Snack on sweets along the lane to a temple
Many big temples in Japan are reached by a sando, an approach lane lined with small shops selling sweets and snacks. Buy dango, chewy rice dumplings, or other sweets at the shop counters, then walk on to the temple. Bring cash for the small shops, and on busy lanes eat beside the shop rather than while walking.
A lane of about 90 shops runs 250 m from Kaminarimon, the gate hung with a giant red lantern, to the inner gate of Senso-ji, Tokyo's best-known temple. Look for ningyo-yaki, small cakes filled with sweet red bean paste, and monaka, crisp wafers shaped like paper lanterns. The street asks visitors to eat beside the shop rather than while walking.
A short lane from Shibamata Station to the temple Taishakuten, lined with old dango shops that each make their own. Try kusa-dango, chewy rice dumplings colored green with mugwort, a wild herb, and topped with sweet bean paste, and compare one shop with the next. Shibamata is a quiet corner of eastern Tokyo, about half an hour by train from Ueno.
An 800 m lane of more than 150 shops winds down from Narita Station to Naritasan Shinsho-ji, a large temple. Snack on bean-paste cakes and yokan, a firm jelly made of sweet bean paste, and look into the restaurants grilling eel, the town's specialty. It is close to Narita Airport, so it also fits a long layover or your last day.
A short lane leading to Kawasaki Daishi, a temple where people pray to ward off bad luck, where candy makers chop long sticks of candy with a steady tapping rhythm. The local specialty is kuzumochi, a soft, springy sweet made from fermented wheat starch and eaten with brown sugar syrup and roasted soybean flour. The temple is close to Haneda Airport, so it suits a stop before a flight.