135 Best Sights in Tokyo, Japan

In 1958 Tokyo's fledgling TV networks needed a tall antenna array to transmit signals. Trying to emerge from the devastation of World War II, the nation's capital was also hungry for a landmark—a symbol for the aspirations of a city still without a skyline. The result was the 1,093-foot-high Tokyo Tower, an unabashed knockoff of Paris's Eiffel Tower, complete with great views of the city. The Main Observatory, set at 492 feet above ground, and the Top Deck, up an additional 330 feet, quickly became major tourist attractions. Both observation decks were renovated in 2018 and still draw many visitors a year. On weekends and holidays, ambitious visitors can make the 600-stair climb up to the Main Observatory on foot.

This shrine in the heart of Monzen-Nakacho has been a core part of Fukagawa since the 1600s. It’s said that some of the earliest sumo tournaments were held here in the 1700s, which explains the sumo-related monuments dotted around the place. Today, the grounds hold small antiques markets on the first, second, third, and fifth Sundays of each month, while lively flea markets take place on the 15th and 28th of each month. In odd-numbered years, the shrine is also the starting point of the summer Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri, a festival that sees more than 50 portable shrines paraded energetically through the streets while onlookers pour buckets of water over the carriers (and each other). One more quirk here is that you can bring your car to be blessed.

This large, well-equipped amusement park in the northwestern part of Tokyo has four thrill rides, a haunted house, and six swimming pools. What makes it special is the authentic Coney Island carousel—left to rot in a New York warehouse, discovered and rescued by a Japanese entrepreneur, and lovingly restored down to the last gilded curlicue on the last prancing unicorn. Just be aware that the park has an outdated yakuza-related policy that means nobody with tattoos will be allowed in.

On the other side of Tokyo Bay, you can find an alternative view of the Rainbow Bridge. Here you'll find families playing football, having picnics, and setting up the perfect BBQ spot. If you don't have your own utensils, The BBQ Beach in Toyosu can supply meat to grill and seats to unwind.

Opened in October 2018 as the replacement to the legendary Tsukiji Market, the 40-hectare (99 acres) Toyosu Market, like its predecessor, is one the busiest seafood markets in the world, with more than 600 merchants hard at work. The new market is an upgrade in terms of size and modern facilities, but sadly, a downgrade in terms of experience and charm. Visitors get far less access at Toyosu: you are restricted to viewing the early morning auctions from behind glass (you need to apply for a spot online before going) and you can no longer stroll the inner market. There's a fixed route you can follow through the three main buildings, two of which are for seafood, the other for fruit and vegetables. Afterward, head up to the rooftop lawn on the Fisheries Intermediate Wholesale Market Building for bay and city views, then check out the market's restaurants for a sushi or seafood breakfast; some popular Tsukiji restaurants like Sushi Dai have made the move to Toyosu. While this is Toyosu, don't use Toyosu Station as it is a 20-minute walk away; use Shijo-mae Station on the Yurikamome Line.

Disaster seemed to follow this temple, which is an outpost of Kyoto's Nishi Hongan-ji. Since it was first located here in 1657, it was destroyed at least five times, and reconstruction in wood was finally abandoned after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The present stone building dates from 1935. It was designed by Chuta Ito, a pupil of Tokyo Station architect Tatsuno Kingo. Ito's other credits include the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku; he also lobbied for Japan's first law for the preservation of historic buildings. Ito traveled extensively in Asia; the evocations of classical Hindu architecture in the temple's domes and ornaments were his homage to India as the cradle of Buddhism. But with stained-glass windows and a pipe organ as well, the building is nothing if not eclectic. Talks in English are held on the third Saturday of the month at 5:30.

Although the museum has no permanent collection of its own, it hosts an interesting selection of temporary exhibits. The museum focuses on group exhibitions and work by contemporary artists, but often working within the bounds of more traditional media. Thanks to its manageable size and pleasant atmosphere, the Ueno Royal Museum is a relaxing alternative to Ueno's larger (and more crowded) museums.

The two main sections of Japan's first zoo, built in 1882, host an exotic mix of more than 900 species of animals. The giant panda is the biggest draw, but the tigers from Sumatra, gorillas from the lowland swamp areas of western Africa, and numerous monkeys, some from Japan, make a visit to the East Garden worthwhile. The West Garden is highlighted by rhinos, zebras, and hippopotamuses, and a children's area. The process of the zoo's expansion somehow left within its confines the 120-foot, five-story Kanei-ji Pagoda. Built in 1631 and rebuilt after a fire in 1639, the building offers traditional Japanese tea ceremony services.

