On our two week trip to Japan (and one week in Tokyo), we spent our first full day in Asakusa and Akihabara. Asakusa is a historic area of Tokyo, best known for Senso-ji temple and Nakamise-dori shopping street.

On the other hand, Akihabara is called “Electric Town” as it was a central place in Tokyo for electronics following World War II. It gradually became known for video games, anime, manga, arcades and more.

In Tokyo, Asakusa and Akihabara are relatively close to one another, so it makes sense to visit them both in a day. Naturally, it’s easy to fill an entire day’s activities in Asakusa or Akihabara. But, with a limited amount of time in Tokyo, it makes sense to visit both Asakusa and Akihabara in one day.

Justin and I spent five nights in Asakusa, staying at the centrally located Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei. This meant that we spent a bit more time in Asakusa, even on the days where we traveled to other areas in Tokyo.

For this reason, I’ve added on more things to do in Asakusa in this guide than may be possible in a day. For instance, you may not have time for the shopping section, Imado Shrine, or the additional ramen restaurant suggestion.

If you are staying in Asakusa like we did, you might find these extra recommendations handy. Or maybe you’re more of an early riser than we are and you can manage to do everything in one day.

Video of Akihabara and Asakusa

Morning Coffee at Fuglen Asakusa

I popped into Fuglen Asakusa simply for the reason that they opened much earlier than other cafes in the area. Originally from Norway, Fuglen brings both Scandinavian design and flavors to Japan.

While Fuglen originated in Oslo, their coffee shops have expanded to Tokyo and beyond. Nowadays, they roast their beans in both Oslo and Tokyo, shipping their beans throughout Asia from their roastery in Japan.

Fuglen Asakusa is best known for their coffee and their waffles. They roast their coffee lightly as its done in Norway. I ordered an Americano with oat milk.

Unfortunately, the waffles aren’t vegan, so I didn’t try them. For vegan options, there’s an avocado toast on sourdough bread. At their Shibuya location, there are two vegan cake slices. I’m not sure if they are offered in Asakusa, so I suggest asking the staff.

Senso-ji Temple

Senso-ji Temple is the most famous place to visit in Asakusa and it belongs on any Tokyo itinerary. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo, dating back to the year 645. Back then, Asakusa was a small fishing village, though it grew as people flocked to worship at Senso-ji.

There are a number of structures and places to visit at Senso-ji. Allow yourself at least an hour or two. There are two main gates, one on either side of Nakamise-dori Street: Kaminari-mon Gate and Hozo-mon Gate.

We walked up to the Main Hall through wafts of incense, thought to be cleansing and healing for the body. Don’t miss admiring the five-story pagoda and the beautiful gardens on site.

At Yogodo Hall, I purchased my goshuin-cho, a book where I could collect stamps or seals from shrines and temples around Japan. I also collected my first goshuin here. (My apologies that the goshuin shown in the photo above is actually upside-down!)

Take your goshuin-cho up to the counter with the book opened to the next blank page. Pay a small fee (usually 300 to 500 yen). The staff member will give you a number and will call your number when your book is ready. A member of staff at Senso-ji creates a beautiful handwritten seal that’s completely unique to the temple.

I also received my fortune at Senso-ji Temple. There are fortune stations around the temple. Put a 100 yen coin into the station. Shake the metal box until a numbered stem comes out (this is quite loud and we heard this noise all over Senso-ji!). That number corresponds to a drawer containing a fortune.

While my fortune was an average one, there are good fortunes and bad fortunes. Don’t worry if you receive a bad fortune. There is a place where you can tie the bad fortunes, leaving them behind so they don’t stay with you.

I suggest going to Senso-ji Temple as early as possible because it can get very crowded. For those planning to collect a goshuin, the office is open from 8:00 to 16:30. The Main Hall opens from 06:00 to 17:00. However, many vendors on Nakamise-dori do not open until 10:00 or later.

