In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun, political leader of Japan, by conquering the other factions that made up the home islands. After doing so, he moved the Imperial capital to his home city of Edo, now called Tokyo. This launched the period of Japanese history known as the Edo Period. (Japanese eras are named for where the Imperial and political capitals were during the time.) For the next two hundred fifty or so years, the Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan from here.

Today’s Tokyo is an incredibly modern city. Skyscrapers, lights, and the other trappings of modernity dominate. But in the northeast of Tokyo, along the Sumida River, sits Asakusa, a district that still has some remnants of the Edo Period, though mainly reconstructed. (After all, little of Tokyo survived World War Two.) It also has some Japanese traditional crafts and foods that date back to the Edo Period. All in all, it is a fun way to escape modern Tokyo, at least in part.

An Asakusa visit will almost certainly begin at the subway station, a convergence of the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line and the Toei Asakusa Line. From here, two tiny blocks will take you to Kaminarimon, an ornate and impressive gate to the Nakamise-Dori shopping street. The gate (and the entire street) is technically part of the Senso-Ji Temple complex, but a couple more gates will be required to reach it.

Nakamise-Dori is known for having some of the best traditional souvenirs in Tokyo. And it does, although one has to navigate stalls of magnets and keychains to find ornate fans and hand-carved chopsticks. (Some of the best stalls are just off the main street, so don’t be afraid to wander a bit.) The chopsticks are an especially wonderful souvenir, and I find a shop – Hyozaeman’s Chopsticks – that will engrave my name on them, with one in English and one in Japanese. Chopsticks in Japan can run hundreds of dollars, but these wind up being much less, even with the engraving. (I could have bought more expensive sets at the store.) They also have some made from broken baseball bats, which is kind of cool.

I am told it will be about fifteen minutes for the engraving to be done, so I head off in search of a snack. Fortunately, Nakamise-Dori has a ton of traditional – and less traditional – Japanese sweets. I notice a long line at a stall, and check it out. It ends up selling strawberry daifuku, flavored mochi with a fresh strawberry. It comes in several varieties, but I opt for the white strawberry (so sweet) with red bean mochi. I have no complaints, nor any about the random Sakura (cherry blossom) latte I find next door.

Passing through another ornate gate, I reach the Senso-Ji Temple itself. The original temple here dates to the year 645, although what you find today is a 1960s reconstruction (Senso-Ji was destroyed during the U.S. bombing of Tokyo in 1945). As Asakusa grew in importance under the Tokugawa Shogunate, this temple (the main one is Buddhist and there is a five-story Shinto pagoda next door) became the “official” temple of the Tokugawa clan. And as the capital moved here to Edo, it became one of the most important temples in all of Japan.

For 100 yen (about 70 cents as of this writing), you can get your fortune from a set of drawers (it sounds weird but it’s kind of cool), or else you can just watch worshippers. Make sure to look up at the painted ceilings.

Asakusa sits along the Sumida River, and freshwater eel (unagi in Japanese) has been famous here for centuries. So for lunch, I find a hole in the wall place that does eel bowls. The eel is broiled, and served over rice with seaweed, Japanese pickles, and a sweet sauce similar to teriyaki. For about $4, I am stuffed, and ready to walk along the river.

(The Sumida River Walk is beautiful, with the best views of the Tokyo Sky Tree, and some stunning cherry blossoms. Click here to read more about cherry blossoms in Tokyo.)

Of course, Asakusa isn’t the only place in Tokyo to experience the Edo Period remnants. The imperial palace is here, sitting on the grounds of what was once Edo Castle. Only one watchtower remains of the original castle, but you can see it from the free gardens, as the palace is mainly off limits.

Or try the Hamarikyu Garden, only a fifteen minute walk from Tsukiji Fish Market. This lovely green oasis was once the grounds of a Tokugawa private villa.

You can also head to the Tokyo National Museum for some beautiful exhibits of art and artifacts from many of Japan’s eras, but as the Edo Period was more recent, more survives.

The Edo Period came to an end in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration, a return to pure imperial rule under the emperor Meiji. But the legacy of the Tokugawa Shogunate lives on here in Tokyo. It would not be the capital of modern Japan if not for the Tokugawa clan, and while the name for their city didn’t survive, some small aspects of their rule can be glimpsed in one of the world’s most modern metropolises.

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