PHOTOROGAINING & TOKYO : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）

Checkpoints for Photorogaining & TOKYO

6pt Kanda Myojin Shrine (Zuijinmon gate)

The Shinto shrine, dating back to the eighth century, is highly popular among people praying for family happiness, marriage, a thriving business, corporate prosperity and protection from evil.
MORE>>
7pt Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan

Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan is a must-see place for those who love washi paper and origami or who are interested in experiencing the paper-folding art.
MORE>>
8pt 3331 Arts Chiyoda

This center is housed in the former Rensei Middle School, renovated as a venue for cultural events. "3331" (san-san-san-ichi) means a Kanto-style ritual chant, in which one does three sets of three quick, crisp claps followed by one big clap.
MORE>>
9pt Hongo Kyusuijo Koen Park (a globe)

This park is located above the Hongo supply station of Tokyo’s Bureau of Waterworks. It has Japanese and Western gardens and a playground for kids. The Western garden has a large variety of rose trees and a globe.
MORE>>
10pt Bunkyo Furusato History Museum

Opened in 1991, the museum exhibits Bunkyo Ward's history and cultural properties. The Yayoi period (900 B.C. to 200 A.D.) was named after the Yayoi area of the ward where earthenware created in the period was found in 1884.
MORE>>
12pt mAAch ecute Kanda Manseibashi

The red brick structure of the defunct Manseibashi Station, built in 1912 and known for its arches, has been renovated as a commercial facility named “mAAch” housing shops and cafes. The word “ecute” is a compound of the words eki (station)/center/universal/together/enjoy.
MORE>>
13pt Ameyoko Shopping Street

Ameyoko is a popular shopping area offering not only a large variety of food, including seafood such as fish and crabs, but also huge collections of shoes, clothing and general goods made in Japan and abroad.
MORE>>
14pt Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens

Koishikawa Korakuen, built in the early Edo period as part of the Mito Tokugawa family’s Edo residence, is a garden for strolling with a central pond and hills. It features various spots with cultural origins in China.
MORE>>
15pt Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum

The red-brick museum has become an icon of Tokyo’s Marunouchi district. It is a renovation of the Mitsubishi Ichigokan building designed by British architect Josiah Conder and built by the Mitsubishi group in 1894.
MORE>>
16pt Printing Museum, Tokyo

Visitors to the museum can learn a lot about the world of printing, new and old, by looking at exhibits and having virtual reality theater experiences.
MORE>>
17pt Nijubashi Bridge

The Imperial Palace’s Nijubashi (“Double Bridge”) is popularly referred to as the two Main Gate structures, including the steel bridge. In the early Edo period, people called it “Nijubashi” as there were two wooden bridges where the steel bridge now exists.
MORE>>
19pt Ueno Toshogu Shrine

The Ueno Toshogu shrine is called “Konjigiden,” or golden hall as it is a gorgeously gold-leafed building built in 1627 in memory of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The structure has survived a variety of disasters, including earthquakes and air raids.
MORE>>
20pt Bishamonten Zenkokuji Temple

This temple was originally built by the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, in the late 16th century. It was relocated in 1792 for the second and last time to Kagurazaka with nine neighboring stores, laying the base for the town’s development for more than 200 years.
MORE>>
21pt Nihonbashi

Since the Edo period (1603-1867), Nihonbashi in Chuo Ward has been the starting point of Japan’s five trunk roads, the Tokaido, Nakasendo, Nikkokaido, Oshukaido and Koshukaido.
MORE>>
22pt Zojoji Temple

The temple has a 600-year history. Tokugawa Ieyasu made it the family temple of the Tokugawas together with the Kaneiji temple in Ueno. Its Sangedatsumon gate is the temple’s only structure that survived World War II air raids.
MORE>>
23pt Marunouchi Station Building of Tokyo Station

The red brick Marunouchi Station Building of Tokyo Station, one of the Japanese capital’s most iconic spots, was constructed about 100 years ago. Preservation and renovation work on it was completed in October 2016.
MORE>>
26pt Atago Jinja Shrine

The shrine was founded in 1603 at the start of the Edo period to enshrine the deity protecting Edo from fire. The temple is located about 26 meters above sea level, and samurai raced their horses up the stone staircase for career promotion.
MORE>>
27pt Mori Teien Garden

This Japanese-style stroll garden with a central pond was opened in 2003 as part of the project to build the landmark Roppongi Hills complex. The site had originally been an Edo residence of the Mori family in the 17th century.
MORE>>
28pt Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Opened in 1906 as an Imperial garden, the site was redesignated as a national garden after World War II and opened to the public. It covers 58 hectares and features French, English and Japanese gardens.
MORE>>
29pt Akagi Jido Yuen Park

This children’s park in Shinjuku Ward has a beautiful elephant-shaped slide, taking advantage of the slope of the park area. There exist no slides of the same kind in the rest of the ward.
MORE>>
30pt 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT

