Asakusa - Tokyo Japan

The Asakusa district within Tokyo was the first place my friend Miyamoto-san, and his son, Kentarou, took me to see.

This famous Tokyo location emerged as an important commercial and entertainmet area during the Edo Period (1603-1867). Asakusa, and nearby Yoshiwara, were once infamous "pleasure-districts". A veritable playground for the upper-classes. Asakusa has prospered as a center of culture and entertainment even today. Besides being one of the larger souvenir areas in Tokyo, Asakusa has several nice temples and shrines.

Long considered the heart of old downtown, Asakusa is one of the few places where you can experience something of the real-life flavor of old Edo. Here even the hi-tech glitter of modern Tokyo has been held at bay. In early Edo times, Asakusa was a sort of halfway stop between the city and Yoshiwara, the red-light district of the time. Evetually, Asakusa emerged as a pleasure quarter in its own right. It even became the hub of Kabuki, the most beloved of Edo entertainment.

When Japan's 250 year isolation ended in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration, it was in Asakusa that the first cinemas and music halls appeared. According to my lonely planet guide book, it was also in Asakusa that a western export - the striptease - first found a Japanese audience. It almost failed to catch on due to the popularity of another risque entertainment - female sword fighting. Surprisingly, the addition of a "bubble-bath show" saved the day.

Asakusa has several noted attractions, the most famous of which is Senso-ji Temple, also known as Asakusa Kannon-do Temple, after the Zen Buddhist diety Kannon. Senso-ji is not only the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, but also the most visited temple in all of Japan.

The temple was founded sometime in the 7th century. Senso-ji supposedly enshrines a golden image of Kannon. According to legend, two brothers Hamanari and Tekanari Hikonuma miraculously fished the statue out of the nearby Sumida-gawa river. They took the statue to their master, Naji no Nakamoto, who enshrined it in his house. In time, a temple was built to house the image, which has remained on the spot through successive re-builds of the temple (over 10 centuries). Asakusa itself remained just a village on the river crossing a few hours' walk from Edo.

Then Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun of Japan, made Edo his capital and Asakausa became the "party that never ended." It was the place where free-spending townspeople of the new capital came to empty their pockets. For the next 300 years it was the birthplace of almost everything we associate with ancient Japanese culture.

If you approach Senso-ji from the Asakusa subway station, you enter by passing through the Kaminari-mon (Thunder Gate). This gate, like many others throughout Japan, houses a pair of fierce looking dieties; Fujin, the god of wind; and Raijin, the god of thunder.

Once through the gate, you encounter Nakamise-dori, a shopping street set within the actual temple grounds. Everything from tourist souvenirs to authentic Edo-style crafts is sold here. A true tourist trap. During the Edo period, this same stalled throughfaire, could be seen selling toys, souvenirs, and sweets. There would have been acrobats, jugglers, and strolling musicians. There were sake shops and teahouses - where the waitresses often provided more than tea. The Japanese have never concerned themselves much with the impropriety of something like that. In fact, the approach to a temple is still a venue for very secular enterprises off all sorts.

Namaise-dori leads to the main temple courtyard. Because you cannot see inside the main temple, itself, no one is sure if the Kannon image is really inside. Regardless, a endless flow of worshippers can be seen maing their way up the temple steps, casting coins, clapping ceremoniously, bowing in respect, and uttering prayers (myself included). In front of the temple is a large incense cauldron where people rub the wafting smoke against their bodies to ensure good health.

Saddly, Asakusa never really quite recovered from the aerial bombing raids of World War II. Although Senso-ji was rebuilt in after 1945 as a concrete reproduction, the bright lights of the pleasure world have moved elsewhere (try east-side Shinkjuku).

Still, Asakusa is the known as the heart and soul of Shitamachi (the east-end Tokyo district). Where if you sneeze in the middle of the night, your neighbor will demand to know the next morning why you are not taking better care of your health.

This first day turned out to be a little hot and muggy. So we decided to take a time out in a small platground near the Sensou Shrine and enjoy traditional Japanese popsicles.