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Asakusa and Ueno: 5 hotels within a 5-minute walk of the station
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Where to stay in Tokyo on a first trip: Asakusa, Oshiage or Ueno
- Asakusa and Oshiage are about four minutes apart by train
- Richmond Premier: Haneda and Narita without a change of train; Cocone: five minutes to Keisei-Ueno
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for a family-run tatami ryokan — if you can’t decide | Tsuruya Ryokan Check price |
85/100 | ¥8,000–14,000 | ¥14,000–16,000 |
| Best for waking up beside the Kaminarimon gate | Kaminarimon Ryokan Check price |
79/100 | ¥26,000–60,000 | ¥30,000–72,000 |
| Best for airport runs and Tokyo Skytree | Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole Check price |
77/100 | ¥17,000–40,000 | ¥29,000–45,000 |
| Best for Ueno Park, Ameyoko and the Narita Skyliner | Tosei Hotel Cocone Ueno Check price |
76/100 | ¥9,000 | ¥14,000 |
| Best for a rooftop view over Asakusa | THE GATE HOTEL Kaminarimon by HULIC Check price |
68/100 | ¥15,000–29,000 | ¥26,000–85,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-14 – 2027-01-06, for 2 adults in one room (checked 2026-11-05). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Best for a family-run tatami ryokan
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.71/5 (546) · Jalan 4.80/5 (400) · Google Maps 4.60/5 (105) · Tripadvisor 4.50/5 (15) · 1,066 in total
- Small ryokan run by one family
- Azumabashi bridge leads across to Asakusa; Tokyo Skytree is the other way
Why it made the five
- Two minutes on foot from Honjo-Azumabashi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line, five minutes from Asakusa Station on the Ginza and Tobu lines
- Asakusa is a five-minute walk and Tokyo Skytree roughly eight to nine
- Every room is Japanese-style with tatami; you choose by size and by whether the room has its own bathroom
- Rooms without a bathroom use the house family bath, which you take privately
- Breakfast is a Japanese set meal made with specially grown rice from Yamagata; Rakuten guests rate the breakfast 4.82 and service 4.73
Getting there: Two minutes from Honjo-Azumabashi Station (Toei Asakusa Line) or five minutes from Asakusa Station (Ginza Line, Tobu); Asakusa is five minutes on foot and Tokyo Skytree about eight to nine.
Language and payment: The only English we could confirm is the English page on the ryokan’s own website, so have your booking details written down. There is a 24:00 curfew, which matters if your flight lands late, and checkout is early at 10:00. Some of the smaller six-mat rooms have no bathroom and use the family bath instead. There is a paid coin laundry, and the ryokan handles takkyubin, the courier service most travellers here use to send suitcases on ahead.
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Right for: The most affordable of the five, and the highest-rated on service and breakfast on Rakuten
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Not for: Checkout is at 10:00 and there is a 24:00 curfew
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Worth knowing: Some six-mat rooms have no bathroom and use the shared family bath instead
Score breakdown — 85/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. The published Rakuten sub-scores (room and others) average 4.57. |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. 56 per cent of the median price of the hotels compared here, with breakfast. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. Two minutes from Honjo-Azumabashi Station and five from Asakusa Station; five minutes on foot to Asakusa and eight to nine to Tokyo Skytree; all-tatami rooms, with a family bath for rooms that have no bathroom; paid coin laundry and a takkyubin counter. |
| Trust | ★★★★☆ | 4 stars. Reviews average 4.73 across 1,066 of them: Rakuten Travel 546, Jalan 400, Google Maps 105, Tripadvisor 15. |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | 4 stars. A family-run Japanese inn between Asakusa and the Skytree, where a tatami room is genuinely affordable. |
Best for waking up beside the Kaminarimon gate
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.83/5 (722) · Google Maps 4.80/5 (225) · Tripadvisor 4.40/5 (89) · Booking.com 4.80/5 (828) · Agoda 9.0/10 (132) · 1,996 in total
- Rooms finished in washi paper and clay-plastered walls
- Walk Nakamise and the temple grounds early, before the crowds
Why it made the five
- Next door to the Kaminarimon gate, one to two minutes from Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line, so Senso-ji and Nakamise are immediate
- Mostly Japanese-style rooms of 24 to 36 sq m; some look out over Nakamise and some have their own hinoki cypress bath
- Breakfast is a Japanese breakfast prepared by a chef who trained at a leading ryotei restaurant
- Tokyo Skytree is about a 12-minute walk
- Paid coin laundry and a takkyubin counter for forwarding luggage
Getting there: One to two minutes from Asakusa Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line and four to five minutes from Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa Line; direct trains reach Asakusa Station from both Haneda and Narita.
