Let's take a stroll around Asakusa!
Taito city Course (Asakusa)

Main Hall of Senso-ji Temple

Five-storied pagoda in Senso-ji Temple

The beginning of Senso-ji Temple is said as follows: in 628, HINOKUMA no Hamanari and his brothers Takenari found a small statue of Buddha in their casting net at Miyato-gawa River (current Sumida-gawa River). When HAJI no Nakatomo recognized the statue as Sho-kanzeon Bosatsu, Bodhisattva Kannon, he became a monk and remade his residence into a temple.

In the medieval period, the estate of the temple had been gradually expanded by the donations from dominant figures, such as MINAMOTO no Yoritomo and ASHIKAGA Takauji. In the Edo period, the temple was designated as Kiganjo of shogunate (the temple for the TOKUGAWA Clan to pray) by the first shogun TOKUGAWA Ieyasu and had been heavily protected. However, when the head monk Chuun was removed from his position because he broke a taboo of the 5th shogun Tsunayoshi, Senso-ji Temple was put under the control of Kan'ei-ji Temple.

After establishing as a popular place of worship among the commonpeople, Senso-ji Temple came to be one of the well-known sights in Edo, where many tea-houses opened in the precincts and show booths stood side by side. It is said that Nakamise Street, which is the most popular sightseeing spot in Asakusa today, begun when neighbors were permitted to open temporary shops around 1685, instead of sweeping in the precincts.

In the Meiji period, waves of modernization also arrived at Senso-ji Temple, where a railroad for horsecar was laid on the street in front of Kaminari-mon Gate and Western-style brick buildings were built along Nakamise Street. The old townscape of Asakusa in the Edo period got a big damage from the Great Kanto Earthquake and all structures of the temple, and were burned down in the Great Tokyo Air Raids without Denbo-in Temple, Niten-mon Gate and Asakusa Shrine.

After only three months from the end of the war, the temporary main building (current Awashima-do) was built on the ruins of the previous, and the principal image evacuated into the earth rested there. The current main building, Kaminari-mon Gate and Hozo-mon Gate (former Nio-mon Gate) were rebuilt one after another in the thirties of the Showa period. The five-storied pagoda was also reconstructed in 1973, though on the different place from the previous. Senso-ji Temple becomes the present state in this way.

Niten-mon Gate in Senso-ji Temple

Mitumune-zukuri
This is called
Mitsumune-zukuri style, because it looks like having three ridges of roof.

Senso-ji Temple has suffered a lot of calamities in its long history. The temple buildings were burned down twice during the Kan'ei era in the early Edo period. As a consequence, Tosho-gu Shrine in the temple was relocated to Momiji-yama Hill in Edo Castle in 1636.

It is said that Niten-mon Gate originally used to be the gate of that Tosho-gu Shrine. The original gate was built in 1618, but the current is estimated to be rebuilt in 1649.

By the Ordinance Distinguishing Shinto and Buddhism in 1868, the accompanied sculptures with the gate were changed two gods of Shinto to two Buddhist gods Komoku-ten and Jikoku-ten, who are the guardian gods of the west and the south in Buddhism, were dedicated by Tsurugaoka Hachimang. Shrine in Kamakura. Therefore, the gate was renamed to Niten-mon.

Niten-mon Gate has a quite massive structure with eight pillars and a width of 8.13 meters at the beam. The roof with formal tiles is made in the Kiritsuma-zukuri style. The gate itself is built in the Mitsumune-zukuri style, which is one of the gate style hanging two roof-like triangular ceilings in the front and rear of the gate. Because it looks like having three ridges of roof, the style is called "Mitsumune-zukuri" ("Mitsumune" means three ridges). This style was frequently adopted by the structures in relation to the Tokugawa shogunate, such as Ky. Taitoku-in Reibyo So-mon Gate (built in 1632, in Minato City). The gate is entirely coated with red painting, but these red-colors are different according to parts; the lower part is lacquered by blackish Indian red and the upper part is painted with red lead of a light orange color.

