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Published: June 13th 2007
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Sensoji Temple at night
This was the first temple we visited. We didn't realize its significance until a couple days later. It explains why, even at night, business men were visiting and praying Asakusa
Bagelmonkeys Tokyo is a big city. Huge. It's so big that when you're standing on the observation deck of Tokyo Tower, Roppongi Hills, or in either tower of the Government Building, your panoramas consist of buildings and more buildings, lined up like upended, mismatched dominoes that stretch beyond the horizon.
When deciding where to base ourselves during our stay in Tokyo, we had many options. The city is comprised of 23 wards. Compare that to New York City, which contains five boroughs. After a lot of research, Jeremiah eventually settled on Asakusa. Looking at a map, Asakusa isn't exactly the epicenter of Tokyo; it's on the fringes of the city. It's one of Tokyo's older areas. The subway line to Asakusa ends in Asakusa. It's out of the way. You won't stumble upon Asakusa; you have to seek it out.
Despite its strategic disadvantage, Asakusa seemed a good temporary home for a couple of gaijin nomads. We decided that the mellow and old may be good after experiencing the neon and glitz of Tokyo's many areas. Other travelers might prefer staying in upscale Ginza or in hip and hectic Shinjuku. Asakusa's promised mellowness suited our sensibilities.
We bookended
Sensoji Temple at night
The pagoda at Sensoji Temple our Japanese adventure with stops in Tokyo. Instead of returning to the same hostel for the concluding days of our journey, we decided to spend our final days at a ryokan. Ryokans are traditional Japanese-style inns. This decision was a godsend; our first hostel (which we found ourselves calling a "hostile") was cheap and sleazy; the family-run three-room ryokan was a perfect cap to our foreign travels. I'll write more about our accommodations--pros and cons--in a different post.
Asakusa was terrific! It possessed a lot of the same qualities as the other areas we visited in Tokyo but on a modest scale. It wasn't underpopulated, by any means. Overall, Asakusa was more laid back. Like other areas, it lacked a lot of green spots, but felt more like a community. The Sensoji--nestled in the heart of Asakusa--is Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple. The area also houses an impressive restaurant supply shopping area that provides equipment and supplies to ALL of Tokyo's restaurants. The never-ending rows of shops, selling everything from table top grills, stools, chopsticks, knives, wax food, linens and signage was impressive. This observation comes from someone who grew up in the restaurant industry. It was overwhelming. Sensory overload.
Sensoji Temple at night
A businessman (beneath the big red lantern) prays at Sensoji Temple During the first part of our visit, Asakusa's big festival, the "sanja matsuri" took place. Had we incorporated this event into our plans, I'm sure the festival would have been an exciting and fun experience. We managed to spend some time in the early morning near the temple and watched the food vendors set up. At night, we spied the final revelers, still clad in their festival-attire, staggering through the streets after some post-festival libation. The festival drew huge crowds, which made our struggle to leave Asakusa for our scheduled train a challenge. By comparison, the sidewalks clogged with pedestrian traffic in Asakusa made negotiating through the Disneyland crowds on New Year's Eve a breeze.
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eruptiveculture
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You are so good
Taking pix and journaling...while I sit here thinking, "I can't concentrate. I have a sniffly head."