Language and payment: Rooms run from 24 to 36 sq m, so large suitcases are not a problem, and there is a paid coin laundry plus a takkyubin counter. Children under 10 cannot stay. There is no shared bathhouse here, so tattoos are not an issue; instead, some rooms have a private hinoki cypress bath. We could not confirm which languages are spoken at the desk or which cards are accepted.
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Right for: The closest of the five to the heart of Asakusa, and the highest-rated: 4.83 on Rakuten, with breakfast and cleanliness both at 5.0
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Not for: Children under 10 are not accepted, and there is no shared bathhouse
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Worth knowing: Rooms with breakfast sell out early; across the dates we checked, only one Saturday was open. It is also the priciest of the five.
Score breakdown — 79/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | 4 stars. Rakuten’s published sub-scores are breakfast 5.0 and cleanliness 5.0 (room and bath are not shown). Some tatami rooms have a private hinoki bath. |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1 star. 154 per cent of the median price of the hotels compared here, with breakfast. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. Checkout 11:00; one to two minutes from Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line and four to five from the Toei line; direct trains from Haneda and Narita; about 12 minutes on foot to Tokyo Skytree; tatami rooms of 24 to 36 sq m, some with a hinoki bath; paid coin laundry and a takkyubin counter. |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. Reviews average 4.79 across 1,864 of them: Rakuten Travel 722, Google Maps 225, Tripadvisor 89, Booking.com 828. |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. A ryokan founded in 1947 immediately beside the Kaminarimon, with tatami rooms overlooking Nakamise. |
Best for airport runs and Tokyo Skytree
Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.58/5 (2,023) · Ikyu 4.63/5 (221) · Jalan 4.70/5 (1,429) · Google Maps 4.40/5 (2,156) · Tripadvisor 4.50/5 (813) · Booking.com 4.55/5 (1,184) · Agoda 9.3/10 (13,301) · 21,127 in total
- Observation decks and the Solamachi shopping complex are a short walk away, morning or night
Why it made the five
- One minute from exit B3 of Oshiage Station, directly opposite Tokyo Skytree Town
- Oshiage is served by the Hanzomon, Toei Asakusa, Keisei and Tobu lines, so you rarely need to change
- Roughly 45 minutes from Haneda and 55 from Narita, both with no change of train, and about four minutes to Asakusa
- Breakfast is a salad buffet with grilled dishes; Rakuten guests rate the breakfast 4.64
- Some rooms have a private in-room sauna; paid coin laundry and a takkyubin counter
Getting there: One minute from exit B3 at Oshiage Station; about 45 minutes from Haneda and 55 from Narita with no change of train, and about four minutes by train to Asakusa.
Language and payment: The detail that matters for a late flight is the opposite of what you might expect: the cheapest rate is an 18:00 check-in plan, so book a standard rate if you want to drop your bags earlier. We could not confirm whether luggage is held outside those hours, or which languages are spoken. There is a paid coin laundry and a takkyubin counter, and rooms with an in-room sauna cost more.
