23 Best Sights in Beyond Central Tokyo, Tokyo

In 1701, a young provincial baron named Asano Takumi-no-Kami attacked and seriously wounded a courtier named Yoshinaka Kira. Asano, for daring to draw his sword in the confines of Edo Castle, was ordered to commit suicide, so his family line was abolished and his fief confiscated. Forty-seven of Asano's loyal retainers vowed revenge; the death of their leader made them ronin—masterless samurai. On the night of December 14, 1702, Asano's ronin stormed Kira's villa in Edo, cut off his head, and brought it in triumph to Asano's tomb at Sengaku-ji, the family temple. The ronin were sentenced to commit suicide—which they accepted as the reward, not the price, of their honorable vendetta—and were buried in the temple graveyard with their lord.

Through the centuries this story has become a national epic and the last word on the subject of loyalty and sacrifice, celebrated in every medium from Kabuki to film. The temple still stands, and the graveyard is wreathed in smoke from the bundles of incense that visitors still lay reverently on the tombstones. There is a collection of weapons and other memorabilia from the event in the temple's small museum. One of the items derives from Kira's family's desire to give him a proper burial. The law insisted this could not be done without his head, so they asked for it back. It was entrusted to the temple, and the priests wrote a receipt, which survives even now in the corner of a dusty glass case. "Item," it begins, "One head."

Very different from the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, the Ando Gallery is the pick of the independent art venues in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa. Located in a small, repurposed storehouse, the focus here is predominantly on young Japanese contemporary artists, with genres ranging from installations to design work.

A bookstore and then some, T-Site was designed to be a “library in the woods” for major bookseller Tsutaya but has ended up being a fashionable meeting place for the Daikanyama area. The three wings of the complex house a Tsutaya store full of arty, intellectual tomes, but there are also cafés and restaurants here, including the plush Anjin Library and Lounge, where you can ease into a comfy chair with a coffee or cocktail while surrounded by 30,000 vintage magazines from the 1960s and ‘70s. Don’t miss taking a look at T-Site’s dog salon too: it’s where some of Daikanyama’s most pampered pooches come for styling.

Located northeast of Kawagoe’s central sightseeing area (you’ll want to get on the loop bus rather than walk), Hikawa is known as a shrine where people come to pray for love and marital happiness. To do that yourself, write a wish on an ema (small votive plaque) and then hang it in the extremely Instagrammable ema tunnel. There are also two 600-year-old zelkova trees on the grounds, wedded together by an ornately wound rope. It’s said that walking around these giant trees in a figure of eight pattern also bestows good fortune.

Designed by famed architect Fumihiko Maki, the Hillside Terrace helped shape Daikanyama as a chic neighborhood after it was opened in 1967 and as it was subsequently expanded over the next three decades. Spread over multiple low-rise buildings, it mixes cafés and restaurants with offices, design and fashion stores, and small galleries. It's been overtaken in the public consciousness by T-Site in recent years, but the contemporary art at Art Front Gallery, coffee at Hillside Cafe, and all its other outlets still make it worth a browse.

The most famous of Kawagoe’s old streetscapes, Ichibangai (“first street”), is lined with historic, black- and white-plastered warehouses and dark wooden merchant residences that today house all sorts of places to shop or stop for a snack. Souvenir-wise, you’ll find stores selling incense, jewelry, glass beads, and fashion accessories, while the street snacks vary from tofu donuts to traditional sweets designed to be taken with green tea. More than anything, Ichibangai is just a pleasant place to stroll and take in the old vibe.

The star attraction here is the Diamonds and Flowers Ferris wheel (Daia to Hana no Dai-kanransha), which takes passengers on a 17-minute ride to the apex, 384 feet above the ground, for a spectacular view of the bay area. On a clear day you can see all the way to Mt. Fuji; at night, if you're lucky, you reach the top just in time for a bird's-eye view of the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom, across the river. The park also has an observatory looking out over Tokyo Bay as well as the Tokyo Sea Life Park aquarium. There's also a bird-watching center.

