We started our day at Asakusa, which is Tokyo's eastern neighbourhoods and served as Tokyo's downtown area in the 1600-1800s. The district is the home of Senso-ji, Tokyo's most visited temple, also called Asakusa Kannon Temple.
We arrived at Asakusa station and followed the direction of the temple, going through Kaminarimon Gate and the Nakamise shopping arcade. 20 minutes later, we reached the area of the temple which was very crowded. The visit to the temple is free. There are also a few pagoda around. Close by, we could see some local traditional celebrations involving kids.
We took the direction of the Edo Shitamachi Traditional Crafts Museum and found a very nice street where we decided to make a stop for an early lunch. We joined some locals in terrace and ordered some gyoza. Delicious!
After this quick break, we headed off to Ueno district (walking), which is the cultural heart of Tokyo. You can find the Tokyo National Museum there. The weather was great and it was our last day in Tokyo so we were less interested in visiting it and wanted to enjoy the outdoor, so decided to skip the visit. However, this is worth noting that this is the most recommended museum to visit in Japan as you can find the world's largest collection of Japanese art. There are a few more museums in the surroundings as well as a zoo.
Instead, we had a walk in the Ueno-Onshi park. Due to the golden week, the park was very busy, with a lot of families. We walked until the Hanazono Inari-jinja shrine, the Benzaiten temple and then around the Shinobazuno-ike pond.
Then, we followed a very nice walk recommended in the Lonely Planet starting from the Tokyo National Museum until Sendagi Station through Yanesen. After exiting the Ueno park, we took the direction of the Yanaka-reien cemetery, one of Tokyo's most prestigious cemeteries.
Before reaching the cemetery, we make a stop for a Japanese tea ceremony at Gallery Okubo (〒110-0001 Tōkyō-to, Taito City, Yanaka, ２−2, ６丁目２−４０ 2階). We had a great time http://gallery-okubo.tokyo/ enjoying the authentic Japanese tea ceremony. If you are around or if you are looking for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, I would highly recommend this place. If you really want to go, maybe better to book as this is first come first serve if you go without any booking. This costs us only 1,000 yens, we did not need to sit on our knees, and we got to pick our individual cup amongst 15 unique cups (with a specific story associated to each of them). The staff was really nice and shared with us several macha green tea and some local sweets.
After this great break, we continue our walk through Yanesen and reached Yuyake Dandan, the 'Sunset Stairs' leading to a more modern shopping street. If you wish to buy match green tea or a tea service, you will find what you need here. Then, we picked up the subway at Sendagi Station.
Given we "missed" the view on the Mount Fuji, we were quite keen to give it another go and went to the South observatory of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (as we only did the North one so far) to enjoy the beautiful sunset. We could see the Mount Fuji on the background, it was very pretty.
We spent our last evening in the Sega building to enjoy a couple more of Mario Kart games and it was the end of our amazing Japanese trip.
The day after, we took two trains to join the airport. It was very straightforward.
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