Author of the Hiro Hattori (Shinobi) mysteries
While visiting Japan last December, I spent a couple of days at Sensoji – Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple, and one of my favorite places to visit when I’m in the city. During my second visit, I explored a narrow alley I’d never wandered down before . . . with delicious results!
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Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple, Senso-ji, is also one of my favorites. The massive Kaminarimon, or Thunder Gate, is one of Asakusa’s best-known landmarks: and visitors often take photos with the gate’s massive chochin, which weighs almost 1,500 pounds. But a visit to Senso-ji is not complete without a stroll down Nakamise Shopping Street – the vibrant line of shops and stalls that lines the approach to the temple. Traditionally, vendors’ stalls or shops line the approach to Japanese shrines and temples. The goods on display can vary, but they usually include a variety of tasty local specialties, like these small cakes
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Last weekend, I went to the hagoita-ichi matsuri (festival) at Sensōji, in Tokyo. I love shrine and temple festivals for many reasons – and festival food is high on the list. On normal days, the wide pathways in Japanese shrine and temple yards offer visitors plenty of space to walk and meditate. At festivals, vendors line the paths. selling a wide assortment of treats.
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Hagoita are wooden paddles used in the traditional Japanese game of hanetsuki. Visually, the game is a lot like badminton, but without a net – players take turns batting a shuttlecock back and forth, using large wooden paddles (hagoita). The game was traditionally popular during the New Year holiday, and though it’s not as popular now as it once was, decorative hagoita are available for sale throughout Japan. Each December, Sensōji–one of Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temples–is home to the hagoita-ichi matsuri, a festival featuring vendors selling decorative hagoita in both traditional and modern styles.
Read moreThe approaches to many of Japan’s Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples are lined with vendors selling a variety of edible and non-edible treats.
Read moreA pair of giant woven sandals hang on the back of Sensoji’s hozomon (main entrance gate). The sandals, or o-waraji, measure 4.5 meters tall and weigh 2500 kg (over 500 pounds) apiece.
Read moreSensoji is Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple, and remains both an active worship site and a popular destination for visitors to the Japanese capital.
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