Nakamise-dori Street

From Senso-ji, walk down the lively Nakamise-dori (Nakamise Street). It is a famous shopping street attached to Senso-ji Temple in between the two gates, Kaminari-mon Gate and Hozo-mon Gate.

This shopping street is mainly known for its food and drink, though there are also souvenirs like toys, chopsticks, lanterns and clothing items. It’s a great opportunity to sample some traditional sweets.

We sampled some strawberry mochi, topped with a strawberry that was one of the best I’d had in my life. Japanese strawberries are simply the best in the world and more expensive than most. They grow and hand select only the best strawberries, so there are fewer grown. The ones that grow are the plumpest and juiciest strawberries in the world.

Justin and I also tried some tempura manju, a fried bean paste bun. There are sweet and savory varieties, and we tried the plum tempura manju that was really yummy.

Most shops open between 10:00 and 19:00, though a few will open earlier. Typically in Japan, it is rude to eat while walking around. However, as this is street food, it is acceptable to eat on Nakamise-dori.

There are a few shops that ask that you don’t eat right in front of their storefront. It is very busy on Nakamise-dori, so you don’t want to be blocking any shops. I suggest temporarily standing out of the way down a side street while eating the street food. There aren’t any garbage cans around either, so we had to carry our trash with us until we found a trash can.

Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center

Upon exiting Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise-dori, Justin and I walked across the street to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center. There is a free observation deck on the 8th floor of the building overlooking Senso-ji, Nakamise Street and Tokyo Skytree on the other side.

The views from up here are fantastic. There is a small cafe on the 8th floor as well. The Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center is a great place to visit if you have any questions about the area.

There are staff members who speak English. While we didn’t take a walking tour, they also host free English-speaking walking tours on the weekends. Ask about the tours at the desk.

On the 2nd floor of Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, there are some free stamps to collect in your eki stamp book. This is different from the goshuin-cho. I’ll explain more at the end of those article for those who aren’t familiar. There are a couple of different stamps to collect here, along with well-inked stamp pads.

Mokuhankan Woodblock Print Shop

Mokuhankan is a shop selling Japanese woodblock prints, established by Tokyo printmaker, David Bull. While he does create his own woodblock prints, Mokuhankan features the works and designs of many craftspeople.

There are some woodblock prints hanging on the walls, though the majority of the prints are organized by theme or artist. Purchase art of traditional Japanese scenes, animals, people, and reproductions of famous pieces of art.

If something catches your eye, Mokuhankan will ship it to your home so you don’t have to risk it getting damaged as you travel around Japan. They also have an online shop if you’d rather shop from home anywhere in the world.

Want to see artist David Bull crafting his woodblock prints? Watch on his YouTube channel!

Lunch at Kura Sushi Asakusa

Kura Sushi is a chain conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Japan. When we arrived, we put the number of people (for us, two) into their reservation machine at the front. Thankfully for us, there wasn’t a queue, though there was one when we left.

There are private booths for each group of diners that comes with soy sauce, chopsticks, green tea powder and hot water. On the revolving conveyor belt, various types of sushi and dishes go around and around.

See one you like? Feel free to take it! Otherwise, order your favorite dishes from the iPad at the table. We ordered all of our small plates from the iPad. When our dishes were ready, they shot down the conveyor belt, stopping perfectly at our table.

For vegan sushi rolls, they had kappa maki (cucumber), oshinko maki (pickled radish) and natto rolls (fermented bean). We thought it was hilarious that we could order beer through the iPad. The beer came flying down the conveyor belt to our table, albeit inside small dishes so they wouldn’t spill.

The iPad keeps track of your order, except for the food gathered straight from the conveyor belt. There’s also a little game – of course, because this is Japan!

We put our empty plates down the chute at our table. We randomly once a prize from our table’s gachapon, a little roll of cute washi tape. It also helps keep track of how many items of food you ate for the bill.

Dessert and Coffee at Shochiku-en

After lunch, we walked over to Shochiku-en, a vegan and gluten-free cafe. They serve slices of cake, cake jars, cookies and more. It’s also a great place to order a coffee or tea.

