Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

Prior to the group trip, I – Timothy – am solo in Tokyo. Using artificial intelligence, I concocted a busy four days featuring Ito on the Izu Peninsula and Sawara, also known as Little Edo. I also end this Journey Across Japan with a solo spell in Minato, near Taito and Tamachi Station.  

Asakusa, located in Tokyo’s Taito ward, is one of the city’s oldest and most historically layered districts. Positioned on the eastern fringe of central Tokyo beside the Sumida River, it forms the heart of the traditional shitamachi, or ‘low city‘, a term that refers both to its topography and to its longstanding association with working-class life. Despite the city’s transformation into a metropolis of glass and steel, Asakusa has retained a street-level intimacy and a distinctively pre-war atmosphere.

Sensō-ji

At the centre of Asakusa stands Sensō-ji, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple and one of the most visited religious sites in the world. According to legend, the temple’s origins date to the year 628, when two fishermen brothers, Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, found a small statue of the bodhisattva Kannon in the Sumida River. The village chief, Haji no Nakatomo, recognised its sacred nature and converted his home into a temple to house the statue. Historical evidence places the formal founding of the temple in 645, making Sensō-ji one of Japan’s earliest Buddhist institutions.

Over the centuries, the temple became deeply entwined with the fortunes of the city. In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, designated Sensō-ji as an official temple for shogunal prayers, bringing patronage and protection. Fires repeatedly destroyed the complex during the seventeenth century, but each time it was rebuilt, its gates and pagoda restored to prominence. The temple and the streets around it evolved not only as a site of devotion but also as a hub of entertainment. During the Edo period, the surrounding rokku-chōme became Tokyo’s main theatre district, and Asakusa’s blend of spirituality and spectacle became one of the defining features of urban life.

Sensō-ji suffered heavy destruction during the firebombing of Tokyo on 10 March 1945, when the main hall and five-storey pagoda were lost to flames. The post-war rebuilding, completed between 1951 and 1958, symbolised both resilience and continuity. 

Modern materials such as reinforced concrete and titanium-coated roof tiles were used, yet the overall design closely followed traditional forms. The temple’s two monumental gates, the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) and the Hōzōmon (Treasure House Gate), mark the processional route that pilgrims and visitors follow from the outer precincts to the main hall.

The Kaminarimon, reconstructed in 1960, carries the enormous red lantern that has become one of Tokyo’s most recognisable symbols. Flanking it are statues of Fūjin, the god of wind, and Raijin, the god of thunder. Beyond lies Nakamise-dōri, a 250-metre shopping street lined with small stalls selling snacks, souvenirs, and crafts, a commercial tradition dating back to the seventeenth century. The Hōzōmon, rebuilt in 1964, guards the inner precincts and houses the temple’s sutras and treasures. To one side rises the pagoda, rebuilt in 1973, which enshrines relics of the Buddha. Together these structures define a space where the sacred and the everyday coexist.

Today, Sensō-ji receives more than thirty million visitors annually, making it not only Tokyo’s most visited temple but one of the busiest religious sites in the world. 

It remains a functioning centre of worship, known for its o-mikuji fortune slips, incense rituals, and festivals. Chief among these is the Sanja Matsuri, held every May in honour of the temple’s legendary founders. During the festival, portable shrines (mikoshi) are paraded through the surrounding streets amid chants, drumming, and crowds that number in the millions.

Asakusa

The post-war decades saw Asakusa rebuilt on a smaller scale than other parts of Tokyo, leaving it with an unusually high concentration of 1950s and 1960s architecture. Traditional ryokan inns, low-rise apartment blocks, and narrow alleyways continue to define its urban landscape. The district also retains its association with entertainment and street life. 

The small amusement park Hanayashiki, located behind Sensō-ji, claims to be Japan’s oldest, and the local theatres still screen classic Japanese films. Hanayashiki is located across my hotel, Onyado Nono.

Asakusa is also Tokyo’s oldest active geisha district, with around forty-five geisha still working in the area.

Food in Asakusa

Food is another enduring element of local culture. The district’s streets are lined with long-established restaurants serving satsuma imo (sweet potato), chikuwa kamaboko (grilled fish cake), and other traditional dishes. 

After a hot hook-up with Chen from Taiwan in a nearby APA Hotel, we had ramen at Ichiran Atai. 

Kitchen

Nearby, Kappabashi-dōri specialises in kitchenware and restaurant supplies, drawing professional chefs and home cooks alike. From the riverfront, cruises along the Sumida River offer a perspective on the contrast between Asakusa’s low-rise streetscape and the futuristic Tokyo Skytree on the opposite bank.

Cultural memory

Asakusa remains a place where Tokyo’s historical layers are visible in daily life. Its temples, theatres, and wooden houses coexist with neon signs and modern infrastructure. 

While areas such as Shinjuku and Shibuya represent Tokyo’s global modernity, Asakusa continues to embody its cultural memory—a living record of how the city rebuilt itself without losing its sense of continuity. At the heart of it all, Sensō-ji endures as both a spiritual sanctuary and the anchor of a neighbourhood that still feels connected to the rhythms of old Tokyo.

2025 Journey Across Japan

1. Japan’s Superconducting Maglev train breaks world speed record at 603 km/h.
2. Japan’s maglev bullet train delayed to 2035 or later as costs rise to ¥11 trillion.
3. QUESTION | Should you be stressed about travelling to Japan, and fear of missing out?.
4. Brussels Airport to Milan Malpensa with Brussels Airlines, operated by Air Baltic, ft. the 2025 check-in and boarding software hack.
5. REVIEW | Sala Montale Exclusive Lounge and Sala Gae Aulentin Premium Lounge at Milan Malpensa Airport, extra Schengen.
6. REVIEW | All Nippon Airways (ANA), Business Class, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Tokyo.
7. REVIEW | Toei Animation Museum in Nerima, Tokyo.
8. JAPAN | Tokyo Station, its Character Street and Pokémon Store.
9. REVIEW | Onyado Nono Asakusa Hotel in Tokyo.