Tokyo’s Sumida Ward Version of Beloved Guidebook Series Features Must-See Spots, Eateries

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, October 24, 2023

Tokyo’s Sumida Ward, home to many tourist spots, has recently put out its version of the popular overseas travel guidebook “Chikyu no Arukikata” (“Globe-Trotter Travel Guidebook”).

The recently published booklet, “Chikyu no Arukikata Sumida, Tokyo, 2023-24,” introduces readers to popular tourist destinations, restaurants and other areas in the ward. Copies of the booklet are given out for free at various locations in the ward, including the ward office and tourist information offices.

Tokyo Skytree and Ryogoku Kokugikan are not Sumida Ward’s only tourist attractions. Visitors are also drawn to the areas that still retain the old Japanese downtown atmosphere.

To make it easier for visitors, the ward office thought to use the popular guidebook series and asked the book’s publisher Arukikata Co., based in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, if it was willing to help.

While the “Toshimaen-dori no Arukikata,” a guidebook for the area around Tokyo’s Nerima Ward theme park based on the Harry Potter films, had already been published, the Sumida Ward version is the first of its kind to be put out by a single municipality in Tokyo.

The 12-page “Chikyu no Arukikata Sumida, Tokyo, 2023-24” includes a sumo-related sightseeing course, which leads to such locations as Ryogoku Kokugikan hall and restaurants that serve chankonabe hot pot — a dish eaten by sumo wrestlers. The booklet also features popular sento public bathhouses, as well as a cafe located in an old renovated Japanese-style house.

Similar to the original guidebooks, the booklet also offers such information as the different types of chankonabe and public bathing etiquette.

In addition to the Japanese-language version, the ward also has a multilingual version in English and Chinese. The multilingual version can be found at such locations as the Sumida Ward Office’s tourism department, the Sumida Tourism Association and the Tokyo Mizumachi commercial facility near Tokyo Skytree.

“The booklet reflects the editing ability of the publisher, which has put out a beloved guidebook series that is considered to be a travel bible,” said a ward office official. “We hope many people visit the places in ‘Chikyu no Arukikata Sumida, Tokyo, 2023-24’ with the guidebook in hand.”