If there’s one shopping experience you shouldn’t miss on your visit to Tokyo, it’s Nakamise street in the Asakusa district. This long lane of 89 shops is the approach to one of Japan’s greatest Buddhist temples but it puts on a festival atmosphere nearly every day of the year. Here’s a brief guide to recommended shops in Nakamise, one of the oldest shopping centers in Japan.

Nakamise: Gateway to the heart of Tokyo

Asakusa is famous for its grand temple and its shopping street. Nakamise-dori, as it’s known in Japanese, is a pedestrian-only shopping street that leads to Senso-ji temple, founded in the seventh century as one of the oldest Buddhist sanctuaries in what is now Tokyo. The entrance to Nakamise is marked by the great Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), an iconic, a roughly 12-meter-tall wooden structure that houses statutes of the two Shinto deities Fujin and Raijin, the Wind God and Thunder God, respectively, as well as an enormous red paper lantern weighing some 700 kilograms.

Located near Asakusa Station, Nakamise runs roughly north-south for about 250 meters, ending in a plaza before the Hozomon (Treasure House Gate), the other massive entrance to Senso-ji. Aside from the temple itself, the other major landmark here is Senso-ji’s Five-storied Pagoda, visible just beyond the Hozomon to the left. You can walk through Nakamise every day of the year, but shops are generally open from roughly 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with some closed irregularly.

Shop ‘til you drop

What is there to do in Nakamise? Aside from soaking up the history and festival atmosphere, this is one of the best places in Tokyo to shop for both souvenirs and authentic traditional crafts.

Founded in 1897, Gyokushindo, for example, is a souvenir shop specializing in delightful craft products. It’s the eighth store on the left after passing through Kaminarimon. “Our most popular items are original wooden name tags and traditional crafts such as kokeshi dolls and windchimes,” says Gyokushindo’s manager. “Japanese characters are popular all over the world, so customers are very happy to have their name engraved in Japanese. Our original Kaminarimon wind chime is handcrafted by Shinohara, which has produced chimes since the Edo period (1603–1867).”

Other retailers worth checking out in Nakamise include Fuji-ya, which specializes in yukata lightweight kimono and traditional happi festival jackets, and Koyama, which sells Japanese swords and knives.

Gyokushindo

Address：1-20-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo Japan 111-0032
Hours: 10:30am – 5:00pm, 7days (closed irregularly)
Website：https://gyokushindo.jp/wp-content/themes/makino/assets/pdf/en.pdf

Sweets paradise

The other must-do activity in Nakamise, especially if you love sweets, is trying the local culinary specialties. This is a chance to sample unique traditional Japanese foods that you might not be able to easily find outside Japan.

For instance, just before the Hozomon Gate, the third-to-last shop in Nakamise is Asakusa Kokonoe. Established about 30 years ago, Kokonoe sells delectable agemanju deep-fried buns stuffed with anko azuki red-bean paste. Surrounded by a crispy batter, they come in 13 varieties including sesame, matcha, curry, and pumpkin. “We’re proud of the fact that we use only very high-quality oil, so our buns don’t have an oily smell after frying,” says Kokonoe’s owner. “Our biggest seller is the standard-variety agemanju.”

Other sweets shops to look out for as you’re making your way up Nakamise include Funawa, which specializes in imo-yokan cakes made of sweet potato paste and anko-dama red bean paste balls, and Kine-ya, which makes sembei rice crackers and ningyo-yaki anko buns shaped like Senso-ji’s Five-storied Pagoda and other local icons. From yukata light-weight kimono to delicious traditional Japanese sweets, Asakusa’s Nakamise has something for everyone. It’s one of the best ways to experience the secular world of old Tokyo before paying your respects at the great Buddhist sanctuary of Senso-ji, the traditional beating heart of Japan’s great capital.

Kokonoe

Address：2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo Japan 111-0032
Hours: 9:30 am－7:00pm
Website：https://agemanju.jp/shop-information/

Writer

Tim Hornyak
Tim Hornyak has lived in Japan for more than 20 years, writing about travel, architecture, technology and business for domestic and international media.