3:10 to Tokyo - part three

Am I the only one who misses Paul Harvey? And now for the rest of the story...

The last stop on the 3:10 to Tokyo took us to Asakusa, a district in Tokyo, most famous for the Senso-ji temple and neighboring Asakusa Shrine. There is a whole lotta holiness happening on these grounds. Shrines and temples and pagodas oh my!

I'm going to keep this post short because while there is so much history and significance to these grounds, I barely experienced it because of the throngs of people loping around.

Nakamise-dōri is a street on the approach to the temple. Shop owners were allowed to come in to the area in the 18th century. The length of the street is approximately 250 meters and contains around 89 shops and on a weekend, such as our trip, good luck seeing anything. I saw a woping 2 of those shops. This is not a street for strolling, at least not for gaijins holding on to little hands for dear life.


Nisonbutsu (A pair of Buddha). The figure on the right is said to bring mercy on worshipers and the figure on the left, wisdom.


The Hōzōmon 宝蔵門 ,is the inner of two large entrance gates that lead to the Senso-ji. The gate features three large lanterns. The largest and most prominent lantern is a red chōchin 提灯 that hangs under the center of the gate's opening. The lantern displays the name of the town Funamachi 小舟町, who donated it.

The urn contains ashes and is used to burn paper wishes. The wishes are purchased at the temple and then placed in the urn, while praying that the wish many come true.

Tōrō, originally used to mean any lantern, has come to mean a lamp of stone, bronze, iron or wood. They are used to illuminate the grounds of temples, shrines and gardens. Many of these still use oil and candles while others have given way to the lightbulb.

Goju-no-Tu, the Five Story Pagoda, is another center of worship on the site. The pagoda contains the ashes of memorial tablet of the Buddha.


Beautiful architecture and paper lanterns lining the approach to the shrine.