City walk Tokyo — Asakusa & Ueno, Japan

Old Tokyo on Foot: Asakusa Temples to Ueno Park

A single easy day linking Tokyo's oldest temple to its grandest park — from the lanterns of Sensō-ji through kitchen-town backstreets to the museums and cherry trees of Ueno.

Old Tokyo on Foot: Asakusa Temples to Ueno Park — Photo: Akonnchiroll · CC0

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 4 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Late March–May and October–November

This is the Tokyo that survived — the low-rise, lantern-lit shitamachi of the old eastern city. In one gentle day on foot you walk from Sensō-ji, the capital’s oldest temple, across the artisan quarters to Ueno, the park that gathers the nation’s great museums under its cherry trees.

The route runs almost entirely on flat streets and is easy to break up with a coffee, a bowl of tempura, or an hour inside a museum. There is no admission to the temples or the park itself; only the individual museums charge.

Getting there. From Narita or Haneda, ride to Asakusa Station on the Ginza or Asakusa lines. The walk begins one minute away at the Kaminarimon gate. At the far end, Ueno Station puts you back on the JR Yamanote loop and the shinkansen.

Tickets & hours. Sensō-ji and its grounds are free and open around the clock; the main hall’s interior is open roughly 6:00–17:00. Ueno Park is free and open daily; the Tokyo National Museum charges about ¥1,000.

Good to know:

Late March to early April fills Ueno Park with cherry blossom crowds — arrive early.
Nakamise and Ameya-Yokochō are best for street food; carry cash, as many small stalls do not take cards.
The whole walk is flat and stroller-friendly; only the temple approaches have steps.

Day 1

From the Thunder Gate to Ueno's museums

Kaminarimon (Asakusa) → Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park) 4 km

Navigate this day

A single, mostly straight line north-to-south through the old eastern city, from Asakusa to Ueno.

Segments

Kaminarimon & Nakamise-dōri 0.3 km Map

Asakusa Station → Nakamise shopping street

City streets

Begin under the Kaminarimon, the vast 'Thunder Gate' and its four-metre red lantern, first raised in 942 and rebuilt in 1960 by the founder of Panasonic. Beyond it runs Nakamise-dōri, one of Japan's oldest shopping streets, lined with stalls selling rice crackers, folding fans and freshly steamed sweets. About 20 minutes.

About this place

The Kaminarimon is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands at 11.7 m tall, 11.4 m wide and covers an area of 69.3 m2. The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate dates from 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed in a fire in 1865.
Read more on Wikipedia
Sensō-ji Temple 0.25 km Map

Nakamise shopping street → Sensō-ji main hall

Temple precinct

Pass through the Hōzōmon gate to the Main Hall of Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 628 to enshrine a tiny golden Kannon said to have been pulled from the Sumida River by two fishermen. Waft the incense smoke over yourself for good health, then admire the five-storey pagoda alongside. About 45 minutes.
Through Kappabashi Kitchen Street 0.9 km Map

Sensō-ji → Kappabashi Dōgugai

City streets

Walk west into Kappabashi, Tokyo's wholesale street for everything a restaurant needs — knives, ceramics, lanterns and the astonishingly realistic plastic food models displayed in shop windows across Japan. A browser's paradise, and a good place to buy a keepsake. About 30 minutes.

About this place

Kappabashi-dori, also known just as Kappabashi or Kitchen Town, is a street in Tokyo between Ueno and Asakusa which is almost entirely populated with shops supplying the restaurant trade. These shops sell everything from knives and other kitchen utensils, mass-produced crockery, restaurant furniture, ovens, and decorations, through to esoteric items such as the plastic display food found outside Japanese restaurants. The street is also an off-beat tourist destination.
Read more on Wikipedia
To Ameya-Yokochō market 1.3 km Map

Kappabashi Dōgugai → Ameya-Yokochō

City streets

Continue south-west to Ameya-Yokochō, the raucous open-air market strung beneath the JR tracks near Ueno. Once a post-war black market, 'Ameyoko' now packs some four hundred stalls hawking dried seafood, spices, cheap trainers and skewers eaten on the spot. About 30 minutes with a snack stop.
Into Ueno Park 0.5 km Map

Ameya-Yokochō → Shinobazu Pond

Park paths

Climb the steps into Ueno Park, opened in 1873 as one of Japan's first public parks and famous for over a thousand cherry trees. Skirt Shinobazu Pond, whose summer lotus beds hide a small island shrine, and pass the statue of Saigō Takamori walking his dog. About 30 minutes.
The Tokyo National Museum 0.6 km Map

Shinobazu Pond → Tokyo National Museum

Park paths

End at the grand halls of the Tokyo National Museum, the country's oldest and largest, holding the world's greatest collection of Japanese art — samurai armour, swords, ceramics and Buddhist sculpture. Even an hour here is a fitting close to a walk through old Tokyo.

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