If you’re not visiting Asakusa for the first time and don’t want to deal with the crowds at Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Shopping Street, but still want to appreciate the unique atmosphere of the downtown area, why not visit the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center across from the Kaminarimon Gate? This building, designed by Kengo Kuma, has a free observation deck on the eighth floor where you can enjoy views of Asakusa, including the Kaminarimon Gate and Nakamise Shopping Street, as well as the distant Tokyo Skytree. If you have some free time, you can even sit by the window in the café and relax while taking in the beautiful scenery.
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How to get to Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center?
- Address: 2-18-9 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo
- Opening Hours: Tourist Center 9:00-20:00, Observation Deck 9:00-22:00
- Ticket: Free
The Asakusa Culture Tourist Center is located directly opposite the Sensoji Temple. The transportation method is the same as getting to the Sensoji Temple. The fastest way is to take the Tokyo Metro to “Asakusa Station” and take exit 2. Walk along the Nakamise Shopping Street for about 5 minutes and you will see it.
Introduction to Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center Facilities
The Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center was originally a bank building. After 1985, it became the Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center. Due to aging, it was demolished and rebuilt. It reopened in its current form in April 2012. The artificial cedar building, which cost 1.6 billion yen to build, was designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates.
The Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center is an eight-story building. The B1 floor is a restroom, the 2nd floor is a tourist information center, and the other floors are conference rooms, exhibition halls, and offices. The must-visit spot for tourists is the free observation deck on the 8th floor.
【Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center】Outdoor Free Observatory
After taking the elevator to the 8th floor, you can go to the free observation deck. From the east side, you can take pictures of the Tokyo Skytree, but because of the wire mesh, the view is not very clear. I didn’t take any special photos because I had to look through the wire mesh.
The best view from the free observation deck is undoubtedly the aerial view of the Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise-dori, as well as the distant architecture of the Asakusa Temple. However, the free observation deck is located more towards the right side, so the photos taken from there may appear slanted.
【Asakusa Culture Tourist Center】8th Floor Cafe
If you want to capture a better view of Senso-ji Temple’s Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori Street, and Asakusa Temple, you need to go to the cafe located almost directly across from the gate. However, there are very few seats in the cafe, and when we went, it was crowded with French people, making it difficult to take photos of the environment. The picture below shows the view taken from a window seat in the cafe.
If you’re tired from walking around Asakusa, you can really come to the café to take a break, because there’s air conditioning here!
We waited for a while and finally got a window seat when our drinks were served. The price range for drinks in the café is around 600-900 Japanese yen. Flo ordered a floating ice cream strawberry soda.
What Xiaov ordered is soy milk latte with coffee.
Sitting and enjoying the air conditioning while looking at Sensoji Temple is really pleasant, but it’s a pity that the French people love to chat too much, it’s so noisy~~~
Everything You Need to Know about Tokyo
Explore more of our adventures around Tokyo:
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