting a large grocery store (I buy groceries at Yodobashi here in Kyoto) is quite the experience, a marketer’s dream because packaging so different than anywhere.
– Their culture “delicate, pacific, considerate, polite, courteous – one where many unpleasant aspects of the human character and spirit have been buried (controlled?) under layers of courtesy, ethics, and politeness”. Very true. I think, in such a densely populated place, that this civility makes everything work. I don’t like being around a lot of people but we’ve both found the crowds easy because we don’t have the bumping and jostling you see in the west. It might be cliche to say this, but it rubs off on you – I’ve found myself calmer and in turn more polite here. You don’t have to fight for everything. As far as organization: it’s unparalleled anywhere. When you arrive anywhere there’s a tourist information office right in front of you. If in the train station, there’s a separate train information office where they’ll help you with all your travel questions. Metro stations are the same. You’ll find toilets everywhere, vending machines on metro/train platforms. They even have the Germans beat in that respect.
– As far as the possibility of forming relaxed non-formal relationships. We’ve talked about that among ourselves – I think it would be hard to “integrate” here, partly because of culture but mostly because of language. Although many Japanese speak some basic English I don’t know how far past that you can get. But as travellers, the friendliness and hospitality makes travel easy and pleasant. We’ve had people come out of nowhere and point something out or give us a map. It’s like they’re looking out for you and want to make sure that you have the best experience possible in their country. I mentioned the tourist information – we’ve gone in there and the people are not just there to help you and get rid of you the fastest possible, we’ve a few times been in there 10 minutes talking to the person because they want to know more about us, where we are from etc. Then there are the free guides in places that we encountered like Tokyo, Matsumoto and Kanazawa. They don’t have to do this but again I think they’re proud and want you to experience the very best of their country. Is it fake? I think it is an extension of pride and their culture of courtesy and politeness. Again, we’re not looking to live here – but as travellers it makes Japan a very pleasant place to visit.
Thanks Tony, great stuff.
Good photos as per usual. Has Japan met your expectations thus far?
Thanks Tom. Honestly, I cannot say anything bad – the Japanese are incredible hosts, some of the most welcoming and friendly that we have met anywhere. We’ll have some photos coming up off some of the weird and wacky, the pop-culture aspect is one of the reasons we were so keen on coming to Japan. Geography is pretty, food good. Enjoying Japan. But above all, it’s the people who have just been incredible. It would just break my heart to say anything even remotely negative.
haha 😀 no, it’s actually even better than it looks on booking.com images. I wrote a bit about that in my blog but can’t post URL here. Sorry, the blog is only on Croatian.
Yes, we can sleep anywhere. 🙂 My wife is a joke, she just need a seat bellow and minute of time and she’s gone. Same thing anywhere, bus, plane, car… I’m not so fast but don’t have any problem with sleeping during transportation. Well sorry, then I assume the night bus is not for you.
Found it on your blog: http://tripologia.com/putopisi/tokyo-prvi-dio-nihon-de-kangei/ Google isn’t that good at translating Croatian but it is understandable and I think a good read.
I actually think it’s a great way for saving money. If someone is on a fast 10 day (or so) trip and wants to see as much as possible, why not? But yes, it helps if you can sleep on buses.
Thanks Gile.
No problem, it’s always nice to read your posts and look at beautiful images you have. 🙂 Let me ask you something. What kind of camera you use for shooting? On one of images above I can see Nikon around your neck and it looks just like my camera, maybe it is exactly the same. You making great photos but probably not with that camera, or I’m doing something wrong.
Hi Gile. I have that Nikon, Lissette has a Cannon Powershot. The Cannon is the better camera but whatever camera you have you need an editing program to bring out the colors. Each photo we post has been edited to bring out the natural color and light that (unless you have great lighting conditions) gets lost when taking a photo.
Totally agree with you on the pricing. Super expensive. We stayed 2 weeks and spent ahem..a good chunk of money since l was not a big fan of the Bento boxes. I don’t think we had a lunch or dinner that was less than 60 euros. For breakfast, l had the 7-11 bread rolls made with milk. Those are fabulous. I was going to do a how much did it cost post to round out the Japan blog posts, but stopped after seeing some receipts 🙂 . It would have to be another really cheap ticket to make it possible again l think truthfully. If you want to see how the Japanese let their hair down, go for a late dinner. Men in suits knocking back sake and beer and my goodness..so frigging LOUD! We saw it often..quite eye opening and we actually enjoyed seeing that. Quite the contrast from the nice, quiet, respectable men you see during the day. They roll out of the restaurants super drunk and light cigarettes as soon as they step out. They need to let off steam, and boy do they ever.. I can only imagine what it must be like in those pachinko parlors :-).
Thanks Kemkem.
I’ve read these posts that go along the line of “Japan is cheaper than you might think”.
Well…sure you can stay in a dorm, couchsurf, buy those cup-a-noodles, take buses (yes, turn that 2 1/2 hr Tokyo – Kyoto train ride into a 10 hr ordeal). Honestly, you can be a bum anywhere and sleep on a park bench as well when you’re at it, right? But the thing is – is that how you want to travel?
We’re careful: we go to the supermarket and cook our food, buy our alcohol at 7/11 (no going out to bars), and the few times we’ve gone out to eat it’ll be at a cheap raman place. The truth is that you don’t get much value for your money if you’re used to travelling to other places. I find portions small for one thing. But the usual little things: $3 for a one way bus/subway ride (local), $5 for an ice cream on a hot day, $6 for a beer (these listed in Canadian dollars). Never mind the cost of a long-distance train ticket – $190 Canadian ($140 US) for that 2 1/2 hr Tokyo-Kyoto train ticket [PS. Unless you do a lot of travelling, that 1 week JR pass doesn’t really save you money. I did a comparison when we did our 6 day Central Honshu trip).
If you’re just off the plane from Canada or the US maybe these costs don’t seem unreasonable. But for us having travelled full-time the last 2 years and as you know (having lived in Spain for a few years) it’s expensive compared to most places. It’s the one place where we feel a little poor, which is not always a nice feeling. When we travel we like to go out, eat, drink etc…as much as we enjoy Japan we feel like dirty backpackers.
So the first thing I do when we land in Serbia is order 1 big-ass steak with a bottle of wine. Then shovel down a big-ass piece of cake with a large glass of Grand Marnier 🙂