Old Downtown Asakusa Temples

The Kaminarimon Gate is distinguished by a colossal red paper lantern, measuring nearly four meters in height and weighing seven hundred kilograms, which hangs prominently in its center. As the outer entrance to Senso-ji Temple, the gate…

Nakamise Shopping Street is a two-hundred-fifty-meter path defined by its uniform, brightly decorated stalls and green-tiled rooftops that stretch between the Kaminarimon and Hozomon gates. It serves as the primary approach to Sensoji,…

Denboin Street is marked by a large gate at its entrance and a series of traditional-style shops that line the path for about two hundred meters. This street runs west from Nakamise Street, forming a distinct, quieter corridor that…

The Hozomon Gate is a massive two-story structure standing twenty-two point seven meters high, characterized by its bright red lacquer and two fierce Nio guardian statues on either side. As the inner gate of Senso-ji, the structure marks…

You will recognize Sensō-ji by the colossal red paper lantern hanging under the Kaminarimon, or Gate of Thunder. This is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, originating from a moment in the year six hundred twenty-eight when two brothers,…

Asakusa Shrine stands apart from the grander, neighboring Senso-ji temple through its smaller scale and its status as a Shinto sanctuary dedicated to three specific local founders. You can identify it by its proximity to the temple’s…

Asakusa Nishi-sandō Shopping Street is marked by a distinctive kabuki-theater-style archway at its entrance and a floor paved entirely in natural cypress wood. Stretching about one hundred meters along the western edge of the Senso-ji…

Hoppy Street is a short, eighty-meter lane running along the west side of Sensoji Temple, marked by rows of red paper lanterns and open-air tables set out on the pavement. Official records call this Koen Hon-dori Shopping Street, but it…