Zojoji Temple

Next to Tokyo Tower and surrounded by tranquil Shiba Park, Zojoji is one of the city’s most beautiful temple complexes. It is juxtaposed against the Tokyo Tower and the skyscrapers of the busy Kamiyacho business district, which makes for uncanny contrast between old and new. Zojoji was once the Tokugawa Shogunate’s family temple, and currently the flagship temple of the Jodo Buddhist sect. Visitors can check out the complex’s basement museum of Tokugawa artifacts or break for a picnic in Shiba Park.