浅草

Yesterday we went to 浅草 (Asakusa).

This is probably the most famous 下町 (Shitamachi) area of Tokyo. (下町 (Shitamachi) is “Downtown” and 山の手 (Yamanote) is “Uptown“. Read this post about a less-touristy Shitamachi area we like…and a brief explanation of the term.)

浅草 (Asakusa) is an area popular with foreign visitors. All Tokyo guidebooks recommend a visit. Yesterday we saw and heard many people there speaking 中国語 (Chinese), 韓国語 (Korean), フランス語 (French), 英語 (English), etc.

The most popular place for visitors to go in 浅草 (Asakusa) is 浅草寺 (Sensou-ji Temple). (Looking at the 漢字 (kanji characters) for the temple’s name, it might appear that it’s name is “Asakusa-tera Temple”. It’s not, though…but there is a shrine nearby called 浅草神社 (Asakusa Shrine). Anyways.)

Here’s a picture of the gate at the entrance to 浅草寺 (Sensou-ji Temple) grounds:

This gate is called 雷門 (Lightning Gate), and that’s what the paper lantern at the gate says. The lantern is flanked by 風神 (The God of Wind) and 雷神 (The God of Lightning).

So, here are five short videos of the area that I uploaded to YouTube:

浅草 (Asakusa) is more lively during one of the numerous festivals that are held in the area. I go to most of the festivals in this area (and other parts of Tokyo, too)…Click here to read a post and see videos of one of the recent festivals I went to in 浅草 (Asakusa)).