A water bus leaves the pier at Asakusa and slides down the Sumida River, passing under one bridge after another on its way to the bay. Some boats stop inside Hama-rikyu, a former Tokugawa garden whose seawater ponds rise and fall with the tide. Office towers rise behind its island teahouse.
Away from the water, the city breaks into small neighborhoods. Yanaka keeps old temples and a shitamachi shopping street, while Shimokitazawa and Kōenji fill up with vintage shops, little theaters and live music bars. Summers are hot and humid, with a rainy season in June, and winters are cool and mostly sunny. A Local Friend turns your long list of districts into one day that makes sense.
