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Taitō-ku, Tokyo — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Taitō-ku is a ward of Tokyo built around Ueno Park and Asakusa, home to the Tokyo National Museum.
About Taitō-ku
Where to stay in Taitō-ku
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Taitō-ku suits travellers who want the older, low-rise side of Tokyo within walking reach. The ward is small. Ueno gives easy access to the museums, while Asakusa keeps you among the ward's temple streets and the Hanayashiki fairground.
If you want a base near the Tokyo National Museum and the green sweep of Ueno Park rather than the towers to the west, Taitō-ku puts both districts inside one compact ward of Tokyo.
About Taitō-ku
What are the main landmarks in Taitō-ku?
Ueno Park anchors the ward. Within its grounds stand the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, the National Museum of Nature and Science and Ueno Zoo, a cluster no other ward of Tokyo matches. Culture concentrates here.
The Shitamachi Museum records the old downtown, the Asakura Museum of Sculpture keeps a Yanaka artist's studio, and the Yokoyama Taikan Memorial Hall sits by Shinobazu Pond.
What is the history of Taitō-ku?
Taitō-ku took its present shape in 1947, when the older Asakusa and Shitaya wards were merged into a single ward of Tokyo. The area had long been the shitamachi, the low downtown quarter kept in the Shitamachi Museum, while the temple grounds at Asakusa and the hill at Ueno drew crowds well before the merger. Taitō-ku carries centuries of shitamachi history.
Ueno Park itself opened on former temple land and gathered the museums that still define the ward.
Where is Taitō-ku?
Taitō-ku is a compact ward of Tokyo, the smallest by area, spanning the Ueno hill and the flat Asakusa lowland toward the Sumida.
Good for
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Updated July 2026