Gotenzaka Slope & Kyoo-ji Temple ~up the “Palace Slope” to the 1836 gate scarred by bullets from the 1868 Battle of Ueno, when the temple hid the shogun’s last loyalists. Viewed from the lane after evening closing~

Hatsune Koji ~a wooden post-war arcade two people wide: red lanterns lit, izakaya counters filling up, rice-cracker shop still open. This alley only truly comes alive at this hour~

Yanaka wooden townscape at dusk ~lantern-lit lanes of pre-war timber houses that survived the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 air raids, with the smell of dinner from open kitchens~

Yuyake Dandan ~the “Sunset Steps” at their namesake hour: the shopping street glowing below, the neighbourhood cats out on the stone, and the best photograph of the walk~

Yanaka Ginza ~170 m of family-run shops at closing time: paper lanterns lit, grills still going, shutters painted with cats. Walked through with the guide~

Yomise-dori ~literally “Night-Stall Street”, the local shopping road that once was exactly that, laid over the covered Aizome River~

Hebi-michi “Snake Road” ~a lane that bends exactly along the buried Aizome River and still marks the Taito–Bunkyo ward border; hidden bars and galleries on both sides~

Nezu Shrine ~founded some 1,900 years ago, the 1706 complex of the 5th shogun surviving intact as Important Cultural Properties. The tunnel of vermilion torii after dark, with the city gone quiet~