Senso-ji

Asakusa is best known for the very famous Senso-ji temple. About 30 million tourists cross its great Kaminarimon gate each year.

Souvenir shops on Nakamise-dori

Nakamise-dori is a long shopping street stretching between the majestic Kaminari-mon gate to the temple's main building. Since the end of 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, shopkeepers have been striving selling cheap souvenirs at the highest price! As the area is swarming with tourists, mainly from China and South Korea, they are not really trying to accommodate customers.

About 90 shops, open without interruption until night, are aligned over 250 meters. Visitors have a wide choice amongst food stalls and popular souvenir shops. As for food, you can have dango 🍡 skewers as well as sweet potato 🍠 or red bean paste dorayaki. Typical trinkets and souvenirs are Maneki-neko cat 🐈 statues, red lanterns, Japanese fabric for furoshiki and katana sword toys.

The shops were rebuilt to look like their original appearance of December 26, 1885, when they first opened. In July 2017, their primary owner, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government sold them to Senso-ji temple. As a consequence, the shops monthly rent was multiplied by 16(!) in January 2018: from ¥23,000 (~US$154.60) to ¥370,000 (~US$2,488).

For the 1rst time in 80 years, the shops’ copper roofing was renovated between June 2024 and March 2025, with the replacement of the old green tiles by new shiny copper tiles.

The colorful Buddhist complex

As for pagoda and buildings in Senso-ji temple, there is no denying that they were superbly rebuilt after World War II. They are also perfectly maintained, lit up and, although no sign of tradition hangs about them, they offer a postcard-like scenery right in the heart of Tokyo. Renovation works are frequently performed, with one of the latest in September-October 2017 on the main pagoda and the roof of Kaminarimon Gate (that was covered in a 21×12 meters photo-realistic tarp during the works). However, visitors who don’t have the possibility to travel outside Tokyo during their stay are sure to enjoy the place.

As a matter of fact, the lantern 🏮 hanging at the great gate, that weights 700kg, is changed every 10 years by Takahashi Chochin, a Kyoto company operating since 1730. The lantern renewal that should have happened in 2023 was actually made in 2020 to match the Tokyo Olympic Games 🏅.

The temple somehow lacks authenticity due to its flashy and shopping-oriented aspects. As an example, there are surprising jinrikisha or rickshaws activities which are priced up to ¥9,000 (~US$60.51) per half-hour! A high price to pay for being driven around in such densely crowded surroundings. If you are keen on riding a rickshaw, we rather recommend a ride along the paths of Sagano in Kyoto.

For a pretty view on Senso-ji, just cross the road opposite Kaminarimon and climb to the top of Asakusa Observatory, the Tourist Information Center.