Yanaka
Hello, travelers. This is Kumi. Picturesque Japan Blog welcomes you to Tokyo's old town, Yanaka.
Here is the basic information of Yanaka by japan-guide.com
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3068.html
My musician friends from New York and I explored Yanaka for a few hours before they played at Blue Note Tokyo.
We started our walk from Nippori station. The first thing we did was this!
The restaurant is called Kamado Dining.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1066441-d7489035-Reviews-Kamado_Dining_Yakitoriohachito_Denbei-Arakawa_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html
Unfortunately, TripAdvisor doesn't show you much information other than the phone number and the map and they don't have English menu, but if you enjoy any kind of food, you could try their set menu, just pointing the photo and say "This one, please!" :P
After lunch, we walked to the other side of the railway tracks. (It may be fun to look down for a while if you are sort of interested in trains)
If you are to follow our course, please turn left when you see this temple.
The narrow street between the beige building and the grey building is the way.
In Yanaka area, you'll see a lot of shops with items featuring cats.
You could visit Asakura Museum of Sculpture.
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-museums-art-galleries/asakura-museum-sculpture
(*We didn't visit the museum because we didn't have time)
We visited Kannonji Temple to see the famous wall built more than 200 years ago.
http://www.hellojapan.asia/en/travel-guide/kannonji-temple-tsujibei-wall.html
Hmm... Where is the wall??
Actually, the wall is outside the temple.
They really enjoyed the atmosphere.
If you're interested in art, you could visit the following museums.
TERAMACHI ART MUSEUM
http://teramachi-artmuseum.com/
SCAI THE BATHHOUSE
http://www.scaithebathhouse.com/en/
SCAI THE BATHHOUSE used to be a public bath, but now it is used as an art gallery.
Instead of visiting art museums, we visited Shitamachi Museum Annex.
https://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2017/01/shitamachi-museum-annex.html
This liquor shop operated until 1986.
Then we walked back to Yanaka shopping area called "Yanaka Ginza."
Hello, cat!
You can see the ordinary life of Japanese people.
Cattail-shaped doughnuts!!!
Another shop with cat items. This area is a paradise for cat people.
There is a 100 yen shop called Can Do where you can find some stuff for little souvenirs.
There is a funny T-shirt shop. This penguin is saying "I don't think I can pull myself together" and the cat is saying "I can't go on..."
If you are lucky, you might be able to see some cats, but as the area got popular, it seems they usually hide somewhere.
After going up the stairs, please do not forget to look back to enjoy the view.
You'll see some more shops after the stairs.
Here is the route we took.
If your computer or phone shows you the map in Japanese, please try this link.
https://goo.gl/maps/faFCf8CKtW32
There is not much to see after Shitamachi Museum Annex until you arrive at the main shopping street, so you could go back to Kannonji Temple and enjoy exploring narrow streets.
Anyway, it was a very sunny day and my musician friends got on the stage with suntanned faces on that evening. :P
They are both very popular musicians traveling all around the world, so please check out their websites and enjoy their music in your country. If you live in New York, you'll have a lot of chances to see them!
Rich Perry
http://richperrymusic.com/
Ryan Keberle
http://ryankeberle.com/
Ryan is coming to Japan soon, so if you live in Japan, please check out his schedule.
Here is the basic information of Yanaka by japan-guide.com
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3068.html
My musician friends from New York and I explored Yanaka for a few hours before they played at Blue Note Tokyo.
We started our walk from Nippori station. The first thing we did was this!
The restaurant is called Kamado Dining.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1066441-d7489035-Reviews-Kamado_Dining_Yakitoriohachito_Denbei-Arakawa_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html
Unfortunately, TripAdvisor doesn't show you much information other than the phone number and the map and they don't have English menu, but if you enjoy any kind of food, you could try their set menu, just pointing the photo and say "This one, please!" :P
After lunch, we walked to the other side of the railway tracks. (It may be fun to look down for a while if you are sort of interested in trains)
If you are to follow our course, please turn left when you see this temple.
The narrow street between the beige building and the grey building is the way.
In Yanaka area, you'll see a lot of shops with items featuring cats.
You could visit Asakura Museum of Sculpture.
http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-museums-art-galleries/asakura-museum-sculpture
(*We didn't visit the museum because we didn't have time)
We visited Kannonji Temple to see the famous wall built more than 200 years ago.
http://www.hellojapan.asia/en/travel-guide/kannonji-temple-tsujibei-wall.html
Hmm... Where is the wall??
Actually, the wall is outside the temple.
They really enjoyed the atmosphere.
If you're interested in art, you could visit the following museums.
TERAMACHI ART MUSEUM
http://teramachi-artmuseum.com/
SCAI THE BATHHOUSE
http://www.scaithebathhouse.com/en/
SCAI THE BATHHOUSE used to be a public bath, but now it is used as an art gallery.
Instead of visiting art museums, we visited Shitamachi Museum Annex.
https://japanvisitor.blogspot.jp/2017/01/shitamachi-museum-annex.html
This liquor shop operated until 1986.
Then we walked back to Yanaka shopping area called "Yanaka Ginza."
Hello, cat!
You can see the ordinary life of Japanese people.
Cattail-shaped doughnuts!!!
There is a 100 yen shop called Can Do where you can find some stuff for little souvenirs.
There is a funny T-shirt shop. This penguin is saying "I don't think I can pull myself together" and the cat is saying "I can't go on..."
If you are lucky, you might be able to see some cats, but as the area got popular, it seems they usually hide somewhere.
After going up the stairs, please do not forget to look back to enjoy the view.
You'll see some more shops after the stairs.
Here is the route we took.
If your computer or phone shows you the map in Japanese, please try this link.
https://goo.gl/maps/faFCf8CKtW32
There is not much to see after Shitamachi Museum Annex until you arrive at the main shopping street, so you could go back to Kannonji Temple and enjoy exploring narrow streets.
Anyway, it was a very sunny day and my musician friends got on the stage with suntanned faces on that evening. :P
They are both very popular musicians traveling all around the world, so please check out their websites and enjoy their music in your country. If you live in New York, you'll have a lot of chances to see them!
Rich Perry
http://richperrymusic.com/
Ryan Keberle
http://ryankeberle.com/
Ryan is coming to Japan soon, so if you live in Japan, please check out his schedule.
