Tokyo History Tour for Nerds - Ueno

Tokyo History Tour
Ueno

Ueno was one of the hearts of the Edo, the old city. As decided by feng shui.

We’ll walk across Tokyo’s most historic areas hitting up many hidden locations dating from the 1st century right up to the end of the Edo Period in 1868.

heritage tourism, history tourism; tombstone tourism; cultural tourism, tokyo history tourism

#1 Fan Fave!

SUMMARY

We’ll start our history tour at beautiful Nezu Shrine, climb Mt. Dokan, a former castle and one of the five famous cherry blossom spots of Edo, visit Kan’ei-ji the funerary temple of six Tokugawa shoguns, and finish at Ueno Station – spanning the mythological Age of the Gods until the 1870’s. Not only will we see shrines and temples, but also many traditional wood houses which are quite rare in modern Tokyo. Most interesting is Japan’s largest urban necropolis – a literal city of the dead. I like to take a detour through Yanaka Ginza, a shotengai or traditional shopping street that is famous for cute stray cats.

I’ve packed so much packed into this walking history tour, that I can’t include it all here. There’s a reason this is my most popular tour. I can proudly say this is the most comprehensive Tokyo history tour available by anyone in English.

Designed by a history nerd for other history nerds, dive head first into #Tokyo with a passionate Edo Period specialist.
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Destinations

Dokan’yama
Remains of a 15th century castle, later a famous cherry blossom spot
Graves of the shoguns
Remains of 6 samurai rulers
Kan’ei-ji temple complex
Funerary temple of the shо̄guns, site of the peaceful abdication of the last shо̄gun
Kiyomizu Kannon-do
Iconic, picturesque, and famous from woodblocks prints and cherry blossoms, this clifftop shrine survived the Battle of Ueno.
Nezu Shrine
One of the oldest and most beautiful shrines in all of Japan (one of the Tokyo 10 Shrines Pilgrimage)
Suwa Shrine
15th century shrine in a quiet, traditional neighborhood – last spot in the capital where you could see Mt. Fuji from the street
Tenno-ji
Remains of the lovers’ suicide pagoda.
Ueno Daibutsu
This Big Buddha statue was a symbol of the capital until 1923
Ueno Tosho-gu
This enshrinement of the first shogun is covered in gold and was recently renovated
Graves of the last samurai
The shоogitai were samurai loyal to the shoguns who decided to go down fighting to the death
Yanaka Cemetery
The largest urban necropolis in Japan, graves span from the 1600’s until today!
Yanaka Ginza
A traditional shopping street famous for street food, artsy shops, and docile stray cats

Popular Add-ons

Ameyokocho
Dinner and/or karaoke in the post-war Black Market area
this area feels like pre-1980’s Tо̄kyо̄
Edo Period Tofu restaurant
Reservations required, dress code; actual Edo Period dishes on the menu
Shitamachi Museum
Learn about daily life in the old commoners’ district
Street Food at Benzaiten temple
If we don’t grab dinner together, it might be nice to grab a traditional snack to nibble on
Uguisudani
Walk through an interesting, yakuza-controlled love hotel district (nothing obscene to see, but definitely adult topics, — heads up!)

Book Now!

Starts at ¥55,000
(covers up to 5 people!)

tokyo history tour shops at top of donkanyama

Tokyo History Tour – Shiba – a similar comprehensive Tokyo history tour
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Custom Tours

Choose your own adventure, dawg.

SUMMARY

Here’s a secret. All my tours are customized in one way or another. If you need a private tour or someone to make things smoother, or if you’re gathering contents and shooting video and need a fixer, I’m sure I can help out and get you sorted.