Another of Kawagoe’s historic enclaves, this cobblestone side street translates as “candy store alley.” It’s a great stop for anyone with a sweet tooth, thanks to its roughly 30 confectionery shops that sell colorful hard candies, honeycomb toffee, and more traditional Japanese treats such as dango (rice dumplings) and senbei (savory rice crackers).

Established around AD 830, Kita-in has long been an important temple in what was once known as the Kawagoe Domain. Not only is its graveyard the resting place of feudal lords, but over the temple’s long tenure it has accumulated several notable features. Several buildings were moved here from Edo Castle in the 1600s, as well as a famous collection of 500 Rakan Statues carved between the 1780s and 1820s. Each is a unique representation of the disciples of Buddha, with various pained and pleasured facial expressions. There’s a 17th-century shrine on the grounds too, as well as several gardens planted with azaleas, hydrangeas, and plum, cherry, and maple trees that combine to repaint the gardens seasonally.

Defined by its island-accented pond, around which pathways take visitors to a succession of carefully landscaped viewpoints that blend features like manicured trees and ornamental rocks, this traditional garden is one of eastern Tokyo’s undervisited gems. Originally part of a feudal lord’s residence in the early 1700s, the garden was later owned by the founder of Mitsubishi, who used it to entertain important guests and give staff a place to unwind. Sitting by the pond, watching herons perch on rocks and carp gliding through the water, it’s an incredibly relaxing spot.

Part of a private research facility specializing in the study of parasites, this small but free museum is definitely not for the squeamish. Some of the specimens preserved in glass jars look like props from Alien. However, if you’ve ever dreamed of owning a T-shirt with the image of a giant tapeworm on the front, the museum shop has you covered. To get here, you will need to go well off the beaten path: it’s a 20-minute walk south of Naka-Meguro Station, or more conveniently 10 minutes west of Meguro Station.

On the far-eastern end of Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, occupying the northernmost part of the sprawling Kiba Park, this modern museum has spaces that rotate between displays of contemporary art from its own collection and special exhibitions. The latter in recent years have included shows devoted to Jean Prouve and David Hockney, while the 2023 schedule includes the work of visual and installation artist Wendelien van Oldenborgh and a look at the designs of Christian Dior. If you need a break while here, there are a café and a restaurant on-site. The museum sometimes closes between exhibitions for reinstallations.

If you take the train between Tokyo and Narita, you’ll notice that before reaching the capital there are rice paddies and farmland on view. At Narita Dream Farm (aka Yume Bokujo), you can experience that rural side of Greater Tokyo firsthand, with an emphasis on family fun. You can feed and milk cows, as well pet guinea pigs and goats, or have a tractor ride. There are also workshops to make jam, butter, and bread; on a less rural note, you could try some archery, too. It's a very different kind of Tokyo experience that's very well suited to small kids.

One of the Kanto region's oldest temples, Naritasan was founded in the AD 900s to hold a statue of the Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo, which legend has it was carved by Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. That statue alone—still viewable in the temple’s vast main hall—marks Naritasan out as special to many Japanese, but added to that are two impressive pagodas and a spacious wooded park to explore. Once at Narita Station, which is less than 10 minutes by train from the airport, the temple is reached via Naritasan Omotesando, an 800-meter-long (½-mile) avenue lined with souvenir stores and restaurants, which is fun to explore in its own right, especially if you are in need of some last-minute souvenirs.

The most fun part of this aquarium in southwestern Tokyo is walking through an underwater glass tunnel while some 450 species of fish swim around and above you. There are no pamphlets or explanation panels in English, however, and do your best to avoid weekends, when the dolphin and sea lion shows draw crowds in impossible numbers. Take the local Kyuko Main Line from Shinagawa to Omori Kaigan Station. Turn left as you exit the station and follow the ceramic fish on the sidewalk to the first traffic light; then turn right.

