Kanda is an academic and residential district in the Japanese capital, a place where religion and pop culture go hand in hand. Make an offering to the Gods of Fortune and shop for souvenirs or electronic gadgets in Akiba the “home of anime.”
Chuo Dori, the main street of Akihabara (or simply “Akiba”), is turned into a pedestrian area on Sunday afternoons and is all about shopping for electronic gadgets.
Visit a “manga kissa,” an internet café where you can read comics and watch DVDs. Or, for something really quirky, visit a “maiden café” where waitresses dress up as the shrine maidens from the popular anime movies for high school kids.
Each odd-numbered year in mid May, you can witness the Kanda Matsuri, one of Japan’s most-loved cultural festivals. This celebration was started by Tokugawa Ieyasu, a shōgun from the Edo Period, as a public display of prosperity. The parade starts at the Kanda Myojin Shrine. After some Shintō rituals, the deities are paraded around Kanda and neighboring districts and through the Edo Castle grounds.
If you are here in an even-numbered year, you can visit the celebrations of Sanno Matsuri or Fukagawa Matsuri instead.
The Kanda Myōjin shrine has been here since 1616, but dates back to 730. A cultural hall with tea house opened in the complex in 2018, making this a great place to get familiar with some ancient, and contemporary, Japanese traditions.
Amazingly, a character from a blockbuster anime series has become an official mascot of the temple. What’s more, the on-site shop sells “IT charms” to protect your digital devices from intruders.
Another shrine in Kanda, Yushima Seido, is dedicated to Confucius, the famous Chinese philosopher. In late winter each year, the Yushima Tenjin Shrine near the Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park holds its plum fest.
Kando delights music and book lovers with the Ochanomizu Music Instrument Avenue and the Jimbocho Book Town.
Among the more unusual sights in this ward is the Russian-style Nikolai-do, the main cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church, from the Meiji Period.
Kanda is just northeast of the Tokyo Imperial Palace (Edo Castle). Head to Ochanomizu Station on the JR Chuo line if coming from Tokyo Station near the main attractions. The trip only takes about 5 minutes.
