Asakusa

On October 16th at around 4 o'clock I ended up in the Asakusa area with my host family. Our meeting place was the famous Kaminarimon. Since my host family was running a bit late, I took the initiative to explore the endless line of shops that start once you walk through the large red gate. At first I was a bit overwhelmed. So many shops! So many people! Constant movement! I just stood and stared at the activity in front of me. Then I started to walk down the popular shopping stall area known as Nakamise-dori. Children, adults, foreigners, etc. were all browsing the various shops. One shop was selling trinkets, another selling kimonos. The line of shops seemed to never end. Since I didn't want to be late to meet my host family, I only went down about one-third of the road. At the time I had no idea that the Senso-ji temple lay just ahead.

After eating monjya with my host family and their friends, we all headed back to the Kaminarimon area to check out the famous Senso-ji temple. My second venture down Nakamise-dori was completely different from my experience there earlier in the day. Since most of the shops were closed, very few people were there. I'm so glad I got to see the area at night. Since almost all of the shops were closed, shutters were pulled down in front of the shops. Those may have been the most beautiful shop shutters I've ever seen. Various scenes were painted on these shutters such as a matsuri, cherry blossom trees, etc. I would have never known about them if I hadn't had been there at night when the shops were closed.

After heading down Nakamise-dori, we arrived at the Senso-ji temple. I was a bit surprised when we got to there since the temple is so huge! It was really breathtaking. The long line of lanterns, the large decorate gate, and of course the temple itself was beautiful. And since it was night time, all the lamps and lights around the temple were lit up. With the lights, the cool fall air, and the lack of a crowd, the atmosphere that night was calm and relaxed. It was my first time going to a temple at night, and I'm not sure if that is allowed with most temples or shrines (since it was technically closed), but I'm glad I was able to have such an experience. I've been to a couple of temples now that I've been in Tokyo for awhile, but the Senso-ji temple was unique. I'm sure I would have had a great time there during the day too, but I think it would have been an entirely different situation since there would have been a crowd. Although I want to go during the day sometime as well, a part of me never wants to go there again so I'll always only have that night as a memory.