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Right for: No change of train from either airport, and Rakuten scores for room, breakfast and cleanliness all sit around 4.6
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Not for: No shared bathhouse, and Senso-ji normally means a short train ride rather than a walk
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Worth knowing: The cheapest rate is an 18:00 check-in plan, and rooms with a sauna cost noticeably more
Score breakdown — 77/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. Rakuten’s room, bath and dinner sub-scores average 4.65. |
| Value for money | ★★★★☆ | 4 stars. 80 per cent of the median price of the hotels compared here, with breakfast. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. Checkout 11:00; one minute from exit B3 at Oshiage Station, served by the Hanzomon, Toei Asakusa, Keisei and Tobu lines; about 45 minutes from Haneda and 55 from Narita with no change; about four minutes to Asakusa; paid coin laundry and a takkyubin counter. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. Reviews average 4.54 across 7,826 of them: Rakuten Travel 2,023, Ikyu 221, Jalan 1,429, Google Maps 2,156, Tripadvisor 813, Booking.com 1,184. |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | 4 stars. Directly opposite Tokyo Skytree Town, with rooms that have a sauna inside them. |
Best for Ueno Park, Ameyoko and the Narita Skyliner
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.50/5 (310) · Google Maps 4.20/5 (703) · Tripadvisor 4.20/5 (57) · Booking.com 4.25/5 (2,031) · Agoda 8.9/10 (8,461) · 11,562 in total
- Ueno Park museums and zoo on one side, the Ameyoko food arcade on the other
- The Skyliner runs straight to Keisei-Ueno from Narita
Why it made the five
- One minute from exit 3 of Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro, four minutes from the Hirokoji exit of JR Ueno Station
- Five minutes on foot from Keisei-Ueno, the Narita Skyliner terminus, about 45 minutes from the airport
- Ueno Zoo and the Tokyo National Museum are eight minutes away, Ameyoko three
- Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean are all handled at the front desk
- Three paid washing machines and a roof terrace
Getting there: One minute from exit 3 of Tokyo Metro Ueno Station and four from the Hirokoji exit of JR Ueno Station; Keisei-Ueno, about 45 minutes from Narita on the Skyliner, is a five-minute walk.
Language and payment: This is the clearest language support of the five: Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. The cheapest rate is a card-payment-only sale plan, so that one has to be paid by card rather than cash. There are three paid washing machines and a roof terrace, and checkout is early at 10:00. Asakusa is a short ride on the Ginza Line rather than a walk.
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Right for: Close to both JR Ueno and Keisei-Ueno, so Narita is straightforward, and several languages are spoken
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Not for: No shared bathhouse, and checkout is early at 10:00
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Worth knowing: The cheapest rate is a sale plan that must be paid by card. Asakusa means a ride on the Ginza Line.
Score breakdown — 76/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. Rakuten publishes only cleanliness, at 4.5 (room and bath are not shown), so we applied our standard 3 stars. |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. 72 per cent of the median price of the hotels compared here, with breakfast. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. One minute from exit 3 of Tokyo Metro Ueno Station and four from JR Ueno; five minutes from Keisei-Ueno, about 45 minutes from Narita by Skyliner; eight minutes to Ueno Zoo and the Tokyo National Museum, three to Ameyoko; Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean; three paid washing machines and a roof terrace. |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 2 stars. Reviews average 4.26 across 3,101 of them: Rakuten Travel 310, Google Maps 703, Tripadvisor 57, Booking.com 2,031. |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. A hotel right at Ueno Station, within walking distance of both the park’s museums and zoo and the Ameyoko arcade. |
Best for a rooftop view over Asakusa
THE GATE HOTEL Kaminarimon by HULIC
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.46/5 (1,434) · Ikyu 4.47/5 (92) · Jalan 4.50/5 (1,278) · Google Maps 4.40/5 (1,919) · Tripadvisor 4.60/5 (1,763) · Booking.com 4.50/5 (2,953) · Agoda 9.1/10 (6,674) · 16,113 in total
- Terrace and restaurant on the top floors look over the old streets of Asakusa
- Short walk to the Kaminarimon
Why it made the five
- Two minutes from exit 2 of Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line, three from exit A4 of the Toei Asakusa Line, four from Tobu Asakusa Station
- A 14th-floor terrace reserved for guests, with a view of Tokyo Skytree
- Breakfast on the 13th floor: you choose an egg dish and help yourself at the salad station
- Check-in from 14:00
Getting there: Two minutes from exit 2 of Asakusa Station (Ginza Line), three from exit A4 (Toei Asakusa Line) and four from Tobu Asakusa Station.
Language and payment: Check-in starts at 14:00. We could not confirm luggage storage or which languages are spoken at the desk, so ask before you arrive if either matters to you. The cheapest room is a smoking room with no bathtub, which is worth knowing before booking. There is no shared bathhouse.
