500px Photo ID: 68486621 - Somewhere in Akihabara, Tokyo.

Ante Vukorepa / 500px

Kōrakuen & Akihabara

This swathe of central Tokyo runs alongside the Soto-bōri, the former outer moat of Edo Castle, and the Kanda-gawa. From west to east there's the old geisha district of Kagurazaka and the hallowed grounds of controversial shrine Yasukuni-jinja. In Kōrakuen the dazzling traditional garden Koishikawa Kōrakuen is a highlight, as is watching a baseball game at neighboring Tokyo Dome. Further east, browse the bookshops of Jimbōchō, the traditional restaurants of Kanda, and the electronic, pop-culture and contemporary-craft emporiums of Akihabara.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • 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…

  • Yushima Seidō

    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…

  • 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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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…

View more attractions
  • placement: fullWidth
  • path: destinations/top
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "destination": "Kōrakuen-&-Akihabara",
  "neighborhood": "Kōrakuen-&-Akihabara",
  "city": "Tokyo",
  "continent": "Asia",
  "country": "Japan"
}

Plan with a local

Articles

Latest stories from Kōrakuen & Akihabara

Art

Tokyo's Akihabara district: from electronics to maid cafes

Jul 16, 2010 • 3 min read

Read more articles
  • placement: fullWidth
  • path: destinations/bottom
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "destination": "Kōrakuen-&-Akihabara",
  "neighborhood": "Kōrakuen-&-Akihabara",
  "city": "Tokyo",
  "continent": "Asia",
  "country": "Japan"
}