Asakusa and Akihabara: the perfect one day itinerary!

Although Asakusa and Akihabara are slightly out of the way from some of the other main districts of Tokyo, they’re so close to one another that it makes sense to visit them together. Here’s my one-day itinerary that will help you see the best of both the traditional and futuristic sides of Tokyo!

(For full disclosure, this post contains affiliate links. When you click and make a purchase through one of the links on this page, I may earn a small commission. This doesn’t come at any additional cost to you, and I only endorse hotels I’ve personally used and would genuinely recommend. Many thanks for your support!)

Asakusa

Not only is Asakusa a fantastic location for your first day in Japan, it’s also a great place to stay. It’s perfect for wandering the temple complex at night and it’s also very reasonable, price-wise. I’ve stayed at Asakusa B:Conte Aparthotel and really recommend it – the rooms were immaculate, spacious and modern. It’s about 6 minutes walk to the main station of Asakusa.

On my first visit to Japan however I stayed near Shibuya station at the Shibuya Granbell Hotel, where you can take the Ginza subway route direct to Asakusa. It takes 45-50 minutes to get there and costs around 250 Yen (about £1.50/$2 USD). From Asakusa Station, the famous Kaminarimon gate (pictured above) is a stone’s throw away.

I’ve also stayed in Ginza at the Super Premier Hotel Ginza, which is just 15 minutes away from Asakusa via the Asakusa subway line, or approx. 23 minutes via the Ginza line. Again, it only costs around 200-220 Yen (about £1.20/$1.50 USD) to get to Asakusa.

Shop for traditional goods along Nakamise-dori

Through the Kaminarimon gate is Nakamise-dori, a line of shops selling traditional items and cute souvenirs. It can get pretty packed here during the day, so I’d advise coming early in the morning, or exploring some of the shops that run parallel to Nakamise-dori instead. Here, you can buy fans, windchimes, daruma dolls, lucky cats, cute tote bags, traditional hairpins, and lots more.

If you’re travelling to Japan outside of the Summer months and want to buy a yukata, there are a few shops that sell them here. I managed to get myself a beautiful blue yukata (with a gold fan pattern) from Suzuya. The shopkeeper was super kind and let me try it on to test the size.

As you walk along Nakamise-dori you’re likely to see Japanese girls and foreigners alike dressed in traditional Japanese attire, which you can rent from one of the many places nearby.  You might also be interviewed by groups of Japanese schoolchildren asking you (in English) about where you’re from, what your favourite food is, and why you’re visiting Japan. One little girl gave me a sachet of green tea and her address – when my Japanese is good enough I plan to write to her one day. 

You can easily spend an hour browsing Nakamise-dori, although the real star of the show is Sensoji temple up ahead. 

Explore Sensōji temple

At the top of Nakamise-dori is the Hōzōmon gate, and once you’re through that you are into the Sensōji temple area. 

When you enter Shinto shrines you use water to purify yourself, whereas for Buddhist temples it’s with smoke from burning incense. Sensōji is no exception and upon entering you can immediately smell and see the incense smoke coming from the purification spot in the courtyard. You can purify yourself by wafting some of the smoke over your head. Behind is the temple itself which you’re able to look around. It’s really impressive!

Omamori and Omikuji

At the sides of the courtyard you can purchase amulets and charms to protect and help you in various aspects of life. These are called omamori and are ubiquitous across temples and shrines across Japan. Each temple or shrine has a different selection available!

You can also get yourself an omikuji, or fortune. At Sensoji you pay the 100 Yen fee, pick up one of the wooden boxes and shake it until a stick comes out of the little hole at the top. On the stick is a number which corresponds to a drawer – the numbers are in Japanese but it’s easy to match the kanji characters up. In the drawer is your fortune! The fortunes at Sensoji are in English as well as Japanese, although if you end up getting a Japanese-only one at another shrine/temple here’s a hierarchy of the fortunes you can receive:

Asakusa shrine

Next door to Sensōji temple is Asakusa shrine. This was the first Shinto shrine I visited in Japan, and next to Sensōji its appearance is somewhat demure but it’s still very beautiful and peaceful. It is a great spot to collect a few goshuin – they also offer special goshuin depending on the time of year. 

Meet some lucky cats at Imado Shrine

Visit the Mokuhankan shop

Some of you may be familiar with David Bull’s videos on Youtube– well, the Mokuhankan shop is right here in Asakusa, selling woodblock prints that he and his team have carved and hand-printed using traditional techniques. A lot of the prints are very reasonably priced, and they offer a postage service direct to your home to avoid you crushing any of your purchases in your suitcase.

Akihabara

Akihabara is approximately 20 minutes away from Asakusa by subway on the Ginza line, although you can take the Tsukuba Express from the Asakusa station near Don Quijote, which will save you a bit of walking at both ends.

Akihabara is full of colourful skyscrapers filled with arcade machines, neon-lit electronics stores, and Japanese girls advertising maid and owl cafe experiences. It can be slightly overwhelming at first!

Collect some Gachapon

As you walk down main street of Akihabara there are open storefronts filled with gachapon, aka capsule toy machines. These cost 200-500 Yen and feature figurines from game, film and anime franchises as well as completely random items such as hats for cats.  I am not kidding.

You can also find gachapon in department stores and at main transportation hubs, too.

Nab some trading cards!

If you’re looking for trading cards, there are a number of stores in Akihabara just for you. I was looking for (english) Pokémon cards and went in a few trading card shops but the only place I could find them was on the second floor of Hareruya 2, where they have a dedicated corner for foreign language cards. I managed to nab some shinies from some of the more recent sets, as well as some common cards from the original Base set. They’re all priced between 100-300 Yen each, which is very reasonable I think!

Kill some time at the video game arcade

Forget the penny arcades from your local coastal town, Japanese video game arcades are where the real action is at. It can be quite an intense experience at first – you’re immediately assaulted by neon lights and pounding music on each floor – but you do adjust quickly.

For those that loved Dance Dance Revolution back in the day, these places are perfect to see how things have evolved since then. There are entire floors dedicated to DJ games, drumming games, dancing games, claw machines. Talk about being spoiled for choice!

Of course, no trip to Akiharabara is complete without a pilgrimage to Super Potato, which is full of old games and consoles (most in pristine condition), as well as games and merchandise that have never made it overseas. 

On the top floor you can grab yourself a beverage and sit down to play some of the classics. It’s a much more chilled out experience than the larger arcades that’s for sure. 

Take some silly photos at a photobooth

In the arcades you can usually find a cluster of photobooths where you can pose to your hearts content. After your photoshoot you can amend anything and everything – frame, stickers, face shape, makeup, whatever you want.

I had a great time pulling faces by myself as you can see!

Visit Kanda Myojin shrine

A couple of minutes walk from the brightly coloured main streets is Kanda Myojin, a gorgeous shrine originally built in 730. If you’re an anime fan, you’ll recognise Kanda Myojin from Love Live!.

Kanda Myojin differs from most shrines in that it also has a large gift shop as well as a museum showcasing items from Kanda Myojin’s history. Given its location, you can also buy amulets to protect your electronic items, too!

Want inspiration for more one-day itineraries along Japan’s Golden Route? See my full first-trip itinerary and travel guides here!