Minato: A Tokyo Time Capsule

The stops

1. 01
   Sangedatsumon Gate

   Standing 21 metres tall and funded by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1622, this vermillion gate is one of the oldest wooden structures in Tokyo and the only building at Zojoji to survive the WWII air raids that destroyed most of the temple…

2. 02
   Shiba Toshogu Shrine

   Tucked beside Zojoji, this shrine was built in 1641 to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu and was originally called Ankokuden, part of the temple complex until the Meiji government forcibly split Buddhist and Shinto sites in 1868.

3. 03
   Shiba Maruyama Kofun

   This 106-metre keyhole-shaped burial mound is thought to be the largest tumulus in Tokyo, built in the 5th century for an occupant whose identity was already lost by the time archaeologists first investigated it in 1898.

4. 04
   Shiba Park

   Designated in 1873, Shiba Park is one of Japan's oldest public parks, formed in a ring around Zojoji from land that once belonged to the temple.

5. 05
   Daibonsho Bell

   Completed in 1673 and weighing around fifteen tonnes, this great bronze bell is still rung twice daily and was once said to be audible across much of old Edo.

6. 06
   Zojoji Temple Main Hall

   Zojoji was founded in 1393 as a seminary for the Jodo sect, then relocated here in 1598 after Tokugawa Ieyasu made it his clan's family temple upon entering Edo.

7. 07
   Tokugawa Shogun Cemetery

   Behind the main hall lie the mausoleums of six of the fifteen Tokugawa shoguns, along with Princess Kazunomiya and other family members, in tombs rebuilt here after the originals were destroyed in the 1945 air raids.

8. 08
   Tokyo Tower

   Completed in 1958 and modeled on the Eiffel Tower, this 333-metre lattice structure was built as a symbol of Japan's postwar economic recovery and remains the tallest self-supported steel tower in the world.

The narration at every stop is in the app — this is the map of where it takes you, with a line on each stop.