Page 79 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Tokyo

Central Tokyo ❮❮ 77

A DAY EXPLORING HISTORICAL
SITES
Yasukuni Kudanshita
Shrine Station
Kudan Kaikan Hotel
Budokan
Kitanomaru
Park Mandarin
Oriental
Crafts Imperial Palace Hotel
Gallery East Gardens
Edo
Castle
Tokyo
Babasaki Moat Station
MORNING
Arrive at Kudanshita Station
around 10am after the commuter
crowds have dispersed. Exit the
station on Yasukuni-dori avenue
and take a sharp left, where the
1930s Kudan Kaikan Hotel
stands, a blend of nativist and Art
Exhibits adorned with beautiful Deco styles. Return to the main
artwork at the Kite Museum road and walk uphill to Yasukuni
Shrine (see p42), a fine piece of
Kite Museum
9 Shinto architecture. Forego the
military museum in favor of
MAP P3 • Taimeiken 5F, 1-12-
10 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku • 3275-2704 strolling the pleasant grounds,
full of cherry trees. Have lunch
• Open 11am–5pm Mon–Sat • Adm beside the garden pond.
• www.taimeiken.co.jp/museum.html
Displaying around 3,000 kites from AFTERNOON
all over the world, the museum
focuses on Japan and China. The Return to the main road, cross,
Japanese kites are adorned with and follow the signpost to Tayasu-
real and mytholo gical figures, as mon, a wooden gate leading
into Kitanomaru Park (see p12).
well as animals and natural Before seeing the gate, note an
landscapes, such as waves and old Meiji-era tower. Past the gate,
sacred mountains. Kite frames are linger outside the octagonal
made from bamboo, and the sails Budokan (see p12), the martial
from washi, a strong paper made arts hall where the Beatles once
from a type of mulberry tree. Picture played concerts. Follow the
outlines are painted in black India ink road south and visit the Crafts
Gallery, housed in the former
to restrict the flow of color pigments. headquarters of the Imperial
Mitsui Memorial Museum
0 Guard. Afterwards, stroll around
the pretty Imperial Palace East
Gardens (see p75), the site of
MAP P2 • 2-1-1 Nihonbashi-
Muromachi, Chuo-ku • 5777-8600 Edo Castle, the shogun’s citadel.
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun • Adm Here, you can climb the ruins of
• www.mitsui-museum.jp a keep for a view of the gardens.
Treasures of Japanese and Asian Press on south toward Babasaki
Moat, home to white swans,
art collected down the generations egrets, and turtles. Cross busy
by the Mitsui family are displayed in Hibiya-dori and walk toward the
this elegant museum, housed in the nearby Tokyo Station, a superb
grand, early 20th-century Mitsui 1914 structure. Have a drink
Main Building. Among the delightful at the Mandarin Bar in the
items displayed is a reconstruction Mandarin Oriental Tokyo
of the interior of the celebrated hotel (see p128).
Joan tea-ceremony room.
See map on p74
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