New, Improved Giant Paper Lantern Installed At Asakusa's Sensoji Temple Gate

Above, the old giant lantern at the Kaminarimom gate in Asakusa three years ago. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A new giant paper lantern has been installed at the Kaminarimon gate at Asakusa's Sensoji Temple after nearly three months.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun:

A new and improved giant paper lantern at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district was installed on Nov. 18, after an almost three-month absence from the tourist site due to reconstruction work. 

The symbolic Kaminarimon gate's red paper lantern -- 3.9 meters high, 3.3 meters in diameter and weighing about 700 kilograms -- was reconstructed for the first time in 1960 after fire destroyed it at the end of the Edo period. Since then, it has been repaired every 10 years.

The Kaminarimon gate is the entrance to Nakamise Street, which is a major tourist attraction in Tokyo. Nakamise Street contains many shops of Japanese goods including Godzilla toys, chopsticks, food, kimonos, fans, dolls and many other items.

To read the full story, which includes a photo of the new lantern, go here.