VIDEO: Tokyo Town Walk – Check out old and new Tokyo symbols at Daimon

Zojoji (Buddhist temple) (Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)

Located in the center of Tokyo and a short 10-minute train ride from Hardy Barracks, Daimon, or Hamamatsucho, is a busy business district filled with hundreds of skyscrapers, along with the capital’s new and old symbols.

Start off your walk around Daimon to check out two Tokyo symbols: the iconic gigantic Daimon main gate and Tokyo Tower.

The vermillion wooden temple gate in Daimon is called Somon (front gate of Zen temple) and it marks the entry towards Zojoji Temple, which is one the largest Buddhist temples in Tokyo.

The temple was founded in 1393 and its extensive grounds feature several buildings including several shrines and a bell tower.

Daimon (Zaojiji’s Somon gate) (Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)

Tokyo Tower (Photo by Takahiro Takiguchi)

On the hill of the main temple hall, you can get a great old-meets-new photo op of the temple with a view of Tokyo Tower in the background.

The temple is also home to a mausoleum where the remains of six Tokugawa Shoguns, who ruled over Japan from 1603 – 1868. Among those remains buried there are those belonging to Hidetada, the second shogun, Ienobu (6^th), Ietsugu (7^th), Ieyoshi (12^th), Iemochi (14^th), their wives and children.

After a visit to the solemn memorial and peaceful temple, take a 10-minute walk to Tokyo Tower nearby.

I like Tokyo Tower’s elegant triangular lattice tower in orange and white. Despite a lot of skyscrapers packed in Tokyo, the eye-caching triangle is easily spotted in the skyline, especially at night when it is brightly lit. The 1,093-foot-tall tower was built in 1958 and is modeled after Paris’ Eiffel Tower. It once functioned as a radio tower and broadcasted 14 signals for radio and television.

Up until 2012, Tokyo Tower was the world’s tallest self-supporting iron tower until another radio tower, Tokyo Skytree, took that designation. Visitors can ascend to two observatories – one at 492 feet and the other at 820 feet. Both offer an excellent panoramic view of the entire city, and on a clear day, you can see Mount Fuji to the west and the Chichibu Mountain range to the northwest.

On the ground and second floor, there are various gift shops and restaurants to grab a bite.

In Daimon, around these old and new Tokyo symbols, there are several parks to get relaxed, old shotengai shopping streets with nice restaurants and cafes, too, so you can enjoy a whole day walking around the district.

Zojoji (Buddhist temple): https://www.zojoji.or.jp/en/