Shochiku-en is committed to creating delicious treats free from gluten/wheat, dairy products and eggs. They don’t use any artificial sweeteners or colorings. Rather than using refined sugar, they use Hokkaido beet sugar. Plus, they use organic and locally produced ingredients when possible.

Justin and I shared a slice of their Instagrammable rainbow cake where each colorful layer is dyed with natural food dyes (nothing artificial!). I also enjoyed an iced coffee with oat milk. I’d love to return to try one of their tiramisu cake jars.

Exploring and Shopping in Asakusa

There are many more streets to wander and explore in Asakusa. At night, Hoppy Street is a popular hang with traditional izakaya (Japanese bars) serving a low alcoholic beer called Hoppy.

There’s also plenty of shopping in Asakusa. Two popular shops in Japan are Daiso (100-yen department store) and Don Quijote (a massive department store selling everything you could think of). Don Quijote Asakusa is open 24 hours, so you can shop whenever you’d like.

Kappabachi Street is a street selling kitchenware and everything related to cooking. There’s also an amazing gacha shop (gachapon are toy machines where you will get one of the pictured items, it’s a surprise!) called Asakusa Gachadokoro.

Imado Shrine

There might not be time to visit Imado Shrine before heading over to Akihabara. I had this one on my list, but we ran out of time. However, since we were staying in Asakusa, I ventured over to Imado Shrine earlier one morning before we visited some other spots in Tokyo.

Imado Shrine is about a 15-minute walk north of Senso-ji Temple. Imado Jinja is dedicated to the Lucky Cat. It’s a must for those who love cats, like myself!

The shrine is dedicated to the two deities of marriage, Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto. It is associated with good relationships and harmony in marriage.

I noticed immediately that this shrine was covered with images of cats. Not only that, but it’s always pairs of two cats.

While I wasn’t fortunate enough to meet her, there is a white cat that frequents the shrine named Nami-chan. If you don’t see Nami-chan, there is a large framed photograph of her on display in the main shrine building.

Yoroiya Ramen

Here’s another bonus place to dine in Asakusa. Upon our evening arrival to Tokyo, we dropped our luggage off at our hotel and looked for a place to eat. Justin and I were starving after a long 14-hour flight from Toronto.

Thankfully, Yoroiya Ramen on Denboin-dori was open. This is a popular ramen restaurant and named one of the best in Tokyo. There is a limited amount of seating at the bar, right in front of where the ramen is prepared.

We dined here because they specialize in a vegan ramen. It contains a vegetable-based broth with extra flavor from kombu (kelp). In addition to the vegan noodles, there’s tofu, sweet potatoes, bamboo shoots, carrots and more. It was so good and the perfect choice for our first meal in Japan!

Things to Do in Akihabara

From Asakusa, let’s spend the rest of our day in Tokyo in the bright and bustling Akihabara. While this area of Tokyo is known for electronics, computers, video games, anime and geek culture, I’d love to share a couple of traditional, historic places, too. It’s good to have a balance!

Kanda Myojin Shrine

First, Justin and I walked to Kanda Myoujin Shrine. While not quite as old as Senso-ji, Kanda Myoujin was founded in 730 and moved to its current location during the Edo period. It is one of the most important shrines in Tokyo.

Kanda Myojin enshrines three deities: Daikokuten and Ebisu (two of the Seven Lucky Gods of good fortune), and Taira no Masakado, a samurai who fought for political change. Many people visit Kanda Myojin Shrine for prosperity and good luck.

Every May during an odd numbered year, one of Japan’s biggest festivals takes place in Tokyo. Kanda Matsuri’s parade begins and ends at Kanda Myojin.

A miniature horse also lives at Kanda Myojin Shrine. I had no idea until I saw a pony in the middle of the shrine, which is quite an interesting sight. It’s not every day that you see a horse in Tokyo. Upon some Googling, I discovered that she is a sacred horse named Akari.

