Asakusa & Sumida River

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r Y kōen Sensō-ji (p161) Brows- E i K o o t Tsukuba Express Asakusa to ing the craft stalls of u 1#Ú to h NISHI- £# Tōbu i-b S Asakusa- as Nakamise-dōri and soaking ASAKUSA kōen Asakusa hi Tokyo £# y Sky Tree up the atmosphere (and the KAMINARI-MON pw As x Station incense) at Asakusa’s akusa Tawaramachi E -dōr o 6 £# i ¦# t o #á Asakusa u N 4# centuries-old temple K ¦# h Honjo- om S #¦ complex. a Azumabashi ga KOMAGATA ba ta Kasu sh - SUMIDA-KU 2 Ryōgoku Kokugikan ga-dōri i TAITŌ-KU ¦# Kuramae HIGASHI- (p168) Catching the salt- KURAMAE KOMAGATA slinging, belly-slapping Kuramae ¦# Kasuga-dōri M ritual of sumo at one of the

t Asakusabashi ¦# K s city’s four annual tourna- ura u m YOKOAMI m b ae- hi-dōri ments. ASAKUSABASHI ash Kuramaebas e i - ¦# Asakusabashi dō 3 Edo-Tokyo Museum Yokoami-kōen r #¦ i £# (p164) Learning about life in Kand 2##ý #¦ a-gaw Asakusabashi #â# Ryōgoku a £# 3 old Edo at this excellent his- tory museum with full-scale Ryō Ryōgoku Keiyō-dōri goku- bashi reconstructions of famous RYŌGOKU SUMIDA-KU Shuto Expwy No 7 buildings. 4 Tokyo Sky Tree (p163) KIKUGAWA Scaling the world’s tall- #¦Hamachō i est communication tower, MUROMACHI ash ¦# Morishita Ōh n- seeing the capital at your hi S feet, then browsing the S hu Solamachi mall at the base t o K iy Kiyosumi- E os afterwards. ¦# x u- shirakawa p ba w sh ¦# y i SHIRAKAWA 5 Fukagawa Fudō-dō N 6 o S Kiyosumi- (p164) Being blown away by um id teien Ō a-g the theatre of the fire ritual ha aw shi a Kiba- at this Shingon sect temple, Eita kōen i-bas KŌTŌ-KU which also has a trippy cor- hi Sendaibori-gawa E FUKAGAWA ridor lined with 9500 mini it ai a -d KIBA Buddhas. IRIFUNE w ) ōr a er i Ú# -g iv #¦ 5# da R Monzen- i a KIYOSUMI m id Su nakachō um (S 0 1 km e# 0 0.5 miles

For more detail of this area see Maps p286 and p287 A 160 Lonely Planet’s Top Tip Explore Asakusa & Sumida River Tokyo Mizube Cruising Welcome to the area long known as Shitamachi (the ‘Low Line (www.tokyo-park.or.jp/ City’), where the city’s merchants and artisans lived dur- waterbus) water buses de- ing the Edo period (1603–1868). Asakusa (ah-saku-sah), part from Niten-mon Pier

As with its bustling temple complex, is one of Tokyo’s prin- in Asakusa for Odaiba, via cipal tourist destinations. During the day, and especially a Ryōgoku. It’s actually the kus at weekends, Sensō-ji (p161) is jam-packed. Step off the most convenient way to main drags though and you’ll find far fewer tourists, and a & S get between Asakusa and the craft shops and mum-and-dad restaurants that have Ryōgoku (¥310, one way 10 long defined these quarters. minutes) and is the perfect

umid The neighbourhoods east of the Sumida-gawa – Os- way for travellers short hiage, Ryōgoku, Fukagawa and Kiyosumi – look much on time to sample a river like they have for decades, having experienced little of a Rive cruise. the development seen elsewhere in the city; Tokyo Sky Tree (p163), just across the river from Asakusa, is the ex- ception. Make it your last stop of the day, to see the city r

.Best Places all lit up at night 5 to Eat Ryōgoku has two key sights, the sumo stadium (p168) ¨Ötafuku (p167) and the Edo-Tokyo Museum (p164). Further south, Fu- ¨¨Kappō Yoshiba (p168) kagawa and Kiyosumi have a handful of worthy sights (a temple, a shrine and a garden) yet remain fairly off the ¨Äsakusa Imahan (p167) radar. Exploring these peaceful neighbourhoods can give ¨Önigiri Yadoroku (p165) you a feel for the old-Tokyo culture of the city’s east side. For reviews, see p165.A Local Life Best Places 6 ¨Street Food Asakusa brims with street food vendors to Drink (p165), especially along Nakamise-dōri. ¨ ¨Popeye (p168) ¨Festivals The 15th and 28th of each month are ¨¨Café Otonova (p168) festival days at Fukagawa Fudō-dō (p164) and Tomioka ¨¨Camera (p169) Hachiman-gū (p165), with food stalls and a flea market. ¨¨‘Cuzn Homeground ¨Parks Sumida-kōen, on both sides of the river around (p168) Asakusa, is a cherry-blossom-viewing hot spot and also (隅田川 For reviews, see p168.A gets packed for the summer fireworks festival 花火大会, Sumida-gawa Hanabi Taikai).

7 Best Places to Shop Getting There & Away ¨¨Marugoto Nippon (p169) ¨Train The Tōbu Sky Tree line leaves from Tōbu ¨¨Tokyo Hotarudo (p169) Asakusa Station for Tokyo Sky Tree Station. The JR ¨¨Bengara (p170) Sōbu line goes to Ryōgoku. ¨¨Kakimori (p169) ¨Subway The Ginza and Asakasa line stops at separate Asakusa stations. The Asakusa and Hanzōmon lines For reviews, see p169. A stop at Oshiage. The Ōedo line connects Ryōgoku, Kiyosumi (Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station) and Fukagawa (Monzen-Nakachō Station). ¨Water Bus Tokyo Cruise (p236) and Tokyo Mizube Cruising Line (p236) ferries stop at separate piers in Asakusa; Tokyo Mizube Cruising Line also stops in Ryōgoku.