Shrines & Temples: Sensoji-tera & Asakusa
Senso-ji is Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple, located in Taito-ku’s Asakusa District. The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. Kaminarimon, or Thunder Gate, and Nakamise-dori (pretty good for omiyage shopping) are also part of Senso-ji’s ground, and all are equally as infamous. Asakusa, to me, feels like Japan. Many of the buildings, however, are not that only, most being from the 50s and 60s due to the firebombing of Japan during WWII, nothing older survived; despite that, it still has that “old” feeling.
Nakamise-dori around 10am on a Saturday
Adventuring with crew in tow
Looking up at the huge lantern which has an impressive wooden carving at the bottom
Maneki-neko (good luck cats) with SOLAR POWER!
Purification ritual in Senso-ji. You have to wash your hands and your mouth before entering to pray at Buddhist temples.
All dressed up for her shichi-go-san
Bad fortunes are tied up in hopes of them not coming true. I had to tie mine up :3 lol
Incense used for good luck and for intelligence. There is a huge thing of incense buring and you walk up to it and use your hands to waft the incense over your head. This is said to make you smart. I was standing in front of that thing for a good five minutes 
I don't know the significance of this particular ritual but its a pole with different colors, each one representing different Buddhist virtues I think. There was a very, very long line for this.
Inside Senso-ji, people praying, lighting cameras, tourists touristing
Kimono shop on another popular shopping dori
Clothing hanging to dry. My absolutely favorite small Tokyo detail.
Oba-chan and her dog near the Sumida River
Side street near Nakamise-dori
Creeepy...
Asking for donations, I think. Yeah, I know he looks like Rayden from Mortal Kombat.
If you go to Asakusa, shopping is best done on the side streets, away from Nakamise-dori. Food is also cheap and DELICIOUS, if you just look around a bit. I had the best curry rice for 500YEN I’ve had in Tokyo since arriving. I also managed to buy loads of omiyage for friends and family for a little under 10,000YEN ($100USD) — and I’m talking about over twelve people. Up next in sightseeing: Nikko (in a Day!), Kamakura and Enoshima (in a Day!), Tokyo DisneySea, and maybe some schoolwork in between
I don’t mean to nit-pick…but what do you mean:
“Senso-ji, which means ‘pure land’”?
The kanji 「浅草寺」 would translate to “Shallow grass temple”.
Also, you mention that “Senso-ji” is a Buddhist temple (which is correct)…but your post’s title is “Sensoji-jinga & Asakusa”.
I think you mean “Jinja” (神社), which means “Shrine”.
Senso-ji is a “Tera” (寺) (Temple).
The kanji for “Senso-ji” 「浅草寺」 looks like it could be read “Asakusa-tera”
There is a shrine nearby that temple called 「浅草神社」 (“Asakusa-jinja” (Asakusa Shrine)).
Anyways, nice photos.
Were you there yesterday (Nov 15)?
I was. I wrote this post:
http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/ukiyoe/
tokyo5
2008 November 16 at 8:13 PM