Origami Kaikan

Down the street from Kanda Myojin, we stumbled upon Origami Kaikan. This is a museum, gallery and shop dedicated to the art of origami. There’s no admission to visit the gallery, which is spread across two floors.

This is a small museum, but it’s well worth visiting. The gallery of origami is outstanding with many unique displays. It’s amazing to see these intricate works.

On the third floor, there is a gift shop with over 2000 items. Buy an origami kit to make your own folded paper creation. There are also origami papers and art supplies. While there are classes here, I believe that they are only offered in Japanese and not English.

Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan was started as a paper-dying business by Kosuke Kobayashi of the Kobayashi Family in 1858. Later in 1972, Origami Kaikan was established to share and promote this Japanese handcrafted art. They founded the International Origami Center in 2006 as a nonprofit organization for sharing origami with the community.

Yushima Tenjin Shrine

This next one is a little outside of Akihabara in Yushima, Bunkyo City, but it’s well worth the small detour. Yushima Tenjin Shrine, also known as Yushima Tenmangu, is a shrine dedicated to the deity of learning.

It is a popular shrine for students to visit who are seeking help with their academics. For instance, a student may visit Yushima Tenjin Shrine before an exam to pray for success.

We visited Yushima Tenjin because we wanted to see the plum blossoms. As Justin and I visited Tokyo in the middle of February, the plum blossoms were beginning to bloom, a sure sign of spring. There are 300 plum trees of 20 different varieties here. We saw plum blossoms in shades of pink and white.

There was also a display of bonsai, specifically miniature plum trees in bloom. Sometimes there are events at Yushima Tenjin throughout February and early March, Ume Matsuri, or the Plum Blossom Festival. We didn’t see any special festivities taking place, but we were happy to see the plum blossoms in bloom.

Super Potato Akihabara

Alright, now it’s time for the nerdy video game part of this blog post. Justin and I both love video games and retro arcade games. Naturally, Super Potato Akihabara was our first stop. This is a multi-level retro video game shop and arcade.

We discovered all things retro video gaming here, especially old Nintendo games. Of course, these are the Japanese counterparts, so there are Famicom games, Super Famicom games, and the list goes on.

There’s also a seemingly endless supply of video game merchandise, like toys, CDs and music, and more. The top floor has a few rows of retro video games to play, plus candy and sugary drinks for fuel.

If there’s a rare video game or related collectible that you’re looking for, there’s a good chance that you’ll find it at Super Potato. The prices are pretty reasonable overall, but expect to shell out some extra coin for that ultra rare item. Video game fans could spend hours here!

GiGO Akihabara

Akihabara is home to many video game arcades, and they’re massive. There are multiple buildings of arcades across several floors! Escalators will transport you to each level. One of our favorite video game arcades was GiGO Akihabara 1.

The games are organized and each floor tends to have a theme. There are entire floors of claw machines. Then, another level might have rhythm games, classic arcade machines, shooting games or puzzle games. Another level might be entirely Purikura, sticker photo booths.

GiGO Akihabara is spread across multiple buildings. Head over to GiGO Akihabara 3 if you’re into older, classic arcade games. There’s a whole floor dedicated to Sega titles, Capcom games, Namco classics, and even a bit of Donkey Kong or original Super Mario.

HEY (Hirose Entertainment Yard) Taito

Another fun gaming center is HEY (Hirose Entertainment Yard) Taito. Much like GiGO, HEY has entire floors dedicated to crane and claw games. But, it also has huge spaces of 90s arcade games, like Street Fighter and Tetris.

HEY Taito is one of the best places in Akihabara to play retro video games. Bathed in a deep blue light, wander around HEY Taito to uncover past memories of games you grew up playing, both single player and multi-player.

Dinner at Komaki Shokudo

For dinner, we dined at Komaki Shokudo, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant serving Shojin Ryori cuisine. This is Japanese Buddhist zen cuisine that’s completely plant-based. It is conscious dining that shows compassion for all living creatures.

