Browse the second-hand bookshops of Jimbocho, climb to the student quarter of Ochanomizu with the green-domed Nikolai-do, cross Hijiri Bridge over the Kanda River to the black-lacquered Confucian hall of Yushima Seido, visit Kanda Myojin, the shrine of Tokyo's business people, and finish at Yushima Tenmangu.
Best time: Weekday daytime (many bookshops close Sundays; Yushima Seido 9:30-17:00, 16:00 in winter).
The route, stop by stop
- 1Jimbocho Book Town
Yasukuni-dori lined with new, secondhand and rare bookshops; the area is also famous for curry. 60 min
- 2Meiji University Museum
Museum on Meiji University's Surugadai campus. 30 min
- 3Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do)
Eastern Orthodox cathedral of 1891 with a green dome, Important Cultural Property. 15 min
- 4Hijiri Bridge
1927 bridge over the Kanda River next to Ochanomizu Station. 5 min
- 5Yushima Seido
Confucian shrine of black-lacquered halls, once part of a Confucian school; students pray here for exam success. Free. 20 min
- 6Kanda Myojin
Shrine of Daikokuten, Ebisu and Taira no Masakado where businesspeople pray for a good year; home of the Kanda Matsuri. 25 min
- 7Yushima Tenmangu (Yushima Tenjin)
Shinto shrine in Bunkyo, a 10-minute walk north of Kanda Myojin; end at Yushima or Ueno-Hirokoji stations. 20 min
More walks in Tokyo
- Yanaka and Nezu: old Tokyo from Nippori to Nezu Shrine
- Asakusa back streets to Kappabashi and Kuramae
- Basho's Fukagawa: Morishita to Kiyosumi Garden and the art museum
- Nihonbashi to Ningyocho: merchant Tokyo
- Kagurazaka: geisha lanes and stone alleys
- Shibuya to Meiji Jingu via Cat Street
- Nakameguro to Ebisu via Daikanyama
- Imperial Palace East Gardens to Yurakucho's under-track bars
- Shibamata: Tora-san's town to the Edo River ferry
- Mount Takao Trail 1: Takaosanguchi to the summit