Tokyo in a Day from Ikebukuro

Three ideas shaped it:

• The palace first thing — the East Gardens open at 9:00 and stop admitting visitors at 16:00. The grounds are wide and short on shade, so walk them in the cool, quiet morning
• The subway for one hop at a time — Otemachi to Yushima and Ueno to Asakusa are both about five minutes. Everything else is on foot, so you feel how the neighbourhoods join up
• Asakusa from dusk into night — Senso-ji’s main hall closes at 17:00. Arrive late afternoon to pray at the hall, then see Asakusa lit up from a rooftop and the river before heading home

The five stops, in map order:

From Tokyo Station to Yushima and Asakusa, most of the day is on foot, about 12 km in all. If you tire, cut back early, for example by skipping the keep base in the East Gardens (see 11).

The 24-hour ticket runs for 24 hours from the first gate you pass. If detours might add one or two more Metro rides, buy it at Ikebukuro in the morning (the JR leg home is paid separately). Prices are published fares and search results as of October 2026.

Start at Ikebukuro on the red Marunouchi Line to Tokyo Station. Ikebukuro is the end of the line, so you can sit for the 17 minutes. Around Myogadani and Korakuen, and where it crosses the Kanda River at Ochanomizu, the train comes up into daylight.

At Tokyo Station, leave by the Marunouchi Central exit. Turn around and the long red-brick station fills the view.

• The domes — under the domes at each end are tall halls you can look up into from the concourse outside the ticket gates; the ceiling reliefs have been restored too
• Gyoko-dori — a broad tree-lined avenue linking palace and station. The ginkgos turn gold in late November
• From above — the roof or upper floors of KITTE or the Marunouchi Building across the plaza look down on the station (check each building’s hours)

Walk Gyoko-dori to the palace and cross the inner moat into Kokyo Gaien, the pine-dotted Imperial Palace Plaza. Cut diagonally across it, and across the moat you will see Nijubashi.

From Nijubashi, follow the inner moat north. On the way you pass Kikyomon, where guided tours of the palace grounds meet (see 11). A little further on is Otemon, the entrance to the East Gardens.

The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace open parts of Edo Castle’s Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru enclosures to the public as a garden. Entry is free and needs no booking. Take an entry token at Otemon and hand it back at the gate on your way out.

Follow the yellow line on the map:

• Otemon — the castle’s main gate, through which the feudal lords came to court
• Hyakunin-bansho — a guardhouse over 50 m long on the road up to the Honmaru, manned day and night by a hundred musketeers
• Ninomaru Garden — a stroll garden around a pond, full of seasonal flowers, with autumn colour from late October
• Honmaru and the keep base — climb the Shiomizaka slope to the broad lawn of the Honmaru. At the far end is the base of the castle keep, left bare after the keep burned in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 and was never rebuilt

Just inside Otemon, the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan is closed while it prepares for its grand opening on 3 November 2026. From November on, add it to the route.

Back at Otemachi, the Chiyoda Line takes four minutes to Yushima. Walk north from the station and you are soon at Shinobazu Pond. Getting off at Yushima rather than Ueno lets you enter Ueno Park from the west of the pond and walk pond, Ameyoko and park in one easy line.

• Shinobazu Pond and Bentendo — a hall to the goddess Benzaiten on an island in the pond. The pond is famous for its lotuses: a sheet of flowers in summer, leaves turning colour in autumn
• From the pond to the station — head from the pond’s southeast corner toward Ueno Station, and the market street begins along the viaduct

Walk back up Ameyoko toward Ueno Station and climb the steps into Ueno Park. On the rise at the entrance stands the statue of Saigo Takamori with his dog. From there head north through the park and along the approach, with a five-storey pagoda in view, to Ueno Toshogu.

• Ueno Toshogu — a shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu, founded in 1627. Its gold-leafed hall, the Konjikiden, is an Important Cultural Property. Grounds 9:00–16:30 (October–February); Golden Hall ¥700
• Peony garden — the shrine’s peony garden opens only in winter and spring, so it is closed in autumn

From Toshogu, cross the fountain plaza to the far end of the park. Ahead stands the tiled roof of the Tokyo National Museum’s main building.

If Western art is more your thing, swap in the National Museum of Western Art near the park entrance (permanent collection ¥500). Its main building, by Le Corbusier, is part of a World Heritage listing.

From the museum, cut through the park to Ueno Station. The Ginza Line reaches Asakusa in five minutes.

Exit 1 at Asakusa brings you out just short of Kaminarimon.

• Kaminarimon — Senso-ji’s outer gate. Facing the great lantern, the wind god is on the right and the thunder god on the left. The front of the gate is crowded; step back toward the intersection for photos
• Nakamise — about 250 m from Kaminarimon to Hozomon. Said to date from around 1685, it is one of Japan’s oldest shopping streets. Buy ningyo-yaki or fried manju, and eat at the shop before walking on
• Senso-ji — founded, by tradition, in 628, making it the oldest temple in Tokyo. From October to March the main hall is open 6:30–17:00, so pray before five

Around five, as the main hall closes, cross to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center opposite Kaminarimon. Take the lift to the 8th floor for a free observation terrace.

Once it is dark, walk east along Kaminarimon-dori to Azumabashi. From the red bridge you see Tokyo Skytree glowing across the Sumida River beside the building with the golden sculpture, and the lanterns of houseboats on the water: Asakusa at its best by night.

Have dinner in Asakusa: old-established tempura or sukiyaki, monjayaki, or the izakaya of Hoppy-dori. To get home, take the Ginza Line to Ueno and change to the JR Yamanote Line for Ikebukuro, about 30 minutes in all.

Rearrange for the day of the week, the weather and your legs. The day of the week matters most: the East Gardens close on Mondays and Fridays and the Tokyo National Museum on Mondays, so the route works best Tuesday to Thursday or at the weekend.

• Comfortable shoes — gravel paths and slopes in the East Gardens, Ueno Park, Asakusa: about 12 km on foot over the day
• Check closing days — the East Gardens (Mondays, Fridays), the Tokyo National Museum (Mondays) and the palace tour (Sundays, Mondays). Events can close them at short notice, so check the official sites the day before
• At the palace — bags are checked on entry to the East Gardens. Leave large luggage in a station locker and travel light
• Eating on the move — on Nakamise the custom is to eat what you buy at the shop before walking on. Take your rubbish with you
• Check the times — the times here are one example from the October 2026 Saturday timetable. Weekday and holiday services differ, so check a route planner the day before