"Sanja Matsuri Festival" ;
Photo credit: Courtesy of Suga collection, Owned by Taitto City Board of Education

A scene of Binzasara Jyunkto parade

A scene of Shirasagi-no-mai Dance (Dance of Egrets)
in the big parade

When going through the stone Torii standing on the east side of the main building of Senso-ji Temple, you arrive in the precinct of Asakusa Jinja Shrine, which is enshrined local Shinto deities of the whole Asakusa and commonly known by "Sanja Sama" famed for Sanja Matsuri Festival. The beginning of this shrine is that people built Sanja Gongen-sha Shrine (current Asakusa Jinja Shrine) for worshipping three persons, Hinokuma brothers and Haji no Nakatomo, who are deeply related to the story about the beginning of Senso-ji Temple (see above). Therefore, the crest of this shrine is "Mitsuami" modeled on three casting nets. It is supposed that this shrine had already been built until the end of the Kamakura period, because there is a record that one of the Shinto rituals "Funatogyo" (carrying the sacred object across a river by boat) was performed at that time.

The main building of the current shrine was rebuilt in 1649 donated by the 3rd shogun TOKUGAWA Iemitsu, because that was repeatedly suffered collapses by fires.

And at that time Asakusa Toshogu Shrine in the precinct of the temple moved into the Edo Castle, but the image of Ieyasu (first TOKUGAWA shogun) in the Toshogu Shrine was kept at Asakusa and came to be enshrined together with three deities of Sanja Gongen-sha Shrine and was served by Senso-ji Temple. How-ever, by the Ordinance Distinguishing Shinto and Buddhism in the Meiji period, Sanja Gongen-sha Shrine was independent from Senso-ji Temple and changed its name into the current. Hikan Inari Shrine also remains in the precinct, which was built by the request of SHINMON Tatsugoro, who was deeply connected with Asakusa and asked Fushimi Inari Shrine to make a branch shrine.

Sanja Matsuri Festival, held at Asakusa-jinja Shrine every year from Friday to Sunday near in May 17 and 18, is one of the major festivals in Tokyo. It is the very lively festival that three Mikoshi (portable shrine), where each deity enshrines, are carried around 44 towns of Asakusa. According to the chronicle "Senso-ji Engi", the shrine received the oracle "Make Mikoshi, hold the ritual Funatogyo, and pray for world peace," in March of 1312. This is said to be the beginning of Sanja Matsuri Festival. Once, the festival held every year on March 18, which is the day HINOKUMA brothers found the statue of Buddha, and the ritual Funatogyo held every other year. In the Edo period, eighteen towns of Asakusa, its number is associated with the day 18th, competed the luxuriousness of their festival floats.

In the Meiji period, the ritual Funatogyo and the parade of festival floats disappeared in the festival, and its schedule was changed into the two days, on May 17 and 18. The parade of Mikoshi came to hold in place of the festival floats. In 1963, the schedule was changed again into the current. At present, a big parade holds on the first day (Friday); the dancers of Binzasara-mai Dance, Teko-mai Dance, Shirasagi-no-mai Dance and so on are marching around the whole Asakusa, guided by the music of Japanese orchestra and the song of scaffolds. On the second day (Saturday), the parade of about 100 small Mikoshi made by each town of Asakusa holds, and three large Mikoshi (Ichino-miya, Ninomiya and San-no-miya) are carried around 44 towns of Asakusa on the final day (Sunday).

Exterior of Votive Offering Hall of Asakusa-jinja Shrine

Interior of Votive Offering Hall of Asakusa-jinja Shrine

The current Asakusa-jinja Shrine was reconstructed together with the buildings of Senso-ji Temple in 1649, after all of them had been burned down in 1642. According to the chronicle "Senso-ji Shi", their reconstruction costs were quite huge; the buildings of the shrine cost more than 1200 ryo (money at that time).

The buildings of the shrine are built in a style resemble to the Gongen-zukuri style that Hon-den, Hei-den and Hai-den are connected by corridors, but adopt slightly unique structures. Hai-den is 7 ken (about 12.7 m) width at the beam and the dedication of Binzasara-mai Dance hold here in Sanja Matsuri Festival. Hon-den is in the Sangen-sha Nagare-zukuri style, and HINOKUMA brothers and HAJI no Nakatomo are enshrined here.

The whole buildings of shrine are lacquered by Bengal red, but the fittings are black lacquered, which contrast well. The small walls above the beams are vivid, where holy animals such as Chinese phoenix, Kirin and dragon symbolizing a good omen are painted with brilliant color on the golden ocher background. These lacquer and paintings were repaired in 1994-95, because the deterioration over time came to stand out since the repair in 1963. The brilliantness of revived colors is amazing. This shrine is a precious cultural property, because it retains the atmosphere of those days as it was still now even if 360 years and over have passed since its construction, escaping damage from the Great Kanto Earthquakes and the World War II.

