Must-see attractions in Kōrakuen & Akihabara

  • Autumn in Japan is very attractive season for its beautiful colors of Japanese maple, gingko and other trees.

    Koishikawa Kōrakuen

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Established in the mid-17th century as the property of the Tokugawa clan, this formal strolling garden incorporates elements of Chinese and Japanese…

  • Yasukuni Jinja.

    Yasukuni-jinja

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Literally ‘For the Peace of the Country Shrine’, Yasukuni is the memorial shrine to Japan’s war dead, around 2.5 million souls. First built in 1869, it is…

  • Origami Kaikan

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This exhibition centre and workshop is dedicated to the quintessential Japanese art of origami, which you can learn to do yourself in classes here. There…

  • Kanda Myōjin

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Tracing its history back to AD 730, this splendid Shintō shrine boasts vermilion-lacquered halls surrounding a stately courtyard. Its present location…

  • Yūshū-kan

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Most history museums in Japan skirt the issue of WWII or focus on the burden of the common people. Not so here: Yūshū-kan begins with Japan's samurai…

  • Nikolai Cathedral

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This Russian Orthodox cathedral, complete with distinctive Byzantine-style architecture, was first built in 1891 under the supervision of English…

  • Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    How did baseball come to be a Japanese obsession? This museum chronicles baseball’s rise from a hobby imported by an American teacher in 1872 to the…

  • Akagi-jinja

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Kagurazaka’s signature shrine only bears a passing resemblance to the traditional ones around the city. In 2010 the shrine, which can trace its history…

  • Yushima Seidō

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Established in 1691 and later used as a school for the sons of the powerful during the Tokugawa regime, this is one of Tokyo’s handful of Confucian…

  • 3331 Arts Chiyoda

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    A major exhibition space, smaller art galleries and creative studios now occupy this former high school, which has evolved into a forward-thinking arts…

  • JCII Camera Museum

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Among the hundreds of vintage cameras on display here is an 1839 Giroux daguerreotype, the world's first camera. Japan wasn't far behind: the ornate Tsui…

  • TOKAS Hongo

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, TOKAS (short for Tokyo Arts and Space) comprises three floors of galleries with the aim of promoting new…

  • Mizuma Art Gallery

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Run by longtime Tokyo art-world figure Sueo Mizuma, Mizuma Art Gallery represents some of Japan's more successful contemporary artists, such as Aida…

  • Tokyo Dai-jingū

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This is the Tokyo branch of Ise-jingū, Japan's mother shrine in Mie Prefecture. Credited with establishing the Shintō wedding ritual, Tokyo Dai-jingū is a…

  • Gallery Kura

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    Tucked away amid the Sola City development is this exhibition space occupying a relocated 1917 storehouse once used by the area's book distributors. Check…

  • National Shōwa Memorial Museum

    Kōrakuen & Akihabara

    This museum of WWII-era Tokyo gives a sense of everyday life for the common people: how they ate, slept, dressed, studied, prepared for war and endured…