In the centre of the Asakusa district is one of Tokyo's most colourful and popular tourist sites - a Buddhist temple known as Sensoji (also called Asakusa Kannon) Temple. The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built nearby for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.
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| Kaminari Gate - first built more than 1000 years ago |
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| Hozo Gate |
A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon. Alongside typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata and folding fans, various traditional local snacks from the Asakusa area are sold along the Nakamise. The shopping street has a history of several centuries.
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| Nakamise |
Japanese masks are used traditionally in theater, festivals or rituals. They are connected to folk myths and tails. Masks represent people, creatures, devil, ghosts, and animals.
In early days, in the classical performances, male actors played both female and male roles.
- Gigaku masks are the oldest masks, used in dance drama art form, but this dance art form doesn't exist today. They represented a face of superhuman, demon, lion, bird and were made from wood.
- Bugaku masks are old masks of dance drama art form. They have moveable jaws.
- Gyodo mask represents Buddhist figures. It is used for outdoor Buddhist processions.
- Tengu mask represents bird-like protector of sacred forests and mountains. It looks like a human with a big nose.
- Kappa mask represents river monster that can attack swimmers. This creature can challenge a man to sumo wrestling match.
Many Japanese and Korean visitors dress in traditional costume for the occasion so the experience for western tourists is particularly exotic.
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| Traditional dress for a visit to the Sensoji Temple |
Visitors who come to worship at a Buddhist Temple put the incense into an incense burner and fan some smoke towards yourself as the smoke is believed to have healing power. For example, fan some smoke towards your shoulder if you have an injured shoulder.
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| Helen seeks healing power for dicky knee |
The adjacent Asakusa Shrine, also known as Sanja-sama (or Shrine of the Three Gods), was built during the Edo Period and was one of one of the only two buildings in the area to survive the air raids of 1945.
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| Asakusa Shrine |
For many centuries, Asakusa used to be Tokyo's leading entertainment district. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), when the district was still located outside the city limits, Asakusa was the site of kabuki theaters and a large red light district.
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| Fundraising with owls |
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| Traditional Tourist Transport |
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| Helen, Vivienne and Doug at Senoji Temple |
Our detailed trip itinerary (only if you're interested) can be downloaded from this link.
Cheers, Roger and Helen.
