Kamiyacho is home to Tokyo Tower, an ancient temple with hundreds of cheerful Jizo figures holding spinning pinwheels, and the must-see TeamLab Borderless digital wonderland.
If you see nothing else while you’re in Tokyo, see the Borderless immersive digital environment. It’s truly a world without horizons, constantly changing and unfolding around you. From interactive waterfalls…
to an infinity room of glowing, color-changing bubbles…
to a magical maze of LED lights all choreographed into a 3-D dance of light and sound…
do not miss this!
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From there, it’s just a short walk to Tokyo Tower—my favorite landmark!—and Zojō-ji Temple, with its long avenues of stone Jizo figures holding pinwheels. Zojo-ji is one of Tokyo’s most important Buddhist temples—seven Tokugawa shoguns are buried there and it’s been featured in multiple woodblock prints.
The graveyard is only open on special holidays, but you can sneak a peek over the wall from the side with the Jizo figures. It’s also got a magnificent bell tower and a pair of Buddha’s footprints, but what I come back to see again and again are the long avenues of stone Jizo figures, dressed in red bibs and caps and holding pinwheels.
These little guys make me a little melancholy, because they’re dedicated to the souls of lost children, but the ones at Zojo-ji are so lovingly clothed…
and cared for by the families that put them there, they’re cheery as well.
Their pinwheels send prayers to heaven on every breeze, and if you happen to be there in
March
it’s an especially lovely time to see them under the cherry blossoms!
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Once the cherry blossoms are finished, head over to Tokyo Tower in
April
when they put out their big display of koi nobori carp flags…
…in honor of the holiday that used to be known as Boys’ Day but is now called Childrens’ Day
There are few cheerier sights than koi nobori all trying to climb the waterfall to become a dragon together!
They’re especially nice lit up at night…
when Tokyo Tower becomes one of the landmarks you can see from almost anywhere in the city. It’s an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, except that it’s orange (and ever-so-slightly taller).
From the observation deck, there’s a 360° panoramic view, and at night, the city becomes a feast for the eyes…
Every weekend (plus special holidays), the tower is lit up in different colors from 20:00 – 22:00. Click here to see what color it’ll be when you’re there!
But even when it’s not lit up in fancy colors, the sight of Tokyo Tower at night from the grounds of Zojō-ji temple might be the most iconic pairing of ancient and modern in Tokyo…
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 