Once the home of businessman Einosuke Yamamoto, Yamamoto-tei is a lovely example of how Japanese and Western styles merged in the homes of some wealthy Tokyoites in the early 1900s. The two-story residence has mostly classic tatami mat rooms with sliding screen doors, but it also incorporates a British-inspired drawing room with marquetry flooring, white plaster ceiling, stained-glass windows, and a marble mantelpiece. Arguably the most striking highlight is the shoin-style garden, whose lush greenery, pond, and waterfall are designed to be viewed from the comfort of the tatami rooms; something visitors can do while enjoying green tea and sweets or coffee.

The museum specializes in Nihonga (a type of traditional Japanese painting) from the Meiji period on and has a private collection of masterpieces by such painters as Taikan Yokoyama, Gyoshu Hayami, Kokei Kobayashi, and Gyokudo Kawai. Exhibits, which sometimes include works borrowed from other collections, change seven or eight times a year. Visitors can take a break at Café Tsubaki, which offers tea and wagashi (a genre of local sweets) as well as cake sets.

It used to be that every neighborhood in Tokyo had its own small shopping street, but with the rise of supermarkets and convenience stores in the 1980s, they began to vanish. Thanks to a forward-thinking shopkeepers' and residents' association, Yanaka Ginza not only survived but has flourished. The street is now an interesting mix of shops selling groceries and other goods for locals, as well as sweets, snacks, and crafts.

Founded in 1869, this shrine is dedicated to approximately 2½ million Japanese, Taiwanese, and Koreans who have died since then in war or military service. As the Japanese constitution expressly renounces both militarism and state sponsorship of religion, Yasukuni has been a center of stubborn political debate, particularly since 1978 when a shrine official added the names of several class-A war criminals to the list. Numerous prime ministers have visited the shrine since 1979, causing a political chill between Japan and its close neighbors, Korea and China, who suffered under Japanese colonialism. Despite all this, hundreds of thousands of Japanese come here every year, simply to pray for the repose of friends and relatives they have lost. These pilgrimages are most frenzied on August 15, the anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, when former soldiers and ultra-right-wing groups descend upon the shrine's grounds en masse.

The shrine is not one structure but a complex of buildings that include the Main Hall and the Hall of Worship—both built in the simple, unadorned style of the ancient Shinto shrines at Ise—and the Yushukan, a museum of documents and war memorabilia. Also here are a Noh theater and, in the far western corner, a sumo-wrestling ring. Sumo matches are held at Yasukuni in April, during the first of its three annual festivals. You can pick up a pamphlet and simplified map of the shrine, both in English, just inside the grounds.

Refurbished in 2002, the Yushukan presents Japan at its most ambivalent—if not unrepentant—about its more recent militaristic past. Critics charge that the newer exhibits glorify the nation's role in the Pacific War as a noble struggle for independence; certainly there's an agenda here that's hard to reconcile with Japan's firm postwar rejection of militarism as an instrument of national policy. Many Japanese visitors are moved by such displays as the last letters and photographs of young kamikaze pilots, while others find the Yushukan a cautionary, rather than uplifting, experience.

Although some of the exhibits have English labels and notes, the English is not very helpful; most objects, however, speak clearly enough for themselves. Rooms on the second floor house an especially fine collection of medieval swords and armor. Visiting on a Sunday offers a chance to forage at the flea market that runs from morning until sundown.

This park is the perfect spot to have a picnic on a sunny day. On Sunday people come to play music, practice martial arts, and ride bicycles on the bike path (rentals are available). From spring through fall there are events, concerts, and festivals most weekends. Although the front half of the park makes for great people-watching, farther along the paths it is easy to find a quiet spot to slip away from the crowds of Harajuku.

The origins of this shrine date to a hall, founded in 1632, for the study of the Chinese Confucian classics. Its headmaster was Hayashi Razan, the official Confucian scholar to the Tokugawa government. Moved to its present site in 1691 (and destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times), the hall became an academy for the ruling elite. In a sense, nothing has changed: in 1872 the new Meiji government established the country's first teacher-training institute here, and that, in turn, evolved into Tokyo University—the graduates of which still make up much of the ruling elite. The hall looks like nothing else you're likely to see in Japan: painted black, weathered, and somber, it could almost be in China.

This temple, just south of the Ichinohashi Crossing, dates back to the 800s. In the 1200s, the temple was converted to the Shinran school of Buddhism. When Consul-General Townsend Harris arrived from the Americas in 1859, he lived on the temple grounds. It is also home to what's said to be the oldest tree in Tokyo, a 750-year-old giant gingko.