Museums of Ueno Park

With 25,000 exhibits covering everything from dinosaurs to outer space, this is one of Japan’s biggest science museums.

Work from artists such as Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh housed in a UNESCO-designated building designed by Le Corbusier.

This small msueums focuses on the lives of ordinary Tokyoites in pre-modern Tokyo, with exhibits including full-scale replicas of Edo-era (1603-1868) stores.

Japan’s first public art museum when opened in 1926, its numerous special exhibitions cover masterpieces as well as up-and-coming local talent.

Where to go and what to see in Tokyo to get the most from your trip – a 3-day itinerary from destination expert and Japan travel writer Rob Goss.

A dizzying mixture of old ways and modern style, crowds and calm, and arguably the best food scene on the planet.

With towering gateways and a five-storied pagoda, this busy temple in Asakusa is a standout. If you have time for just one temple in Tokyo – make it this one.

Drama and tradition combine in this 1,000-year-old sport. It’s a mesmerising and atmospheric spectacle – and Tokyo’s Ryogoku neighbourhood is the centre of it all.

Surrounded by 170 acres of lush forest, this calming, functioning shrine in otherwise heaving Harajuku is one of central Tokyo’s most tranquil spots.

The pinnacle of Japanese cuisine, this traditional dinner features a succession of up to 12 dishes, artfully presented and culinarily sublime. Tastes range from the familiar to the wonderfully indecipherable.

Having avoided damage from the great quake of 1923, the bombs of World War Two and the attention of developers, this mellow, retro and rickety neighbourhood is reminiscent of ‘old Tokyo’.

A gorgeous Shinto shrine, dating back to 1705, of elegant, colourful structures, tunnels af shrine arches, forested pathways, and ponds of koi carp. Every April, this shrine holds a month-long festival to celebrate the blooming of thousands of azaleas.

This museum in Ryogoku exhibits a collection of around 190 supremely crafted historic katana (samurai swords) – some designated national treasures – and documents how they are made.

Across the river from Asakusa, the observation decks on this 634-metre tower deliver incredible views over Tokyo’s seemingly unending sprawl. The high-speed elevator gets you to the observation deck in 50 seconds.