After a long night of much needed sleep, the day began for our group at 9:30 where we met in previously decided groups to spend our first full day in Japan exploring Tokyo. Each group had its own list of adventures and ideas of what they wanted to see when they went out and the group I was in decided the first stop was going to be Asakusa.

Asakusa is a shopping district in Tokyo containing the Buddhist temple Sensō-ji. The first thing we saw when approaching the temple was the initial ‘thunder gate’ called the Kaminarimon. The Kaminarimon boasted a large paper lantern that visitors of the shrine would walk under to enter the next part of the temple grounds, the Nakamise-dori. Nakamise-dori is the path that leads visitors to the temple of Sensō-ji, the focal point of the area, and is littered with shops that sell a variety of items. These items included traditional items such as kimonos, fans, and paper lanterns to tourist trap items such as phone cases and figurines.

If you managed to make it past the shops in the Nakamise-dori you were greeted by another large gate hoisting ornate paper lanterns that marked the entrance to the temple. Immediately to the left after passing the gate was the five story pagoda topped with a golden spire. Walking toward the temple we were greeted by a large pot of burning incense that attracted people toward it to use the smoke emitted to cleanse and heal themselves. I personally saw people wafting the smoke all over their bodies, from head to toe, I chose to only let the smoke touch my head like many of the other people visiting before moving on to the main temple.

Walking into the main temple people would pause at the top of the steps to say a prayer and offer a gift. The inside of the temple contained a beautiful display containing figures crafted in what looked to be gold and brass surrounded by carved wooden figures and flora to create what was truly a spectacular sight but unfortunately photos were prohibited inside the temple out of respect for those who are there to practice their religion. However, it was possible to get your fortune read or purchase charms for your travels at small corner shops within the temple as a way to commemorate the visit.

Everything about visiting Asakusa was exceptional. The oriental architecture of the grounds that juxtaposed the modern skyscrapers that surrounded the area. And the people, including a variety of tourists and local people that flocked to the temple, that all came to the same place for purely tourist or religious reasons. Everything seen today at Asakusa added up to a wonderful experience that has us looking forward to the rest of the 2019 tour of Japan.