If you are a tourist who visits Tokyo for the first time, you'd probably go to Asakusa, Shibuya, Harajuku, Akihabara and Roppongi.
Many Tokyo travel guides suggest you go to Asakusa to take a look at traditional side of Japan, to Shibuya and Harajuku for young culture, to Akihabara to buy electrical appliances and experience a little bit of the Japanese otaku (manga and anime) culture and to Roppongi for a night out.
They are all nice for "beginners," but if you have already visited these places and are looking for somewhere less touristy, why don't you visit "Yanesen" area?
The name "Yanesen" (ya-ne-sen) was made up by putting the first letters of neighboring towns Yanaka (谷中）, Nezu （根津）and Sendagi （千駄木）. During the World War II many parts of Tokyo were burnt down by bombing, but this Yanesen area miraculously escaped war damage despite its old downtown location.
If you visit Yanesen, you'll see what Tokyo's shitamachi (下町） is like. Literally meaning "downtown," shitamachi usually indicates the areas where commoners like merchants and craftsmen were mainly living in the Edo Period, while Yamanote (山の手） was the residential area for upper samurai class.
I recently went to Yanaka, one of the Yanesen towns. There are actually two famous spots you should not miss. One is Yanaka Reien (谷中霊園）, a huge cemetery where the last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu was buried. It is also well-known for cherry blossoms. If you happen to be here in April, why not enjoy flower viewing in the cemetery?
And the other touristic attraction is Yanaka Ginza (谷中銀座）shopping street with approximately 60 small shops and restaurants. It is small, but always busy with local shoppers, tourists and cat lovers. Why cats? Because alley cats living in this area are considered as mascots of this shopping street.
This is the entrance of Yanaka Ginza taken from "Yuyake dandan," the stairs on the way from the JR Nippori station to the shopping street. It is said that the sunset views seen from these stairs are very beautiful, although I've never seen them.
Look! A white cat is sitting on the roof of a tempura store, looking down at shoppers... oh sorry, it is a cat figure. Doesn't it look very real?
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Strolling in the town of Yanaka, you may feel as if you have slipped back into the good old Japan. But maintaining this unique atmosphere always requires the efforts of townspeople.
For example, this temple-like building (photo below) is actually an elementary school （谷中小学校 Yanaka Shogakko). It was reconstructed 22 years ago, so as to blend in with the shitamachi surroundings.
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