Japan Guide
Tokyo
Sensō-ji
Walking west from the river or Asakusa subway station, you can't miss the solid, red-lacquer gate with its monstrous paper lantern that marks the southern entrance to Sensō-ji. This magnificent temple, also known as Asakusa Kannon, was founded in the mid-seventh century to enshrine a tiny golden image of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, which had turned up in the nets of two local fishermen. Though most of the present buildings are postwar concrete reconstructions, there's a great sense of atmosphere as you draw near the main hall with its sweeping, tiled roofs.
There's nothing much to see inside the temple itself, since the little Kannon – said to be just 7.5cm tall – is a hibutsu, a hidden image considered too holy to be on view. The hall, however, is full of life, with the rattle of coins being tossed into a huge wooden coffer, the swirling plumes of incense smoke and the constant bustle of people coming to pray, buy charms and fortune papers or to attend a service. Three times a day (6.30am, 10am & 2pm) drums echo through the hall into the courtyard as priests chant sutras beneath the altar's gilded canopy.
Like many Buddhist temples, Sensō-ji accommodates Shinto shrines in its grounds, the most important being Asakusa-jinja (浅草神社), dedicated to the two fishermen brothers who netted the Kannon image, and their overlord. The shrine was founded in the mid-seventeenth century by Tokugawa Iemitsu and this is the original building, though it's hard to tell under all the restored paintwork. More popularly known as Sanja-sama, "Shrine of the Three Guardians", this is the focus of the tumultuous Sanja Matsuri, Tokyo's biggest festival, which takes place every year on the third weekend in May. The climax comes on the second day, when over one hundred mikoshi (portable shrines) are manhandled through the streets of Asakusa by a seething crowd, among them the three mikoshi of Asakusa-jinja, each weighing around 1000kg and carried by at least seventy men.