Numbers of foreign visitors to Japan have been skyrocketing recently and naturally Tokyo is getting a lot of the tourism.

With that in mind, it’s very interesting to see some of the most popular tourist spots depicted in this vintage footage from 1913-1915. This footage is from the Eye Film Museum and has been speed corrected and had sounds added for ambiance. Then it was uploaded to YouTube by guy jones.

Watch it for yourself and if you know Tokyo well you will probably recognise at least one place.

Although admittedly, a lot of the footage could be from anywhere in Tokyo at that time, there’s two standout places which became big tourist draws in the modern day.

First is the clip of Sensoji in Asakusa, this temple is usually labelled as a must-see to get a cultural fix while in Tokyo, and these days you will find it perpetually packed full of people.

You can see the shopping street leading up to the temple itself and a little glimpse of the grounds through the gate.

Then as the information in the video shows, the last pieces of footage are from Ueno Park.

Although it’s hard to pinpoint an exact location, something about the path layout and architecture seems very familiar.

This footage was taken before the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 as well as World War Two, two devastating tragedies for Tokyo. Therefore the similarities seen will be due to reconstruction as well as impressive preservation.

If only the person who thought Ueno Park got busy on a Sunday in those days could see it now as throngs of visitors come to see the new panda in Ueno Zoo...