This several-hundred-meter shopping street between Shibamata Station and Taishakuten Temple has retained an old-Tokyo vibe, its wooden buildings having escaped the heavy bombing that flattened much of Tokyo at the end of World War II and the subsequent post-war redevelopment. Although the street developed as the approach to Taishakuten, its connection to the temple takes a back seat for most visits to the street snacks sold here. The Sando is lined with small, family-run stores selling traditional snacks, such as savory senbei (rice crackers), dorayaki (sweet pancakes), kuzu-mochi (sticky rice cakes), and the Shibamata classic that is kusa-dango (sticky rice dumplings on skewers that appear a deep green because they include mugwort in the mix). For the latter, stop by Monzen Toraya.

Established in 1629, then rebuilt after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Taishakuten Temple is entered through a towering wooden gateway at the end of Taishakuten Sando shopping street. While stepping inside the grounds is free, it’s best to pay the additional fee to enter the inner sanctuary and garden, the former of which is adorned with intricate wood carvings depicting the life and teachings of buddha.

The symbol of old Kawagoe can’t be left out of a guide, although there isn’t actually much to do at this 16-meter-tall (52-foot) bell tower other than take a photo. Originally built in the 1600s, the current structure dates to the 1890s, when it was rebuilt following a fire that destroyed much of Kawagoe. It’s just north of the Ichibangai shopping street.

Mickey-san and his coterie of Disney characters entertain here at Tokyo Disneyland the same way they do in the California and Florida Disney parks. When the park was built in 1983, it was much smaller than its counterparts in the United States, but the construction in 2001 of the adjacent DisneySea and its seven "Ports of Call," all with different nautical themes and rides, added more than 100 acres to this multifaceted Magic Kingdom. Most people buy the One-Day Passport, which gives you unlimited access to the attractions and shows at one or the other of the two parks. See the park website for other ticketing options.

The three-story cylindrical complex of this aquarium houses roughly 600 species of fish and other sea creatures within a dozen areas, including Voyagers of the Sea (Maguro no Kaiyu), with migratory species; Seas of the World (Sekai no Umi), with species from foreign waters; and the Sea of Tokyo (Tokyo no Umi), devoted to the creatures of the bay and nearby waters. To get here, take the JR Keiyo Line local train from Tokyo Station to Kasai Rinkai Koen Station; the aquarium is a 10-minute walk from the South Exit.

This shrine in the heart of Monzen-Nakacho has been a core part of Fukagawa since the 1600s. It’s said that some of the earliest sumo tournaments were held here in the 1700s, which explains the sumo-related monuments dotted around the place. Today, the grounds hold small antiques markets on the first, second, third, and fifth Sundays of each month, while lively flea markets take place on the 15th and 28th of each month. In odd-numbered years, the shrine is also the starting point of the summer Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri, a festival that sees more than 50 portable shrines paraded energetically through the streets while onlookers pour buckets of water over the carriers (and each other). One more quirk here is that you can bring your car to be blessed.

This large, well-equipped amusement park in the northwestern part of Tokyo has four thrill rides, a haunted house, and six swimming pools. What makes it special is the authentic Coney Island carousel—left to rot in a New York warehouse, discovered and rescued by a Japanese entrepreneur, and lovingly restored down to the last gilded curlicue on the last prancing unicorn. Just be aware that the park has an outdated yakuza-related policy that means nobody with tattoos will be allowed in.

Once the home of businessman Einosuke Yamamoto, Yamamoto-tei is a lovely example of how Japanese and Western styles merged in the homes of some wealthy Tokyoites in the early 1900s. The two-story residence has mostly classic tatami mat rooms with sliding screen doors, but it also incorporates a British-inspired drawing room with marquetry flooring, white plaster ceiling, stained-glass windows, and a marble mantelpiece. Arguably the most striking highlight is the shoin-style garden, whose lush greenery, pond, and waterfall are designed to be viewed from the comfort of the tatami rooms; something visitors can do while enjoying green tea and sweets or coffee.