Ten hectares of graves, cherry trees and cats on a ridge between Nippori Station and the temples of Yanaka, laid out in 1874 on temple land. Seven thousand tombs include the last Tokugawa shogun, the painter Yokoyama Taikan and a long roll of Meiji-era statesmen, and the stone foundations of a five-storey pagoda that burned in 1957 still sit beside the path. In spring the main avenue becomes a quiet alternative to the Ueno crowds.
Walk through it as the route between Nippori and Yanaka Ginza, with time to detour among the moss-covered stones. The cemetery office near the entrance hands out a free map marking the notable graves.
Tips
- The central avenue is one of the city's finest cherry tunnels in late March and remains quiet even then
- The grave of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun, lies in a walled enclosure signposted from the main path
- Keep voices low and skip the picnic, as this is a working cemetery that families still visit