Japan · Tokyo Prefecture · Tokyo
Toshima, Tokyo — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Toshima is a compact ward of Tokyo packed with museums and the Sunshine Aquarium.
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Where to stay in Toshima
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Toshima packs a lot into a small footprint. Beds gather in the busy blocks near the Sunshine Aquarium, where the tower complex holds Namco Namja Town and the Ancient Orient Museum within a single podium of shops and attractions. Pick your corner by mood.
The streets around St. Mary's Cathedral trade the crowds for a calmer, low-rise stretch of the ward, while the literary quarter near the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum draws the slower, bookish traveller. Quieter stays sit toward those museum lanes.
Find hotels in Toshima
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Around the Sunshine Aquarium
The tower podium holding the Sunshine Aquarium, Namco Namja Town, and J-World Tokyo puts a full day of indoor attractions under one roof at the ward's core.Find hotels in Around the Sunshine Aquariumcalm low-rise nights away from the tower crowdsSt. Mary's Cathedral quarter
The streets around St. Mary's Cathedral keep a quieter, low-rise grain of Toshima, trading the arcade bustle for a walkable residential stretch. Few places to stay nearby — book ahead.Find hotels in St. Mary's Cathedral quarterreaders tracing the ward's writers on footNatsume Soseki literary lanes
The lanes by the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum and the Eisei Bunko Museum anchor a bookish, gallery-dotted corner of Toshima suited to slow days.Find hotels in Natsume Soseki literary lanesHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Tokyo
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Eisei Bunko Museum
- Yayoi Kusama Museum
- Ancient Orient Museum
Churches & Religious Sites
2- St. Mary's Cathedral
- 池袋西教会
Parks & Gardens
1- Namco Namja Town
Landmarks & Notable Places
1- 旧磯野家住宅 Heritage
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Tokyo
About Toshima
What are the main landmarks in Toshima?
Toshima carries an unusual density of museums. The Sunshine Aquarium and the Ancient Orient Museum share the ward's tower podium with Namco Namja Town and J-World Tokyo, while the Sezon Museum of Art gathers changing exhibitions a short walk away. Smaller halls fill the side streets.
The Yayoi Kusama Museum, the Eisei Bunko Museum, the Printing Museum, and the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum each pull visitors off the main blocks, and the Museum of Toshima City keeps the record of the ward itself.
What is the history of Toshima?
The ward took its present form in 1943. Toshima grew from a cluster of villages and temple grounds on the edge of Tokyo into one of the metropolis' packed inner wards, its old lanes gradually giving way to the tower complex that now holds the Sunshine Aquarium. Older ground survives in patches.
The Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum keeps the memory of the novelist who lived and wrote in the district, and the Museum of Toshima City records how the streets changed around him.
Where is Toshima?
Toshima packs about 13 square kilometres of dense inner Tokyo, its low-rise museum lanes rising toward the tower podium that carries the Sunshine Aquarium at the ward's core.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Toshima?
Around the Sunshine Aquarium: families chasing rooftop aquarium and arcade days. St. Mary's Cathedral quarter: calm low-rise nights away from the tower crowds. Natsume Soseki literary lanes: readers tracing the ward's writers on foot.
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Updated October 2026