KANTO
Asakusa
Travel journal from Asakusa, with 25 notes on the places I ate, the dishes I cooked and the sights: Tsukiji Outer Market, Sumida River Line water bus, Kachidoki Bridge, Asakusa Station, Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.
Journeys: 2 · Notes: 25
Journeys
Asakusa Food Diary, Part 2
Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
I sat over dozeu nabe on a charcoal brazier at Komagata Dozeu, in business for more than two centuries.
Film published 2024.03.31
Asakusa Food Diary, Part 1
An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
I woke up in a room with the Skytree right outside the window.
Film published 2024.03.03
02
A little of each town’s story
Sights, specialties and how the towns came to be: small cultural notes beside each journey.
Taito, Tokyo
Tsukiji Outer Market
A market district of about 460 shops.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Sumida River Line water bus
A water bus run by Tokyo Kanko Kisen, linking Asakusa and Hinode Pier.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Kachidoki Bridge
Opened in 1940, it is a steel tied-arch bridge whose center is a Chicago-type double-leaf bascule span; it kept opening and closing after the war, up to a trial…
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Asakusa Station, Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
The Ginza Line opened between Asakusa and Ueno in 1927 as the first subway in the East, and was completed all the way to Shibuya in 1939.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Denki Bran
A drink created in 1893 by the founder of Kamiya Bar, blending brandy with gin, wine, curaçao and herbs in secret proportions.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Asakusa Hanayashiki
Japan's oldest amusement park, opened in 1853 near the end of the Edo period.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Kaminarimon and Nakamise at Senso-ji
Kaminarimon is the main gate of Senso-ji; its formal name, Furaijin-mon, comes from the statues of the wind god and the thunder god enshrined on either side.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Asakusa Rokku and the Toyokan theater
The area west of Senso-ji, covering Asakusa 1- and 2-chome, also called Koen Rokku.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Asakusa Chikagai underground arcade
Opened in 1955, the oldest underground shopping street still in existence in Japan.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Noodles from Asakusa Kaikaro
A noodle maker founded in 1950, in the Inaricho area of Taito Ward.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Asakusa Hanayashiki
Opened in 1853, at the end of the Edo period, as a garden of peonies and chrysanthemums, it still operates as Japan's oldest amusement park.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Kannon-ura
A quiet neighborhood behind Senso-ji, north across Kototoi Street.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Mamekan
A sweet of plump simmered red peas and agar topped with kuromitsu syrup.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Asahi Dry Zero, a non-alcoholic beer
What I drank at Sansada was Dry Zero, a non-alcoholic beer-taste drink from Asahi Breweries.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
03
Places we stopped along the way
What we ate and bought, with shop details checked against published listings.
Asakusa
Asakusa Soratsuki
A shop for strawberry Japanese sweets on a back street off Nakamise-dori, near Senso-ji.
From: Chasing the cherry blossoms across spring Japan
Taito, Tokyo
Komagata Dozeu (main restaurant)
A loach restaurant founded in 1801.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Tsukiji Shoro (main shop)
It began in 1924, when a shop branching off from Shoro Sushi in Nihonbashi opened in Tsukiji.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Kamiya Bar
Founded in 1880 and known as Japan's first bar, it began as a kakuuchi, a liquor shop where you drank at the counter.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Asahi, a Chinese restaurant
A machi-chuka on Yanagi-dori behind Asakusa Kannon, now in its fourth generation.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Mizuguchi, an eatery
An eatery founded in 1950, known for iri-buta, pork and onions stir-fried in a curry-flavored sauce.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Kibundo Sohonten
Kibundo Sohonten is a long-established ningyo-yaki shop in Asakusa, founded in 1890; its paper bags read Kibun ningyo-yaki.
From: Loach hot pot and Tokyo ramen: more of Asakusa
Taito, Tokyo
Royal Coffee (main shop)
A classic kissaten founded in 1962.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Asakusa Yakisoba Fuku-chan
A shop at the entrance to the Asakusa underground arcade, open since 1964.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Umemura (Japanese sweets)
A sweets shop in Kannon-ura, in business since 1968.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Taito, Tokyo
Kaminarimon Sansada
A tempura restaurant founded in 1837.
From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house
Other places in Kanto
Kanto
Tsukishima, Tokyo
Tsukishima and Tsukuda, Sumiyoshi Shrine, Tsukuda, A shitamachi breakfast: grilled salmon and tofu miso soup
Journeys: 2 · Notes: 10
Kanto
Kamogawa
Kamogawa, Namero on rice, Sauce yakisoba
Journeys: 1 · Notes: 6
Kanto
Kamakura
Ryukoji Temple, Kamakura-Kokomae Station, Kamakura Farmers' Market and Kamakura Central Food Market
Journeys: 2 · Notes: 19