Asakusa
Asakusa is a temple with a long pathway leading to it. To realize how much of a tourist trap it is, all you have to do is see what is surrounding the pathway. You got it, stores. Lots of them. Mind you, this is where I did most of my souveneir shopping, and I did get a wonderful oriental dragon figurine here. However, I would be pretty miffed if it was MY temple.
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This is the main gate into the strip mall that leads to the temple. Shops
selling everything you can imagine pretty much. Those lamps are HUGE. You
can tell that the big red one in the middle is much bigger than a person. I
don't remember the exact stats, but it's also QUITE heavy. Not just paper in
there.
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Another red lantern at the other end. They're both surrounded by statues that
didn't come out very well in the pictures. In this shot, you can see the rows
of shops down the path. As I said, this was a great place to get souveneirs.
One stop shopping.
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Here is the actual Asakusa temple from the side. This is where the tour
bus dropped us off originally. The temple is extremely impressive. While
there, you can get a fortune. If you need it translated, there are people on
hand to help. If you don't like your fortune for any reason, there are trees
that you can tie the fortune to to "leave it behind". I thought this was a
particularly nice idea.
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This is the shrine inside the temple. (I was probably cursed for taking this
picture. Tacky American!) In the courtyard in front of the temple, there were
places that you could burn incense as well as take a drink from a communal well.
I've since forgotten the significance of all of it, but it seemed interesting
at the time...
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All photos copyright Anne Sullivan