The Magic of Asakusa

As the new kid in town, catching a train for the first time in Tokyo is near impossible without seeking the assistance of a fellow ticket buyer. Not knowing how to catch a train, let alone in my own country, made this quite a challenge. However, it didn't take long for a friendly Japanese lady and her friend to show me how the whole thing worked.

Soon enough I had secured the appropriate ticket and was on my way to this place called Asakusa. I caught the JR line (Japan Rail) to Asakusa-bashi and then changed to the Asakusa subway line which took me all the way there. A short walk from the station saw me right to the grand entrance of sensoo-ji, the dominant Buddhist temple of the district. Most impressive was the view through the large gates, all the way down a corridor of shops and markets to the temple itself. The roof of each shop was studded with cherry blossom figures and a sea of people flowed in between. I took my time walking down the corridor, sampling free tastings of nuts and biscuits all made freshly on demand. I stopped about half way down to check out a wall of Samurai swords on sale when a elderly Japanese man passed in front of me, looking at the swords and then looking at me with a wrinkled grin. "Katana!" He said. And with stiff movements, he pretended to slash my head off. We had a bit of a laugh and a joke in broken Japanese before going opposite ways down the corridor. Once I had emerged from the canopy of cherry blossoms, the grandeur of the temple and the scent of burning incense engulfled me all at once. It was quite an experience.

I spent an hour or two walking around and taking photos of the main temple and the five story pagoda that towered high next to it. Just behind the temple, I found a courtyard which appeared to be a popular lunch destination. I had already had my lunch, but a copper statue struck my eye. Back in the day, Asakusa was the pleasure district of Tokyo. ie. where all the samurai came to get a feed and a drink. As a result, the art of Kubuki theatre became popular in this area giving rise to famous actors such as the one featured below.

As the day drew to a close, I walked back to the station waving at school kids on bikes passing by and admiring photos which represented my little pocket of tradtion that I like to call Asakusa.