Wednesday, July 23rd: Asakusa and Kappabashi Dogu-gai Dori

Today, I headed out to see for myself the giant red lantern at Kaminarimon, the gates to the Asakusa Kannon temple. Asakusa (I think pronounced a-sak-sa) is an older part of town, the oldest entertainment district and is in the shitamachi section (on the low lying side of the Sumida River).

When I came up from the metro station, the very first thing I saw was the Flamme D'Or, a distinctive building designed by Phillipe Starck that has it's own local nickname.


As usual, I felt that for sure I would get lost and but my guidebook didn't fail me and I wound up right in front of the iconic gate.

Once inside the gates, you head right down Nakamise Dori, lined with stalls selling all sorts of souvenirs and snacks, such as an "ice cream hamburger" which seemed to be an ice cream sandwich that looked just like a little burger! There were also stalls selling fans, kimono or yukata (light summer robes worn instead of kimono), dolls, and lots of paper lanterns.

It was a riot of colors, sights, smells and sounds. There were even little Monchichi dolls for sale (Melinda, I was tempted to take one back to Boston). It seemed an odd choice for a path to a temple, and it popped you out right at the interior gates!

Through this set of gates, you come to the temple itself, and the large pot of incense, where people go to "bathe" in the healing smoke. I even wafted some over myself- it smelled wonderful. At all the temples that have incense burning, you can find people waving it over themselves generally, or over a specific problem area.


This was the first shrine where there were no "No Photo" signs, but also where people were openly taken pictures inside, and so I felt comfortable to do so as well. It was very grand, as you can see.

The Asakusa temple complex is Tokyo's oldest and it dates to 628 AD. It has a charming back story, too, involving two brothers who were fishing in the Sumida and caught a small golden statute. They threw it back, and caught it again, and then again!

The complex is also home to Japan's second highest pagoda.

After exploring the temple complex, I headed out to find Kappabashi Dou-gai Dori. This street is where Tokyo heads for everything needed to start a restaurant...including plastic food! I enjoyed walking down the street, enjoying a nutty flavored green tea (it tasted like hazelnuts!), looking into each shop with it's specific set of items for sale: industrial sinks, chopsticks and bowls, pots, or aprons and fabric goods.

I even picked us up a pair of chopsticks decorated with rabbits to go with the sushi set Stefan brought me from Mistukoshi on his last trip!