Toshogu Shrine
Ueno, Tokyo
1 Oct to 29 Feb
- Daily
- 9:00 to 16:30
Rest of the year
- Daily
- 9:00 to 17:30
Hours can shift a little with the weather, and the gates close in a storm.
Source: uenotoshogu.com, checked 14 Oct 2026.
Toshogu Shrine is a gilded Edo-period shrine inside Ueno Park, a smaller cousin of the one at Nikko, with a gold-leafed Karamon gate. More than 200 stone and bronze lanterns line the approach under old camphor trees.
More photos of Toshogu Shrine
Insider tip
The grounds are free. The gilded hall costs 700 yen to enter. The peony garden next door opens in winter (January to late February) and spring (early April to early May), and entry is 1,000 yen.
What the guides say about Toshogu Shrine
Nikko is the headline. The mountain shrines and forests north of Tokyo turn from mid-October through early November, weeks ahead of the city. Toshogu Shrine's ornate architecture, Kegon Falls and the surrounding national park in full colour add up to the most dramatic single-day trip you can make from Tokyo. Take a Tobu limited express from Asakusa, or the shinkansen to Utsunomiya and the JR Nikko line. Both work. Go on a weekday if you can, since autumn weekends are crowded and the road to Lake Chuzenji jams. The Nikko day trip guide has the train options, the passes, and the order to walk the shrines.
Ueno Park takes the high ground on the west side of the station. Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, the National Museum of Nature and Science, Ueno Zoo and Toshogu Shrine, with its gilded gate, all sit inside the park.
Tickets and tours
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What's on at Toshogu Shrine
Upcoming events at Toshogu Shrine and within a ten-minute walk, from the weekly Tokyo events calendar.
Ueno Toshogu Winter Peony Garden
上野東照宮 冬ぼたん
Station Ueno (JR Lines, Ginza, Hibiya Lines), 5 min walk
Around 160 winter peonies of some 40 varieties bloom under individual straw shelters in the garden beside the gilded Ueno Toshogu shrine, the largest winter peony display in the Kanto region. A quiet counterpoint to the crowds elsewhere in Ueno Park.
wwarby, CC BY 2.0 ZEN NIGHT TOKYO
Time 17:30-19:30 (until 21:00 on Fri/Sat and Nov 1, 2, 22; until 21:30 on Nov 13) Station Ueno Station (JR Yamanote Line), 10 min walk
The Tokyo National Museum opens its garden, normally closed at 5pm, for a special night event combining light installations and immersive sound art among five historic teahouses and a pond, held alongside the museum's Daitokuji exhibition. Ticket price includes admission to the accompanying special exhibition.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0 Musée d'Orsay: The Joy of Being Alive
東京都美術館開館100周年記念 オルセー美術館所蔵 いまを生きる歓び
Station Ueno (JR Yamanote Line), 7 min walk
A special exhibition marking the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum's 100th anniversary, presenting around 110 masterworks from the Musée d'Orsay collection. The show continues well beyond the review window into spring 2027.
Ways of Reading: How the World Speaks to Us, How We Speak to the World
Time 9:30 to 17:30, Fridays to 20:00; closed 7 Dec and 21 Dec to 3 Jan Station Ueno (JR lines, Park exit), 7 min walk
Free show in Galleries A and C for the museum's 100th anniversary. Five artists, Alberto Giacometti, Momo Yamanishi, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Bikky Sunazawa and Elena Tutatchikova, each stand for one way of reading the world, through light, time, words, nature and the whole body. Yamanishi's pinhole photographs from Nepal and Tutatchikova's ceramic series Islands are new works.
For You to Read the World
あなたが世界を読むために
Time 9:30 to 17:30 Station Ueno (JR, Tokyo Metro Ginza/Hibiya Lines), 7 min walk
The exhibition presents works by Alberto Giacometti, Bikky Sunazawa, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Elena Tutatchikova and Momo Yamanishi, treating art as a way of reading the world. It runs at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum through mid-January as part of the museum's 100th anniversary programme.
Smaller local events nearby
Cultural Property Week Special Guided Tour: Natural Monument Animals Exhibition
27 to 29 Oct · Ueno Zoo
A special guided tour about natural monument animals in front of the serow enclosure in the east area of Ueno Zoo.
11:00 to 11:30 · Map · Source: 上野動物園 · 東京文化財ウィーク 特別ガイドツアー「天然記念物の動物たち」
Tokyo Cultural Properties Week Guided Tours at Ueno Zoo Festival
Tue 27 Oct, Wed 28 Oct, Thu 29 Oct, Mon 2 Nov · Ueno Zoological Gardens
Guided tours of the zoo's natural monument animals on 27 to 29 October and of the former Kan'eiji five-storey pagoda on 2 November. Walk-in, the pagoda tour is limited to 25 people.
Zoo admission (adults ¥600) · 11:00 to 11:30 · Map · Source: 上野動物園 イベント · 東京文化財ウィークの催し
Nearby
Around Ueno
Museums, market chaos, and Tokyo's great public park
Ueno does double duty. On one side you've got the park with its museums, its shrine, and some of the most famous cherry blossoms in Japan. On the other you've got Ameyoko, a market street that still runs on shouting and cash. Do both in one day and it's one of the best free-ish days out in Tokyo.
Ueno has 12 places on the Roam Tokyo map: 3 museums, 3 bathhouses, 2 shrines and temples, 2 parks and gardens, 1 restaurant and 1 market. Read the Ueno guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Toshogu Shrine?
- 9-88 Uenokoen, Taito-ku, Tokyo (in Japanese: 東京都台東区上野公園9-88).
- What are the opening hours of Toshogu Shrine?
- 1 Oct to 29 Feb: Daily 9:00 to 16:30. Rest of the year: Daily 9:00 to 17:30. Hours can shift a little with the weather, and the gates close in a storm.
- How do I get to Toshogu Shrine?
- The nearest station is Ueno (JR). Toshogu Shrine is in Ueno, Tokyo.
- How much does Toshogu Shrine cost?
- Toshogu Shrine is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Toshogu Shrine?
- Plan for 30 min.
- When is the best time to visit Toshogu Shrine?
- Peony seasons, winter and spring.
Stay near Toshogu Shrine
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Median US$230 a night across 28 listings within 0.6 km for a two-night stay a month out, sampled 20 October 2026. Cheapest quarter under US$179. See the weekly index for every neighbourhood.
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