The Best Things to See and Do in Taito, Tokyo

Many visitors rush into historic Asakusa just to tick off the imposing Senso-ji Temple – then swiftly rush out again. But linger a little longer, exploring the area’s lane-like backstreets, and you’ll be rewarded with shops, steak restaurants – and Asakusa Hanayashiki, the oldest amusement park in Japan. Opened in 1853, it’s now home to traditional rides including merry-go-rounds, roller coasters, even a haunted house. Follow up the thrills with a visit to Dom Dom, for a battered beef croquette burger.

If there’s a selfie that screams Taito, it’s this one, taken in front of the opulent Kaminarimon Gate. Painted red and jade, the entrance to the Senso-ji Buddhist temple frames a 700kg (1,540lb) red lantern, painted with striking Japanese kanji symbols, and festooned with a wooden dragon carving. The gate has had various incarnations, the first more than 1,000 years ago. Look out for the Shinto and Buddhist god statues as you pass by, along an avenue of gift stalls to the temple itself.

An essential part of life in Taito is the Sumida River, a watery ribbon that borders the ward’s easterly side. See it all on a dinner cruise, past older-world Taito as well as the skyscrapers that glitter on the opposite bank (look out for landmark Tokyo Skytree). Yakatabune is a special wooden tour boat, and you’ll get an epic, multi-course Japanese-style feast – with the likes of silky sashimi, crisp tempura and savoury crab ball soup – plus all-you-can-drink beer, sake and Japanese whiskey.

Almost too adorable to eat, taiyaki are traditional Japanese street food cakes shaped like a red seabream (a “tai”). Typically they’re sold by street vendors around historic districts such as Asakusa. They’re stuffed with a sweet filling – usually red bean paste, but sometimes custard or chocolate – and the crisp exterior is best scoffed while still warm. Taiyaki Sharaku is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shop doing them fresh, all day – eat yours on benches outside the shop window.

Ameya-Yokocho, or Ame-Yoko for short, is a must-visit outdoor shopping market near Ueno Station. If it’s your first time in Japan, you’ll be particularly blown away (in a good way) by the gentle chaos – this Taito institution is an intoxicating riot of vendors (almost 200) selling everything from candy and souvenirs to clothing and shoes, usually at low prices. Get set to fill your suitcase.

Ueno is the largest public park in Tokyo. Don’t come with any urgent plans – rather simply arrive and wander at will, admiring lakes of lotus flowers and families sitting in circles around picnics. Somewhere on the grounds, you’ll happen upon an impressive Buddhist temple, rising from the middle of Shinobazu Pond, where the lotus flowers cluster. Look out, too, for a couple of Shinto shrines on the main shore. If you’re in Japan at cherry-blossom time, Ueno Park is one massive cloud of pink, meeting overhead and forming alleys of unreal pale light, while crowds inch along.

Not far from Yushima Station, these grounds once belonged to the Echigo Takada Clan during the 17th- to 19th-century Edo Period of classic Japan. Later, they were bought by Yataro Iwasaki, son of the founder of Mitsubishi. The estate is now home to an impressive Western-style mansion built in the early 1900s along with several examples of traditional Japanese architecture, declared Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese government – and head-turning to anyone with an Instagram account.

Also located in Ueno Park is the Tokyo National Museum, Japan’s oldest and largest, and one of the biggest art museums in the world. Make straight for the displays of the Asian and Japanese art – among 110,000 items. Look also for the fascinating sculptures discovered along the Silk Road and from Greco-Buddhism. Best of all, by simply strolling and not trying to cram everything in, you’ll leave with an unforgettable memory of Japan old and contemporary.

Yanaka Ginza is an old-fashioned shopping street in the Shitamachi (old-proletarian-Tokyo) style. Full of friendly stray cats, it’s an essential pitstop for the large stairway at the end, known as the Yuyake-dandan steps: that translates as sunset steps, the name emerging from a competition to rename them three decades ago. Once you’ve ascended all 36 (it’s a gentle climb), you get a fine view of Yanaka Ginza – one made popular in TV programmes and magazine articles. And if you come just before dusk, you’ll appreciate just how apt the name is – bring someone you’re romantically linked to.

If you want to take in the sights and sounds of Sumida River, Sumida Riverside Park is the perfect vantage point. During the day, the winding tracks are popular with joggers. In the evenings, the brightly lit Tokyo Skytree is visible across the river.

Don’t miss this showcase of Tokyo’s old Shitamachi culture. Shitamachi – or lower city – was a term used historically to describe the low areas of Tokyo where the non-elite lived. Preserved evidence of the Shitamachi can still be found in small pockets throughout those areas. At the museum, head to the first floor, and the exhibition of Nagaya (tenement houses) of old-town Shitamachi, dating from the Taisho period (1912-1926). Of particular interest are the narrow alleys, home to a well, a coppersmith’s atelier and a time-honoured sweet shop.