Tokyo / Asakusa / On the water

Sumida river water bus

隅田川の水上バス すみだがわのすいじょうばす

Down the river from Asakusa under twelve bridges to the shogun's garden or the bay.

Worth itNature · View · With children · Photogenic · Seasonal

Boats leave from the pier beside Azuma bridge, opposite the Asahi building's golden flame, and run forty minutes down the Sumida to Hama-rikyu Gardens or on to Odaiba. Each bridge is a different colour and design — the city rebuilt them in the 1920s as a set — and the river shows you the back of Tokyo: warehouses, temples, the Skytree receding. The Hotaluna and Himiko boats were designed by the manga artist Leiji Matsumoto and look like spaceships; the ordinary boats are cheaper and have an open deck.

Don't miss

Map of central Tokyo Tokyo Ueno Akihabara Shinjuku Shibuya Shinagawa Ikebukuro Shimbashi Kabukiza Theatre Chuo-dori and the Sunday promenade Ginza Six Ginza Itoya Hama-rikyu Gardens The Ginza gallery walk Tsukiji Hongwanji The Ginza bar streets Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Imperial Palace East Gardens Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum Marunouchi Naka-dori KITTE and the rooftop garden Idemitsu Museum of Arts Nihonbashi Bridge Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store The old shops of Nihonbashi Artizon Museum Fukutoku Shrine and the Coredo lanes Nihonbashi river cruise Sensoji Temple Kappabashi kitchen street Sumida river water bus The craft and coffee streets west of the temple A kimono day in Asakusa Tokyo Skytree Asakusa Shrine and Sanja Matsuri Tokyo National Museum National Museum of Western Art Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond Yanaka Ginza and the Yanesen lanes Nezu Shrine Ameyoko market street Asakura Museum of Sculpture Akihabara Electric Town Jimbocho book town Kanda Myojin Shrine Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) Kanda's old noodle houses Yushima Seido and the Confucian hall Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View The National Art Center, Tokyo Tokyo Midtown and the Suntory Museum of Art Azabu-Juban shopping street Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple Roppongi after dark Nezu Museum The Omotesando architecture walk Aoyama Cemetery Meiji Jingu Gaien ginkgo avenue The Aoyama and Minami-Aoyama back streets Meiji Jingu Yoyogi Park Takeshita Street and Cat Street Ota Memorial Museum of Art Togo Shrine Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko Shibuya Sky Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleys Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho Live music in Shibuya Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories Golden Gai Omoide Yokocho The Isetan food hall Hanazono Shrine Tsukiji Outer Market Toyosu Market and the tuna auction teamLab Planets The Tsukiji-to-Ginza walk The Meguro River cherry trees Daikanyama T-Site Daikanyama's low-rise streets Ebisu Garden Place and the Ebisu restaurant streets Nakameguro's back streets Kagurazaka's stone lanes Akagi Shrine Dining in Kagurazaka Zenkokuji Bishamonten Ryogoku Kokugikan and sumo Edo-Tokyo Museum Kiyosumi Garden Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) The Kiyosumi-Shirakawa roasters Sumida river water bus
A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
Tip
Buy the ticket to Hama-rikyu, not Hinode; the garden entry is included and it is the better ending.
Best time
Early afternoon; cherry season along the banks in early April.
Allow
45 min
Station
Asakusa (Ginza / Asakusa lines), exit 4 to the pier
Official site — hours, prices, closures
www.suijobus.co.jp · Map

Appears in

In this area: Asakusa

Temple Essential

Sensoji Temple浅草寺

Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 628 — a gate, a lane, a five-storey pagoda and a hall that is never closed.

60 min · Asakusa (Ginza / Asakusa lines, Tobu), exit 1
Street Essential

Kappabashi kitchen streetかっぱ橋道具街

Eight hundred metres of restaurant supply — knives, lacquer, ceramics, and the plastic food in every window in Japan.

90 min · Tawaramachi (Ginza line), 5 minutes; or walk 10 minutes west from Sensoji
District Worth it

The craft and coffee streets west of the temple寺の西側の職人通りと喫茶店

Hoppy Street, Denboin-dori, the old coffee houses and the shops that make one thing by hand.

90 min · Asakusa (Ginza line) or Tawaramachi (Ginza line)

All places — Asakusa →