Tokyo Cheapo: Guide To Sensoji

Above, the Kaminarimon Gate that leads to Nakamise Dori and Sensoji Temple. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It was during G-TOUR in 2004 that I discovered the Asakusa section of Tokyo. G-TOUR was the second time I visited Japan and, as of this date, I've been there six more times. During each subsequent visit, it has been my practice to hang out in Asakusa.

Asakusa itself has no connection to kaiju movies (unless you want to count some toy stores who sell kaiju toys or the Ultraman department inside of Rox department store.

Above, the Hozomon Gate. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

But, that doesn't lessen the enjoyment in wandering around the district, particularly the Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Dori.

Above, Sensoji Temple. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If one is planning to visit Japan, an excursion to Sensoji and Asakusa is a must. Tokyo Cheapo has posted a guide to visiting Sensoji.

They begin it with:

Everybody knows Tokyo doesn’t really have landmarks (think quick: what is Tokyo’s Statue of Liberty, Big Ben or Eiffel Tower—there isn’t one, right?). If it did, though, it would have to be Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, a 15-minute train ride from Tokyo Station, (20 from Shinjuku, 30 from Shibuya or just 5 from Akihabara). In a city full of temples, Sensoji is the eldest, boasting almost one and a half millennium of history, Tokyo’s biggest souvenir market and perhaps the gaudiest rendezvous point: its Kaminarimon Gate with the huge red chochin lantern.  

Sensoji Temple was the reason the insignificant village of Asakusa became a town. Ieyasu, the Tokugawa shogun who created the great city of Edo and made it Japan’s de facto capital in the early 1600s, saw in Sensoji a very convenient symbolism. Being the toughest warlord of his time, he needed all the help he could get from the gods and Buddhas. According to ancient geomancy, potential invaders come either from the northeast or the southwest, the front and rear “demon gates”. Sensoji Temple was the guardian of the northeast gate and Zojoji Temple in Shiba, near Tokyo Tower took care of the southwest; Ieyasu made them both his family temples.

Above, Nakamise Dori shopping street. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.