Asakusa

Asakusa Station is located in the Asakusa district of Taito in Tokyo on the Metro Ginza and Toei Asakusa subway lines. It is also served by the Tobu Isesaki Line, the longest private railway line in Japan other than JR, owned and operated by Tobu Railway.

The Tobu Railway terminal of the station is on ground level. The Metro station is located underground to the south of Tobu terminal. Also underground to the south of Metro station is Toei station. There is a connecting passage from the Tobu station to the Metro station, and another from the Metro station to the Toei station. There is no connecting passage between Toei station and Tobu station; hence passengers wishing to transfer between the stations have to walk on street level.

Places of Interest:

Just a few steps from Asakusa Station is the largest crowd puller of Asakusa, the Buddhist Sensoji Temple. Also known as the Asakusa Kannon Temple, it is Tokyo's oldest and one of the most significant temples. The temple is dedicated bodhisattva Kannon. According to legend, in the year 628 two fishermen (brothers) found a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, in the Sumida River. They tried putting it back in the river, but each time they did this, it kept returning to them. The chief of the village recognized the sanctity of the statue and had the Sensoji built for the goddess Kannon. Completed in the year 645, the temple became the oldest temple in Tokyo.

The entrance or the outer gate to the temple is the Kaminari-mon , or the Thunder Gate. This impressive gate features a massive lantern painted in red and black, representing thunder clouds and lightning. The street leading from this outer gate to the inner gate, the Hozo-mon , is a pedestrian mall called Nakamise Street . On both sides of this popular shopping street are small shops which sell traditional Japanese souvenirs and local snacks.

Beyond the Hozo-mon , or the inner gate, stands the main building of the temple, the Kannon-do Hall . In front of the hall is a large bronze incense burner which is said to have divine powers. Visitors wave its smoke towards their bodies to heal illnesses. To the left of Kannon-do is a five-storied Pagoda .

To the right of Kannon-do Hall is Asakusa Jinja (Shrine) , a Shinto shrine built in the year 1649. It is dedicated to the three men responsible for establishing Sensoji Temple, the two fishermen and the village headman.

Festivals of Asakusa:

The Asakusa Shrine hosts Tokyo's largest and most popular matsuri (Shinto festival), the Sanja Matsuri . Held on the third weekend of May in honor of the three men who laid the foundation of Sensoji Temple, Sanja Matsuri is one of the three grand festivals dating back to the Edo period. The main feature of the festival is a procession called Daigyoretsu, when three portable mikoshi shrines are carried through the streets of Asakusa. The procession, accompanied by traditional musicians, performers and dancers, leaves the shrine at 6 in the morning and returns by late evening. The festival, held for three days, attracts over a million spectators every year.

Two relatively new festivals of Asakusa are the Asakusa Samba Carnival and the Jidai Matsuri. The Asakusa Samba Carnival is held on a Saturday towards the end of August. The Carnival was started in 1981 when the Mayor of Taito Ward of Tokyo invited the winning group from that year's Rio Carnival in Brazil, the home of the samba, to put on a display in Asakusa. Since then the Carnival is held in Asakusa every year. The main attraction of the festival is the samba parade contest. Samba teams from Brazil and all over Japan compete by putting on spectacular dancing and other performances, thus creating a carnival just as wonderful as the one in Rio.

The Jidai Matsuri is a historical parade held in November each year to celebrate Tokyo's history and culture. It was first held on November 3, 1999 as part of the event called Tokyo Renaissance. This event was held to publicize Asakusa's unique presence in Tokyo as a historical and cultural center as it moves into the 21st century (Asakusa has the longest history in Tokyo dating back to the year 628 when an image of Kannon was found in the Sumida River and a temple was built to worship it. The community which developed around the temple is Asakusa).

The Jidai Matsuri is a costume procession which recalls the history and culture of the city from the Heian era to the Meiji era. The parade leaves the square behind Sensoji Temple at 1:30 in the afternoon and proceeds along the main street. It ends in Tawaramachi at 4 pm.

Another festival of Asakusa which draws crowds of over a million is the Sumida River Fireworks Festival . Held annually on the last Sunday of July, this festival is called the mother of all hanabi (fireworks) festivals. On this day some 20,000 fireworks are set off along the banks of Sumida River. The fireworks display officially starts at 7 o'clock in the evening, but people come very early to secure good spots to view the display. Usually by noon the place is crowded. The display also includes a competition between different fireworks companies, which makes the pyrotechnics even more spectacular. The first Sumida River Fireworks Display was held in 1733, a year after the great famine when thousands died of starvation and cholera. The government held the fireworks display to comfort the souls of the dead. Other sources say that it was first held to officially open the river to boats for the summer.

Sumida Park:

Two minutes walk from Asakusa Station is Sumida Park , famous for cherry blossoms in spring. Sumida Park spreads along both banks of Sumida River, with about a 1-kilometer row of cherry trees along the bank on the Taito-ku side (the other side of the river is Sumida-ku). The park is one of the most famous cherry blossom viewing spots in Tokyo, as the blossoms on the trees and their reflection in the water make a fascinating scene unique to this area. This popular place attracts huge crowds during cherry blossom season in spring and the fireworks event in summer (the Sumida River Fireworks Festival is held here).