Known for
Yanaka Ginza, the temple lanes and Yanaka Cemetery. With Nezu and Sendagi, locals call the walk Yanesen.
Temple lanes and cats
Yanaka
Yanaka · 谷中
Yanaka Ginza, the cemetery road, lanes toward Nezu
Yanaka stays low: houses, temple gates, and the cemetery that keeps the neighbourhood green. Yanaka Ginza, the shopping street, is short. Sweets, cat signs, handcarts. Past it the lanes run on into Nezu and Sendagi, and people simply live there.
Why go
A daytime walk, with no list of required sights. In the morning the shopping street still belongs to the neighbourhood. After lunch it catches people leaving Ueno Park. At night the area goes to bed early.
Where to stay
For anyone who wants a quiet morning outside the door. Shibuya and Shinjuku are a ride away. Ueno and Asakusa are close, and the evening does not mean pushing through a main station.
Local guide
Fedor Samorodov · guide
For the cemetery and the upper edge of Yanaka, come out at Nippori. Use Sendagi if you are walking up from Nezu. Yanaka Ginza is the short shopping street. The temples stand on the side lanes, not on it.