Tokyo Stroll Supplement: Bunkyō Ku
This page indexes, contains corrections, and has additions to Bunkyō Ku in Tokyo.
Related pages for specific neighborhoods/areas exist for Hakusan / Koishikawa, Hongō, and Yanesen (which is partly in Bunkyō Ku).
For information on Tokyo Stroll and this web supplement see Tokyo Stroll Supplement home page
For users of the Organic Maps, Maps.Me and Google Maps apps the items below have bookmarks you can import into those apps to make navigation easier. Instructions and links are on the Viewing Locations in Organic Maps, Maps.Me, Google Maps, or Google Earth page.
Akamon: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 168
Amezaiku Yoshihara Sendagi: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 456
Bunkyō Civic Center (文京シビックセンター)
As you have walked through this part of Tokyo you may have occasionally noticed a large tall building to the South East. This is the building that houses the government offices for Bunkyō Ward, sometimes you will see it referred to as the Bunkyō City Hall. Once you are at the building take the elevator up to the 25th floor (Open: 9:00 – 8:30) observation deck where you can enjoy an excellent 330-degree view of the city. If it is a clear day you will have a good view of Mount Fuji beyond the skyscrapers of Shinjuku. You may even spot a few things in the neighborhood to explore if the sun is still up.
Bunkyō Historical Museum / Bunkyō Furusato Rekishikan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 180
Chōjiya: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 458
Dangozaka: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 456
Denzūin: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 165
Enjōji: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 153
Former Ise Pawnshop / Kyū Iseya Shichiten: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 183
Fujinomori Inari Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 182
Genkakuji: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 166
Hakusan Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 153
Hantei (はん亭)
A restaurant in an older three-story wooden building which has been designated an important cultural property. This is the original 1917 building having survived the major fires that destroyed so much of Tokyo. Hantei specializes in kushiage, deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables, elevated to fine cuisine. For easy ordering they serve one set course, the ichinozen which is six skewers served in sequence, further rounds can be ordered for a greatly reduced price until you are full. You can then finish off the meal with optional rice and desert. There are seasonal variants in what they serve which adds an element of traditional Japanese dining. There are some English speaking staff and an English menu. Seating is either traditional on tatami on the second and third floors or chairs at tables on the first.
WEB: http://hantei.co.jp
Harimazaka: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 156
Hikawa Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 159
Honmyōjizaka: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 181
Hōshinji: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 182
Isego: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 458
Isetatsu: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 455
Jigenin: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 164
Jirō Inari Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 158
Kaneyasu: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 180
Kikumi Senbei 456
Kikuzaka: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 183
Koishikawa Annex, Museum of Architecture, The University Museum, The University of Tokyo / Tōkyō-daigaku Sōgō Kenkyū Hakubutsukan Koishikawa bun’in: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 158
Koishikawa Botanical Garden / Koishikawa Shokubutsuen: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 156
Koishikawa Kōrakuen (小石川後楽園)
[South of the area in the Hakusan / Koishikawa Detail 4 map, near Kōrakuen Station]
A garden which was laid out in 1629 on the Mito Han estate by Tokugawa Yorifusa, his son Tokugawa Mitsukuni would oversee the completion of the work. An advisor on the construction of the garden was Zhu Zhiyu a noted Confucian scholar and refugee from China after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. It was he who gave the garden its name. Today this is the oldest garden in Tokyo Some noted features of the garden include the ponds, streams, manmade hills, older structures, bridges of stone or wood, many pathways, flowers, and a rice paddy for teaching how hard farmers worked which is still planted and harvested by school children today. Specifics on much of this can be found in the brochure given out at the garden. The garden is also known for Autumn foliage starting in late November, plum blossoms in February, cherry blossoms in late March, azaleas in April-May, and more than one type of iris in mid-April-June.