Walking on Nakamise Street to Hozo-mon Gate and crossing Denbo-in-dori Street, you can find a solemn front gate at the secluded place from the left. Going through the front gate, you arrive at Denbo-in Temple which is the office of Senso-ji Temple and also the residence for head priest for generations. The garden covering the greater part of Denbo-in Temple is separated from the bustle of tourists, and a calm air is blowing among the garden. Here is one of the few temple gardens from the Edo period in Tokyo.

This garden is estimated to be originally landscaped in the Middle Ages. Old drawings and the style of landscape show that the present allocation of space arranging ponds on the north and west side of buildings is unchanged from the early Edo period.

Looking at the west pond from Ojoin (large drawing room) facing the garden, you see a large artificial hill on the left, the stone arrangement which represents a three-step dry fall from the top of the hill and the sandy beach which represents the water surface. Turning your eyes to the center, an undulating shore in islands spreads out.

Strolling around the pond and standing on the island on the opposite side of Ojoin, you can see a full view of the fivestoried pagoda through the sandy beach arranging stepping-stones and Ojoin. Viewing the north shore which is gently undulating in contrast to the west, it is better to see standing on the stone bridge across a stream joining each pond.

Denbo-in Teien was a secret garden as even the daimyo were not easily allowed to visit, because Denbo-in Temple was used as Gozen-sho (the place Tokugawa shoguns took a meal or rest) when they came. However, when the precinct of Senso-ji Temple was designated as a public park in 1873, this garden had been open to the public by Tokyo from 1930 to the outbreak of the Pacific War. At present, here is open to the public for a certaion period by Senso-ji Temple. This garden hands down the atmosphere of the Edo period to now, which was mostly lost from Asakusa in the Great Kanto Earthquakes and the Pacific War.

A program "Katazoroe" of Binzasara-mai Dance in Asakusa-jinja Shrine

Binzasara is a musical instrument which consists of 108 wooden strips connected to each other at the side ends in the bendable state inward (a strip:15 cm in length and 6 mm in thickness).To make sound, people grasp both ends of the instrument and wave it to rub these wooden strips. The dance with this instrument is dedicated on the first day of Sanja Matsuri Festival.

On the opening day (Friday) afternoon, the performers of Binzasara-mai Dance line up at the middle of the big parade, who are a couple of dancers with large red and blue Shishi-gashira (lion mask), a drummer with a big drum wearing a red long wig to his knee, three players of Binzasara covering their face with Ayai hat,two drummers with small drums, two players of Japanese flute and so on. When the big parade arrive at the shrine, only that performers are allowed entering the building of shrine. At the worship hall, they dedicate three kinds of Shishi-mai Dance and four kinds of Sasaramai Dance and pray for a bumper harvest. In the chronicle "Sensoji Engi" which has the illustrations of Binzasara-mai Dance when Sanja Jinja Matsuri Festival started in the end of the Kamakura period. This performance is a precious Intangible Folk Cultural Property, which passes on the traditional performing art since the medieval period to us.

Kamiya Bar

Kamiya Bar is one of the landmarks in Asakusa, which has stayed at the approach to Azuma-bashi Bridge since before the Great Kanto Earthquakes.

In the Meiji period, when the precincts of Senso-ji Temple became a public park, many entertainment facilities, like a theater, came to be built on the west of the temple. Especially, the Denki-kan Cinema was very popular for the cultured people. The word "Denki (electricity)" symbolized a novelty at that time. The Kamiya Bar served the strong cocktail with has 45 percent alcohol content was named "Denki-bran". This cocktail and wine were also novelty and appeared in many literary works at that time. Kamiya Bar was founded in 1880 and remodeled into a Western-style bar in 1912. This is said to be the first bar in Asakusa.

The present building was built with a reinforced concrete in 1921 in the forefront of time. The big triple arch with round windows at the front is characteristics.

The area of the gallery on the south Kaminari-mon Gate, near Azuma-bashi Bridge, along Sumida-gawa River, used to be called "Zaimoku-cho (timber town)". Actually, there had been a lot of wholesale merchants dealt in timbers or bamboos.

This storehouse was a household storehouse of a wealthy timber merchant "TAKEYA". Many residences and stores had stand side by side all through the area to Sumida-gawa River.

The structure of the storehouse is quite strong; it has big pillars and beams, and its plaster work on the wall is solid. There is an ink script under the beam of the second floor, which is the date of "August, 1868" and the name of "TAKEYA Chojiro 3rd". It is the year that the era name changed to Meiji, on September, 1868. This storehouse is a precious cultural property, handing down the atmosphere of the Edo period to now. At the present, it becomes the gallery accompanied with art space.