Yanesen: The District That Became a Magazine · 4
A city of temples and the last shogun
Ep. 4 · Yanaka Cemetery, and a vanished pagoda
FitTrip Editor · 2026.07.18
Yanaka is a “temple town” of some sixty temples, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Yanaka Cemetery at its centre. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last (15th) shogun of the Edo shogunate, rests here, and the cherry-blossom avenue through the cemetery is a spring sight. The Tennoji five-story pagoda, said to be the model for Kōda Rohan’s novel “The Five-Storied Pagoda”, once stood nearby but burned in a 1957 fire; only its foundation stones remain. The open ground of temples and cemetery is Episode 3’s firebreak and the layer that gives this district its hush.
The identity of the open ground that held the fire in Episode 3 is here in Episode 4 — temples and a cemetery. Yanaka is a “temple town” of some sixty temples, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Yanaka Cemetery at its heart.
The last shogun’s place
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last (15th) shogun of the Edo shogunate, rests in Yanaka Cemetery Fact. That the man who closed the shogunate’s age himself, through the restoration of imperial rule, is buried in the district that best keeps old Edo’s wooden face carries more than coincidence Estimate. In spring the cherry avenue through the cemetery becomes one of Tokyo’s quietest blossom sights Fact.
The absence of what was
The five-story pagoda of Tennoji once stood nearby — the tower often told as the model for Kōda Rohan’s novel “The Five-Storied Pagoda” Estimate — common account. But it burned in a 1957 fire, and only its foundation stones remain Fact. Empty foundation stones where something stood — as in the Clerkenwell scene of Smithfield’s market turning to a museum, Yanaka too has a place to see “the absence of what was”. What this district kept and what it lost sit together in the same lanes.
FAQ
- Who rests in Yanaka Cemetery?
- The tomb of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last (15th) shogun of the Edo shogunate (in office 1867–68), is here. Many figures of modern Japan are also interred, so the cemetery reads like a who’s-who of modern history.
- What is the vanished pagoda?
- The five-story pagoda of Tennoji, often told as the model for Kōda Rohan’s novel “The Five-Storied Pagoda”. It burned in a 1957 fire, and only the foundation stones remain — a rare place to see “the absence of what was”.
- May I walk in the cemetery?
- Yes. Yanaka Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery with the cherry avenue open as a walk. But a quiet walk that respects those visiting graves and those at rest is what suits it.
Checklist
- The cherry avenue peaks in spring (a quiet walk)
- Yoshinobu’s tomb — the start of a modern-history who’s-who
- Feel the “absence” at Tennoji’s pagoda foundations
- Read the temple-wall hush with Episode 3’s background
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