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Right for: Close to the station with a genuine view, and the rating holds steady across more than 1,400 Rakuten reviews
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Not for: No shared bathhouse, and the cheapest room is a smoking room without a bathtub
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Worth knowing: Luggage storage and language support are not confirmed
Score breakdown — 68/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | 2 stars. The published Rakuten sub-scores (room and others) average 4.35. |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. 100 per cent of the median price of the hotels compared here, with breakfast. |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | 5 stars. Checkout 11:00; two minutes from exit 2 of the Ginza Line’s Asakusa Station, three from the Toei line’s exit A4, four from Tobu Asakusa; a guests-only 14th-floor terrace with a Skytree view; breakfast on the 13th floor; check-in from 14:00. |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 3 stars. Reviews average 4.49 across 9,439 of them: Rakuten Travel 1,434, Ikyu 92, Jalan 1,278, Google Maps 1,919, Tripadvisor 1,763, Booking.com 2,953. |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | 4 stars. Two minutes from Asakusa Station, with a rooftop terrace for guests looking over Asakusa to Tokyo Skytree. |
Know before you book
- Asakusa Station is the shortest walk to Senso-ji, the Kaminarimon gate and the Nakamise shopping street: from the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line exits it is one to two minutes on foot.
- To sleep directly under Tokyo Skytree, choose Oshiage Station. You can be a minute from the exit there, and Asakusa is about four minutes away by train.
- Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo and the Tokyo National Museum all start at Ueno Station, with the Ameyoko market arcade about three minutes away on foot.
- Oshiage is reachable from Haneda in roughly 45 minutes and from Narita in roughly 55, both without changing trains. From Narita you can also take the Keisei Skyliner, about 45 minutes to Keisei-Ueno.
- Asakusa also has a second station on the Tsukuba Express, about five minutes from Akihabara, with a hotel built onto it, and airport limousine buses pull up in the same area.
- If your days will be long on foot, look for a daiyokujo, the shared Japanese bathhouse. In this area you can find one fed by a natural hot spring, with an open-air tub and a sauna.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Asakusa and Ueno, Tokyo listed on Rakuten Travel — 1355
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 57
- Met every condition below: 24
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: counts and averages from Rakuten Travel, Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, Tripadvisor and Booking.com, added up in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- Within a five-minute walk of Asakusa, Tawaramachi, Honjo-Azumabashi, Oshiage or Ueno station, including hotels built onto or facing the station
- A room for two with breakfast can actually be booked on Rakuten Travel
- Reviews hold up: at least 50 reviews averaging 4.3 or better on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area. Shortlisted properties were then checked against Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, TripAdvisor and Booking.com as well — the Trust row for each place shows the breakdown.
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality25 pts
- The average of the Rakuten Travel sub-scores published for the property (room, bath, dinner). 4.80 or above scores 5 stars, 4.65 or above 4, 4.50 or above 3. One extra star if every room has its own open-air bath.
- Value for money20 pts
- The price as a share of the median for the hotels compared here. 80 per cent or less scores 5 stars, 95 per cent or less 4, 110 per cent or less 3, 130 per cent or less 2.
- Easy to stay30 pts
- Starts at 1 star. One more for each of: checkout at 11:00 or later, a shuttle, meals served in your room, a private dining room, and anything else that makes this particular trip easier.
- Trust20 pts
- Guest reviews gathered across booking sites, as a count-weighted average plus the total number of reviews. 4.75 or above with 100+ reviews scores 5 stars, 4.60 with 50+ scores 4, 4.40 with 30+ scores 3.
