Sensjo-ji Temple

As I recently mentioned, Tokyo is a city with a massive population of 37 million people, so it's no surprise that there are countless interesting places to visit. In today’s post and the next one, I'll show you two attractions that are very popular among both tourists and locals. If you ever visit Japan, expect crowds at these places ;)

Just a five-minute walk from Asakusa station in the Taito district lies perhaps the most famous Buddhist temple in Japan - Senso-ji. It's a temple complex consisting of several buildings, each painted in a distinctive red color. My visit to the temple happened at one of the worst times of the day—on a weekend at noon. However, thanks to the pandemic (one of its few positives), the number of tourists was much lower than usual. I spotted only one other gaijin like myself in the entire crowd. If you look at the picture below, try to imagine how this place looked before the pandemic when it was much more crowded.

The temple's main square reportedly hosted much larger crowds before the pandemic.

You might wonder - "Okay, there’s a temple. But who is worshipped there? Buddha?" Yes and no :) Senso-ji is dedicated to Kannon - the goddess of mercy, also known as Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Right, bodhisattva. Sounds like Buddha, doesn’t it? I'm not very familiar with the principles of Buddhism, but as far as I understand, a bodhisattva is someone who has attained enlightenment status - in other words, the status of a Buddha. The situation is complicated by the fact that next to Senso-ji is the Asakusa-jinja shrine, which is a Shinto temple. Here, Kannon is also worshipped. So, goddess or Buddha? Shinto or Buddhism? To be honest, I don’t know; the topic seems complicated to me. Interestingly, reading about Kannon, one notices similarities to the status of Saint Mary in Christianity. Is this a coincidence or perhaps the influence of Nestorianism, it’s hard to say.

Buddha statue on the side of the temple square surrounded by greenery.

But enough of this digression, let’s return to the temple :) To enter the complex, you must pass through the main (or side) gate. The main gate - Kaminari-mon, or Thunder Gate, leads to a narrow street full of shops. Despite the crowd, it’s worth taking a stroll here. The alley has a specific oriental atmosphere that attracts so many tourists. Another gate leads directly to the temple courtyard, from which we can see both the main building and the five-story pagoda, beloved by photographers.

Upon entering the complex, vistors should head to the large incense burner to be purified by the smoke, and the fountain where they need to wash hands. Normally, visitors would also scoop some water to wash the face, but due to COVID, that’s forbidden. Everyone is wearing masks anyway... The temple is a paradise for photographers. The number of objects and possible shots is vast. Additionally, the aesthetics of these buildings make every photo seem remarkable.

The photo shows fortune boxes, and on the right - a "hanger" for bad fortune telling.

On the temple grounds, you can find many unusual structures like the one in the picture above. What is this? This is Omikuji (おみくじ) - a paper fortune/prediction. How does it work? First, drop 100 ¥ into the donation box. Next, shake the box until one of the sticks inside falls out. The stick has a number painted on it. Put the stick back in the box, then reach into the box with the corresponding number and take out the first piece of paper. If you draw a good fortune, take it with you. However, if you draw a bad one, tie it in a knot on the designated "hanger" to ward off the misfortune.

A temple like this is a special and popular place for photo sessions among locals too. It’s one of those places where you might see Japanese people wearing traditional kimonos. Most of them are celebrating a child’s third, fifth, or seventh birthday, coming of age, or a wedding. The variety of patterns and the number of details besides the clothing - complex hairstyles for women and various accessories, made a huge impression on me.

While exploring, we may come across many signs describing (in English) individual buildings. From them, we learn that the first temple was built in this place as early as the 6th century CE. The history of the temple is quite peculiar. It tells the story of two fishermen who caught a statue of Kannon. They pulled it out of a lake and then brought it to the chief of their village. Upon realizing what the statue represented, the chief decided to rebuild his house into a temple and dedicated the rest of his life to Buddhism...

Since the temple has been in this place for so long, one might wonder - how has it survived all these earthquakes and wars? Well... it hasn’t :) What we see today is one of several reconstructions. However, whether the buildings are new or old, they fully retain their original spirit!