The venue helps everyone discover the joy of design. It provides various programs, mostly including exhibitions, involving designers, engineers and craftsmen.
MORE>>
31pt Tsukiji Market

Tsukiji is the world’s biggest fish market. The Tsukiji Outer Market, which is adjacent to the fish market, is packed with more than 400 retailers of fresh food and kitchenware.
MORE>>
32pt Kitanomaru Garden

This garden, popularly called Kitanomaru Koen (park), is in the northern part of the Imperial Palace, formerly Edo Castle. When the Meiji era began, the site was used as the Imperial Guard’s barracks area. It was opened to the public in 1969.
MORE>>
40pt State Guest House, Akasaka Palace

The palace was originally built in 1909 as the Imperial Palace for the Crown Prince or the Togu Gosho palace. In 1974, after five years of renovation work, it was transformed into a state guesthouse.
MORE>>
43pt International Library of Children’s Literature, National Diet Library

The library, which is called Kokusai Kodomo Toshokan in Japanese and located in Ueno Park, is dedicated to children’s books in Japan and abroad in cooperation with similar organizations in the world.
MORE>>
45pt Kabukiza Theatre

This theater, the fifth in a series to have stood on this spot in Ginza since 1889, is the world’s only facility that gives kabuki performances throughout the year. The current building opened in April 2013.
MORE>>
46pt Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery

This gallery built in Meiji Jingu Gaien park in 1926 and called Seitoku Kinen Kaigakan records the virtue of Emperor Meiji and Empress Dowager Shoken for posterity. Mannari-ishi granite produced in Okayama Prefecture was used to decorate the exterior of the building.
MORE>>
50pt Torii at Otome Inari Shrine

The Otome Inari Shrine is a shrine-within-a-shrine at the Nezu Shrines. The shrine is known for the presence of numerous small vermillion torii gates donated by worshippers.
MORE>>
52pt Hamarikyu Onshi Teien Garden

This garden has a tidal pond linked to Tokyo Bay and two wild duck hunting sites, or “kamoba.” During the Edo period, it functioned as a branch of the Tokugawa shogunate’s Edo Castle.
MORE>>
55pt Japanese Datum of Leveling

The Japanese Datum of Leveling, a fixed point near the Diet Building, has served since 1831 as the benchmark for measuring heights above sea level in Japan.
MORE>>
59pt National Art Center, Tokyo

Opened in 2007 as Japan’s fifth national museum of art, the National Art Center, Tokyo, has no collections of its own, but it offers the largest art exhibition space in the country.
MORE>>
68pt Hanazono Jinja Shrine

This Shinto shrine was built ahead of the start of the Edo period to serve as the central place to pray to local gods in the Shinjuku area. It holds many famous annual events, including November’s tori-no-ichi (poultry fair) open-market festival.
MORE>>
72pt Tsu-no-kami Benzaiten Buddhist Goddess

This small shrine, located near the bottom of a mortar-shaped pond, enshrines the Benzaiten Buddhist goddess. The pond, which used to have a 4-meter natural waterfall, is called “Muchinoike” (Pond of the whip) as Tokugawa Ieyasu was said to have washed his horse whip there.
MORE>>
74pt Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower is a lattice tower built in 1958 to transmit broadcasting waves. It has two observatory decks at 150 and 250 meters above ground and a commercial building under the legs of the tower.
MORE>>
86pt Rikugien Gardens

This garden was built in 1702 by an aide to the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, after seven years of construction work. The stroll garden has a central pond with small artificial hills and a fountain. It used to be one of Edo’s two largest gardens.
MORE>>
89pt Jingubashi Bridge

The bridge, located at the northwestern end of Omotesando Avenue, crosses over the JR Yamanote Line and leads to the southern path to the Meiji Jingu shrine. It was built in 1920.
MORE>>
91pt Mt. Hakone in Toyama Park

This is the highest land spot inside the Yamanote Line. Toyama Park is divided into the Mt. Hakone zone, and the Hiroba (plaza) and Okubo Zone that is across Meiji-dori Avenue.
MORE>>
95pt Koganji Temple (Togenuki Jizo Bodhisattva)

The “thorn-removing” bodhisattva is worshipped by many for its healing power. A legend of the Edo period has it that a woman mistakenly swallowed a needle but managed to vomit it up with a picture of god that was given to her as a remedy.
MORE>>
100pt Zoshigaya Kishimojindo Temple

The Buddhist temple enshrines Kishimojin, which is both a revered goddess and demon. On the positive side, she protects children and makes delivery easier. In July 2016, the site was designated as an important cultural property.
MORE>>

Checkpoints for Photorogaining & TOKYO

Photo rogaining is a sport that combines photography with “rogaining,”orienteering that uses maps to navigate through checkpoints within a time limit.