Concierge.com's insider take:

Yanaka and its neighbors, Sendagi and Nezu, still retain something of the flavor of prewar Tokyo and make up the core of shitamachi, Tokyo's old downtown. Walk from Sendagi Station to Yanaka Ginza, a bustling shopping street selling everything from Japanese sweets to garden supplies. Yanaka highlights include the late sculptor Fumio Asakura's beautiful house, studio, and garden at the Asakura Choso Museum (7-18-10 Yanaka, Taito-ku; 81-3-3821-4549); SCAI the Bathhouse, a contemporary gallery space in a converted public bathhouse; plus plant-filled side streets and numerous neighborhood temples like Keio-ji. Finish up with a stroll through leafy Yanaka cemetery before heading to Yu Café in Nezu for a cup of tea or a bowl of its daily stew (2-13-4 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku; 81-3-3827-9263).—Updated by Rebecca Willa Davis