- Only here5 pts
- Something you can only get at that one property. Our own judgement, with the reason stated.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Asakusa View Hotel | Runner-up (63/100) | Excellent for arrivals and the most reviewed property here, but it is a ten-minute walk from the Ginza Line’s Asakusa Station and sits above the median on price, so it scored below all five picks. |
| Onyado Nono Asakusa | Runner-up (63/100) | The closest of all to Senso-ji and the only one here with a natural hot spring, but Rakuten’s room, bath and dinner sub-scores average 3.95 and the Ginza and Toei Asakusa Line stations are an eight-minute walk, so it finished behind the five. |
| Ryokan Mikawaya Honten | Off-theme | Two minutes from Asakusa Station and right beside Nakamise, rated 4.83 on Rakuten, but the only plans bookable there are room-only, which fails our breakfast condition. |
| Asakusa Tobu Hotel | Runner-up | Directly opposite Tobu Asakusa Station and a minute from the Ginza Line, but rated 4.38 on Rakuten across 477 reviews. For the area right by Asakusa Station we preferred THE GATE HOTEL Kaminarimon, which is ahead on both rating and review count. |
| Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei (Dormy Inn and Onyado Nono Hotels group) | Runner-up | Rated 4.59 with a natural hot spring and a sauna, but only 158 reviews. We preferred its main building, Onyado Nono Asakusa, a short walk away and past 900 reviews. |
| Keisei Richmond Hotel Tokyo Oshiage | Runner-up | A minute from Oshiage Station and rated 4.49 across 493 reviews. For Oshiage we preferred Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole, which is ahead on both rating and review count. |
Questions visitors ask
For a first trip to Tokyo, is it better to stay in Asakusa, Oshiage or Ueno?
Choose Asakusa if you want to walk Senso-ji and Nakamise early in the morning; Oshiage if you plan to do Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa in the same trip; Ueno if the museums and zoo of Ueno Park, the Ameyoko arcade or the Narita Skyliner matter most. Oshiage to Asakusa takes about four minutes by train, so wherever you land among the three, the others are close.
Which of these can I reach from Haneda or Narita without changing trains?
Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa Line takes a through service from Haneda on the Keikyu line in about 35 minutes and the Access Express from Narita in about 50. Kaminarimon Ryokan and THE GATE HOTEL Kaminarimon are both near that station. Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole at Oshiage is about 45 minutes from Haneda and 55 from Narita, both without a change. For Narita, Tosei Hotel Cocone Ueno is a five-minute walk from Keisei-Ueno, about 45 minutes from the airport on the Skyliner.
Which ones give me a tatami room and a ryokan-style stay?
Kaminarimon Ryokan is a traditional inn founded in 1947 beside the Kaminarimon gate, with Japanese-style rooms and a Japanese breakfast cooked by a ryotei-trained chef; note that children under 10 cannot stay. Onyado Nono Asakusa is tatami-floored throughout, combining beds with a Japanese interior and a natural hot spring. Tsuruya Ryokan is a family-run inn where every room is Japanese-style, known for a set breakfast built around specially grown rice.
I have tattoos. Can I use the shared bathhouse?
The only property here with a natural hot-spring bathhouse is Onyado Nono Asakusa, and guests with tattoos are not allowed to use it. The other six have no shared bathhouse at all, so tattoos make no difference there: Kaminarimon Ryokan instead has rooms with a private hinoki cypress bath, and Tsuruya Ryokan has a family bath you take privately if your room has no bathroom of its own.
My flight lands late, or I want a slow final morning. What should I check?
Tsuruya Ryokan has a 24:00 curfew and a 10:00 checkout, so it suits neither a midnight arrival nor a slow last morning. Tosei Hotel Cocone Ueno also checks out at 10:00. THE GATE HOTEL Kaminarimon starts check-in at 14:00, and the cheapest rate at Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole is an 18:00 check-in plan, so pick a standard rate if you want to arrive earlier. Asakusa View Hotel has the latest checkout, at 12:00.
Where can I do laundry or send my suitcase ahead?
There is a paid coin laundry at Kaminarimon Ryokan, Tsuruya Ryokan, Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole, Asakusa View Hotel and Onyado Nono Asakusa; Tosei Hotel Cocone Ueno has three paid machines. Kaminarimon Ryokan, Tsuruya Ryokan and Richmond Hotel Premier Tokyo Schole handle takkyubin, the courier service travellers in Japan use to send luggage between hotels or to the airport. Kaminarimon Ryokan’s rooms are the largest at 24 to 36 sq m, which helps if you are carrying big cases.
Changes
- 2026-11-05 First published. Scored from 1355 candidates.