134 Best Sights in Tokyo, Japan

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 you'll see. Today, the grounds hold small dawn-to-dusk 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, during the month of August, the shrine is also the starting point of 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 Just be aware that the park has an outdated yakuza-related policy that means nobody with tattoos will be allowed in.

From an alternative view of the Rainbow Bridge, head to this park on the other side of Tokyo Bay. Here you'll find families playing football, barbecuing, and having picnics. If you don't have your own gear, The BBQ Beach in Toyosu can supply meat to grill and seats in which 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 of the busiest seafood markets in the world, with more than 400 merchants hard at work. The new market is an upgrade in terms of size and facilities, but, sadly, a downgrade in terms of experience and charm. Visitors also have far less market access than they once did: you're 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. Rather you must follow a fixed route 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 eateries, like Sushi Dai, have made the move to Toyosu. Don't access the market by traveling to Toyosu Station, which is a 20-minute walk away; instead, head to Shijo-mae Station on the Yurikamome Line.

Disaster seemed to follow this temple, an outpost of Kyoto's Nishi Hongan-ji. Since it 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, dating from 1935, 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 to preserve 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 final Saturday of the month at 5:30. The final Friday sees lunchtime concerts of classical and Buddhist music (from 12:30 pm).

With no permanent collection of its own, this museum hosts an interesting temporary exhibits. Most focus on contemporary art, but some highlight more traditional works. 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, contain 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 an attractive example of how Japanese and Western styles merged in the homes of some wealthy Tokyoites in the Taisho era (1912–26). The two-story residence has mostly classic tatami-mat rooms with sliding screen doors (shouji), but it also incorporates a British-inspired drawing room with marquetry (wood veneer assembled like a jigsaw puzzle) flooring, white-plaster ceiling, stained-glass windows, and a marble mantel. Arguably the most striking feature is the shoin-style garden, whose lush greenery, pond, and waterfall are designed to be viewed from the comfort of the tatami rooms.You can soak up the atmosphere while enjoying green tea or coffee and sweets.

This museum, which specializes in Nihonga (a modernized form of traditional Japanese painting) from the Meiji Period, also has a collection of ukiyoe (woodblock prints) and oil paintings. Exhibits change seven or eight times a year and sometimes include works borrowed from other collections. You can take a break at Café Tsubaki, which offers tea and wagashi (a type of local sweets) as well as cake sets.

Prior to the rise of supermarkets and convenience stores in the 1980s, Tokyo neighborhoods had vibrant, local shopping streets, with places where you could, say, take a fish to be fried. 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 to honor lost friends and relatives. These visits 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 grounds en masse.

The shrine isn't one structure but a complex that includes 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. Refurbished in 2002, the Yushukan presents Japan at its most ambivalent—if not unrepentant—about its more recent militaristic past.

Critics charge that the museum's 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 the displays, which contain things such as the last letters and photographs of young kamikaze pilots, while others find the Yushukan a cautionary, rather than uplifting, experience.

Although some exhibits have English labels and notes, the English isn't 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.

The shrine is also home to the Noh stage and, in the far western corner, a sumo-wrestling ring, where matches are held in April, during the first of Yasukuni's three annual festivals. Pick up an English-language pamphlet and simplified map of the shrine just inside the grounds. Visiting on a Sunday offers a chance to forage at a flea market that runs from morning until mid-afternoon.

This park is the perfect spot for a picnic. On Sunday, people come to play music, practice martial arts, and ride bicycles (rentals are available) on the bike path. 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.

Founded in 1632, this temple originated as a place 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), it became an academy for the ruling elite. In a sense, nothing has changed: in 1872 the Meiji government established the country's first teacher-training institute here, and that, in turn, evolved into Tokyo University, whose graduates still make up much of the ruling elite. The hall is unlike anything you're likely to see in Japan: painted black, weathered, and somber.

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