I ordered one of their set menus that included miso soup, rice, soy meat karaage, Japanese pickles and other side dishes. Justin chose the kitsune soba meal. Both were so delicious, hearty and healthy.

Next to Komaki Shokudo is a large food market hall called CHABARA AKI-OKA MARCHE. It is a stylish market featuring traditional and artisanal Japanese food items. We went for a wander through this food market and saw so many interesting things! There’s also a coffee roastery with 30 different types of coffee beans.

Asakusa: See Senso-ji at Night

Last, make sure you return to see Senso-ji Temple at night. Walk around the property in the evening for a whole different experience.

The buildings and shops won’t be open, but it’s still possible to take a stroll around the grounds. The buildings are illuminated and there won’t be as many people there.

From there, continue your walk down Asakusa Nishi-sandō Shopping Street towards Hoppy Street. The shopping area itself will be very quiet and peaceful. Hoppy Street will likely be bumping, but Senso-ji and the surrounding streets will be secluded and tranquil.

Where to Stay in Asakusa: Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei

We stayed for five nights at Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei Hot Spring Hotel. It has the perfect location for exploring Asakusa and beyond. It’s within steps of Senso-ji Temple. For those traveling with kids, Japan’s oldest amusement park, Asakusa Hanayashiki, is right across the street.

While the room itself wasn’t all that big, it’s on par with most hotels in Tokyo. The bed was comfortable and we got a restful night’s sleep each night. There’s also a small seating area with a table and another table with a flatscreen TV on it.

When we arrived at the hotel, we immediately had to remove our shoes. The entire hotel has a tatami mat floor and we all walked around in our socks. There are complimentary cubbies for your shoes that lock up with a key. Not only did we have an authentic Japanese experience, but the hotel itself was incredibly clean.

The hotel was very quiet at night and there weren’t any noises from other rooms or the city streets. The biggest selling feature to this hotel is the complimentary hot spring. There are separate men’s and women’s facilities as you won’t be able to wear your swimsuit, as per Japanese customs.

Justin and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei and highly recommend it for your trip to Asakusa and Tokyo.

We also stayed at the Shiba Park Hotel at the end of our trip to Japan when we returned to Tokyo. It’s located in the quiet Shibakoen neighbourhood, though it’s another convenient home base in Tokyo. It’s also a unique library hotel with over 1500 books to borrow. Here’s our full review of the Shiba Park Hotel.

Getting Around Asakusa and Akihabara

Both Asakusa and Akihabara are very walkable. Once you are in Asakusa or Akihabara, explore each district by foot.

When getting between Asakusa and Akihabara, the subway is your best bet. We relied on Google Maps for our entire stay in Japan. Google Maps tells you the best entrance to enter the station, the number of the track, and the departure time.

The trains in Tokyo are rarely delayed and almost always on time. If you miss a train, it’s no worry at all. The next one will arrive minutes later.

Upon arrival to Japan, we purchased our Welcome Suica cards from a machine at the airport. These can be used for nearly all forms of public transportation in Japan (except for the Shinkansen).

Simply tap your Suica card when entering and exiting the subway station. The Suica card will work on trains and buses in all major cities in Japan.

We didn’t purchase any separate transit passes in Tokyo or the JR pass. In our experience, it’s more economical and easy to simply use the Suica card. When you run out of money on your Suica card, refill it at the local convenience store, like a 7-11, Lawson or Family Mart.

Collecting Eki Stamps

Many train stations will have eki stamps (train stamps) and it’s fun to collect them! I purchased a book when I arrived in Japan. Anytime I visited a train station or tourist location, I looked for the stamps.

At train stations, there is usually a small table near the entrance or exit of a station. Not all train stations have one, but many of them do.

There’s a stamp and ink pad on the table. Collect stamps as you travel around Japan! It’s a fun and free souvenir.

As I mentioned above, goshuins (stamps from shrines and temples) must go in their own separate book (goshuin-cho) from the eki stamps. I carried two small books in my bag around Japan with me, one for the eki stamps and one for the goshuins.