Traveling
Tokyo's Very Core

In the Edo era Kanda Myojin was the Shinto shrine which assumed the role of the overall spiritual guardian of the town of Edo. Though nowadays Tokyo is full of concrete Shinto shrines to resist fire, before WWII it was rare because Shinto is a conservative religion and hesitated at first to accept this new material for its buildings. Thus, this shrine's present main buildings, completed in 1934, are one of the earliest examples of concrete shrine architecture. It is also known for the Kanda Matsuri held in mid-May.

The Marunouchi Bldg of JR Tokyo Station is a massive brick railway station built in 1914. The central entrance used to be solely for the imperial family.

This temple of Confucius was erected here initially in 1690, and its present Chinese-style buildings were built from 1934 to 1935 with concrete. Confucian temples are rare in Japan and among them this one is the most well-known.

Hibiya Park was opened to the public in 1903. It is one of the earliest parks to have a Western-style garden. There's a small Japanese garden as well. Many events are held here throughout the year, and a bon-odori dance festival in August is one of them.

Hie Jinja is a Shinto shrine which enshrines the spiritual guardian of Edo Castle. Its Sanno Matsuri, held in June, is one of the most well-known festival in Tokyo.

Yasukuni Jinja is a Shinto shrine which honors some 2.5 million war-dead, most of them soldiers, since the Meiji Restoration of the late 19 century. It is the second largest Shinto shrine in Tokyo, the first being Meiji Jingu Shrine, and still preserves a complex built before WWII which was miraculously able to avoid being air raided. The admission fee for its war museum is 800 yen. It also holds notable events like the Shunki Reitaisai in April, the Sakura Matsuri in late March to early April, the Hono Ozumo in mid-April, the Mitama Matsuri in July, the Kusaji-shiki and the Shuuki Reitaisai in October, and the Shichigosan-no-gi in November. Many events are also held at the Hatsumode period in early January.

Kyu-Shiba-rikyu is a Japanese stroll garden founded by an Edo-era domain lord. Like Hama-rikyu it was initially built on the seashore and used to draw in sea water likewise but not anymore.

Zojoji is a major Jodo Buddhist temple. It was one of the three temples where the tombs of Tokugawa shoguns were placed. Though most of the temple buildings, including shoguns' gorgeous tombs, were burned down in WWII, the main gate and several other peripheral buildings still remain. On April, there will be held a festival called the Gyoki-daie honoring sect founder Honen, and a mikoshi procession called Jizoson Daihoyo.

Atago Jinja is a Shinto shrine located on top of 26-meter-high (85-foot-high) Atago Hill.

Seishoji is a Soto Zen temple with traditional but at the same time modern appearance.