From Kyobashi's Artizon Museum to Nihonbashi, Ningyocho's Amazake Yokocho, and Suitengu Shrine

At the Artizon Museum in Kyobashi, a 5-minute walk from the Yaesu Central Exit of Tokyo Station, view masterpieces of modern painting, then walk north along Chuo-dori to cross Nihonbashi. Heading east brings you to Ningyocho, once an Edo theater district. Enjoy food hopping along Amazake Yokocho, a street in the neighborhood, and conclude the course at Suitengu Shrine, dedicated to the deity of safe childbirth.

History and Local Charm

This area has been the center of the town since the beginning of Edo. Tokugawa Ieyasu built the first wooden Nihonbashi bridge in Keicho 8 (1603), and the following year, this bridge became the starting point of the Gokaido (Five Routes). The current bridge, constructed in Meiji 44 (1911), is a stone double-arch bridge designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.

To the east of Nihonbashi, in Ningyocho, Moto-Yoshiwara once stood in the early Edo period as a pleasure quarter authorized by the shogunate. Moto-Yoshiwara was burned in the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 and relocated. Additionally, a theater district developed centered around the Nakamura-za and Ichimura-za, which were kabuki playhouses officially recognized by the shogunate. The town's name is said to originate from the fact that many puppeteers who operated theater puppets lived here. From the end of the Edo period through the Showa era, it flourished as a geisha district (hanamachi), and because some parts partially escaped air raid damage, the atmosphere of a geisha district still lingers today. It is said that in the early Meiji period, the name "Amazake Yokocho" arose because an amazake (sweet fermented rice drink) shop stood at the entrance to this alleyway in the town.

Both the beginning and the end of this course are connected to Kurume in Kyushu. The collection of the Bridgestone Museum of Art, predecessor to the Artizon Museum, began with collecting the works of painter Aoki Shigeru, who hailed from Kurume. Suitengu Shrine traces its origin to 1818, when Arima Yorinori, the feudal lord of Kurume Domain, welcomed a divided spirit of the deity from his home territory of Kurume to his upper residence in Edo.

Major Highlights

• ​Artizon Museum​​: Successor to the Bridgestone Museum of Art, which opened in 1952, this museum reopened under its new name in January 2020. It houses approximately 3,000 works spanning from ancient to contemporary art, including Aoki Shigeru's representative work "A Gift of the Sea" (Umi no Sachi), an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Architectural features such as pillar-free exhibition rooms and a 1.8-meter-diameter stone pillar standing in a 16.5-meter-high atrium are also highlights.
• ​Nihonbashi​​: A stone double-arch bridge approximately 49 meters long and 27 meters wide. On the central pillars of the bridge, statues of kirin—creatures that originally have neither wings nor fins—are mounted with wings and fins. At the four corners, guardian lions hold the emblem of the City of Tokyo, and the calligraphy reading "Nihonbashi" on the main post was written by Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Embedded in the roadway at the center of the bridge is the "Nihonkoku Doro Genpyo" (Kilometer Zero marker of Japan).
• ​Ningyocho​​: A traditional downtown district with a history as an Edo theater and geisha district. Two karakuri (mechanical) clock towers depicting machi-bikeshi (town firefighters) and Edo rakugo serve as symbols of the town. The wooden building "Yoshiume Yoshichotei" from the early Showa period is a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
• ​Amazake Yokocho​​: A street in Ningyocho stretching about 400 meters from the Amazake Yokocho intersection right outside Ningyocho Station to the Meijiza Theater. Lined with specialty shops and eateries, including long-established shops over 100 years old, you can enjoy amazake as well as Ningyocho's ningyo-yaki shaped like the Seven Lucky Gods. At the entrance to the Hamachogawa Green Road intersecting the street stands a statue of Benkei from the kabuki play "Kanjincho."
• ​Suitengu Shrine​​: A shrine that has long attracted devotion as a deity of safe childbirth, and is also cherished as a deity for conceiving children. It relocated to its current site in Nihonbashi Kakigaracho in Meiji 5. It is said that rubbing your own Chinese zodiac sign among the Twelve Earthly Branches surrounding the "Kodakara Inu" (statue of a mother dog gazing at her pup) brings divine favor.

Recommended Route and Duration

The estimated duration is approximately 4 hours. The Artizon Museum is located on the lower floors of the 23-story Museum Tower Kyobashi, with its entrance on the Chuo-dori side. Before entering, view the atrium's stone pillar through the glass in front of the building.

After leaving the museum, walk north along Chuo-dori toward Nihonbashi for about 590 meters to reach the bridge. First, view the replica of the Nihonkoku Doro Genpyo and the Tokyo City Milestone at the "Genpyo no Hiroba" plaza at the northwest foot, and then compare the kirin, lions, and the calligraphy on the main post atop the bridge. As the genuine road marker is situated in the center of the roadway, do not step into the roadway to get closer to it.

It is about 880 meters east from Nihonbashi to Ningyocho. Enter Amazake Yokocho, about 210 meters northeast from near Ningyocho Station, and enjoy amazake and ningyo-yaki while walking along the street toward the Meijiza. Finally, head to Suitengu Shrine, about 290 meters south of Amazake Yokocho. In Ningyocho, eight shrines enshrining the Seven Lucky Gods centered around Suitengu Shrine are preserved, allowing for a Seven Lucky Gods pilgrimage taking about 2 hours in total. On your return, Suitengumae Station, located right next to Suitengu Shrine, is convenient.

Experience Summary

From a museum gathering modern masterpieces to the bridge that marks the beginning of Edo's roads. Then onward to the alleys of Ningyocho, retaining the history of theaters and geisha districts, and a shrine cherished by the Edo townspeople. On a route of approximately 2 kilometers, trace the journey of central Tokyo from the beginning of Edo to the present day. Look up at the wings of the kirin on Nihonbashi, and savor a sip of amazake along Amazake Yokocho.