PDF: http://www.kensetsu.metro.tokyo.jp/content/000026922.pdf
Komagome Inari Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 461
Kyū Iwasaki-tei Garden / Kyū Iwasaki-tei teien: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 175
Mansei: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 164
Mori Ōgai Memorial Museum / Bunkyō Kuritsu Mori Ōgai Kinenkan: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 457
Nensokuji: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 159
Nezu Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 458
Reiunji: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 173
Rinsenji (林泉寺)
This temple has an unusual type of Jizō statue, a shibarare Jizō, a "bound Jizō" which dates from 1602. This refers to a practice that started in the Edo Period of tying a string around a statue of Jizō as part of a prayer, when the prayer is answered the string is to be removed. Originally at this temple it was for the recovery of stolen or lost property, now people do for pretty much anything.
The shibarare Jizō of Rinsenji is mentioned by Kodō Nomura in one of his Zenigata Heiji stories.
Rinshōin: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 175
Sakai Inari Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 172
Sansakizaka: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 456
Sanshirō Pond / Sanshirō ike: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 172
Shinjuin: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 166
Snake Road / Hebimichi: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 458
Sōkeiji: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 156
Sudō Park / Sudō Kōen: Tokyo Stroll, Yanesen Chapter, page 458
Tadonzaka: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 181
Takehisa Yumeji Museum / Takehisa Yumeji Bijutsukan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 173
Takuzōsu Inari Jinja and Jigenin: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 164
Tarō Inari Jinja: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 156
Tokyo Dome City (東京ドームシティ)
A large modern entertainment complex founded in 1955 which has been added to and changed many time since. Included are the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium, the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, a hotel, an amusement park, a bowling alley, a hotel, roller skating arena, a large theater, the hot spring La Qua, various other attractions, and the location of ever changing special events. This modern entertainment district provides quite the contrast to the many older sights found in Bunkyō Ward.
WEB: https://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp
Tokyo Waterworks Historical Museum / Tokyo To Suidō Rekishikan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 183
Tsuboya: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 174
University Museum, The University of Tokyo / Tōkyō Daigaku Sōgō Kenkyū Hakubutsukan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 175
University of Tokyo / Tōkyō Daigaku: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 168
Ushi Tenjin Kitano Jinja (牛天神北野神社)
Founded in 1184 by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Kamakura shogun. Yoritomo had a dream in which Sugawara no Michizane standing on a cow shaped stone informed him two important events would take place. The shrine was then constructed as thanks.
The main entrance to the shrine grounds is to the East where there is a long stairway to the shrine. The shrine itself is an older wooden structure with some impressive komainu statues. The grounds are known for a ume blossom flower viewing festival early in the year. On the grounds you will see a sacred stone in straw rope enclosure, and a tall memorial stone to Nakajima Utako famous poet and instructor to many writers including Ichiyō Higuchi and Miyake Kaho. The memorial to Utako was put up after her death in 1903.
Enter on the West through a long pedestrian street and stairway.
WEB: http://ushitenjin.jp
Wadatsumi no Koe Museum / Wadatsumi no Koe Kinenkan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 183
Yayoi Museum / Yayoi Bijutsukan and the Takehisa Yumeji Museum / Takehisa Yumeji Bijutsukan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 173
Yayoiken Hongo (やよい軒 本郷)
The local branch of the restaurant chain Yayoi. I include it here as this is an excellent place to get a Japanese style breakfast at very reasonable prices. As you enter there is a machine where you can order and pay for your meal. This is a touch screen device and has an English menu option for easy selection. Pay for your meal, collect your ticket and change then seat yourself. You don't need to be able to speak Japanese as the ticket has your selection. Refills on rice and tea are free, just help yourself.
WEB: https://www.yayoiken.com/en/
Yokoyama Taikan Memorial Hall / Yokoyama Taikan Kinenkan: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 172
Yushima Seidō: Tokyo Stroll, Akihabara and Kanda Chapter, page 69
Yushima Tenmangū: Tokyo Stroll, Hongō Chapter, page 173
Zenkōjizaka Mukunoki Tree: Tokyo Stroll, Hakusan / Koishikawa Area Chapter, page 164
Back to the Tokyo Stroll Supplement home page - Privacy Notice - Back to Gilles' home page
Created September 23, 2024 | Content last updated
September 24, 2024
|