Ryogoku Area

If you're not in Tokyo at tournament time, you can still see wrestlers going about their daily business in Ryogoku. They often take the train, and you can spot them easily by their size and the fact that they never wear western clothes. — Watching a sumo match is like nothing you’ve ever seen, anywhere.

The sumo stadium and the Edo-Tokyo Museum are both right next to Ryogoku Station. If you’re lucky enough to be in Tokyo during the three 14-day sumo tournaments of the year, it’s not to be missed. Details on dates & tickets here. But if you’re not in Tokyo at tournament time, we can still see wrestlers going about their daily business in Ryogoku. They often take the train, and you can spot them easily by their size and the fact that they never wear western clothes.

If you're lucky enough to be in Tokyo during the three 14-day sumo tournaments of the year, it's not to be missed. Details on dates & tickets here. — Wrestlers doing the ritual salute before the tournament begins.

Now let’s head over to my favorite museum in town: the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Half the museum is about everyday life in the Edo Era (during the time of the shōguns, before Japan opened to the West) and half of the museum is about life in the Meiji Era (after 1868, including fascinating info about life in Japan during WWII).

Instead of dull, dry, exhibits, they use full-scale rooms to show what life was like, and intricate models of town life that you could look at for hours, they are so amazing. — Instead of boring pictures, they use intricate models to show every aspect of town life. You could look at them for hours, and still find new things to see.

The Echizen model from the outside... — This is the old Echizen kimono emporium – now it’s the Mitsukoshi flagship department store, in Nihonbashi.

...and the inside! Isn't the detail incredible? — Here’s what that model looks like from the inside. Amazing, huh?

This is one of the fantastic costumes worn by the male kabuki actors who play women's roles. — There’s a room that explains everything about kabuki theatre (including an animated model of special effects). This is one of the fantastic costumes worn by male kabuki actors who play women’s roles.

And on the Meiji Era side…

WWIIRoom — A life-sized construction of a typical World War II-era room, showing how ordinary people lived during wartime. For example, that big saké bottle is filled with unhusked rice. The stick poking out the top was threshed around inside to get the hulls off before cooking.

Open: Six days a week, closed Mondays, on the day after national holidays, and from December 29 – January 3. Open other holidays.

Hours: 9:30 – 17:00 (Last entry 16:30)

Admission: Adults: ¥600, Seniors (65 & older): ¥300, College students: ¥480, High school & middle school students: ¥300, Younger children: Free. (Plus extra fee for special exhibitions.)

RYOGOKU AREA MAP

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Jonelle Patrick is the author of five novels set in Japan

For three hundred years, a missing tea bowl passes from one fortune-seeker to the next, changing the lives of all who possess it…**read more**

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The Last Tea Bowl Thief was chosen as an Editor’s Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense on Amazon

“A fascinating mix of history and mystery.” —Booklist

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