The Thunder Gate and the Skytree, Walking Asakusa and the Sumida

Look along Kappabashi-dori, a shopping street of about 800 metres between Asakusa and Ueno. The official traders' association and Taito City count more than 170 shops here, selling knives, pans, dishes, uniforms and the plastic food samples you see in restaurant windows all over Japan. The association dates the first tool merchants here to around 1912, along the banks of the Shinbori River. After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the river was covered over, and food-related shops gathered on this street. Most shops sell to the public as well as to the trade. This is a working street, not a museum. The sidewalks are always open; the shops keep ordinary retail hours, so a morning start may find some still closed. Look up for the giant chef's head on the Niimi building, a local landmark at the southern end of the street, near Tawaramachi Station. When you are ready, walk east toward Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate of Senso-ji, a little under a kilometre from here, about twelve to fifteen minutes.

This is Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate, the outer gate of Senso-ji. Its official name is Furaijin-mon, the Gate of the Wind and Thunder Gods. Fujin, the god of wind, and Raijin, the god of thunder, stand on either side. The temple gives the red lantern as 3.9 metres high, 3.3 metres wide, and 700 kilograms. Look up under the lantern for a carved dragon. On the back of the gate, as you pass through, are two dragon gods, Tenryu and Kinryu. The temple traces the first gate to 942, and to the commander Taira no Kinmasa. The gate you are looking at was rebuilt in 1960, after a fire in 1865 had left the site empty for ninety-five years. The rebuilding was paid for by Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric, now Panasonic. You can photograph the gate from the street. It is a popular place for pictures, so keep the passage clear. Across the road, the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center has a free terrace with a view back over the gate; the terrace is generally open from nine in the morning until ten at night. Walk north through the gate, along Nakamise, the temple's front approach, about 250 metres to the next gate.

You are on Nakamise, the front approach of Senso-ji, running from the Thunder Gate behind you to Hozomon ahead. The temple calls it one of the oldest shopping streets in Japan, and gives its length as about 250 metres. The name is sometimes explained as "the shops in the middle," between stalls that once stood out on the wide street and stalls in front of the main hall. The temple dates the street's origin to around 1685, when people who lived nearby were allowed to set up stalls here in return for cleaning the temple grounds. The vermilion shop fronts sell crackers, cakes, fans and souvenirs. Each shop sets its own hours, so early in the morning some will still be shut. The street is a public approach; stay out of the shops' doorways if you are only passing through. When you are ready, continue north to Hozomon, the large two-storey gate at the end of this street.

The two-storey vermilion gate in front of you is Hozomon, the Treasure House Gate, also called Niomon, the Gate of the Nio, after the two guardian kings in its outer bays. The temple traces a gate here to 942. The present building was completed in 1964, a gift of Yonetaro Otani and his wife. It was given its present name because the upper storey holds scriptures and temple treasures, including a set of Buddhist texts that is a national Important Cultural Property. Walk through, then look back. Two giant straw sandals hang on the far side of the gate. The temple gives them as 4.5 metres high, 1.5 metres wide, and 500 kilograms, offered in 2018 by people from Murayama in Yamagata Prefecture. They stand for the strength of the Nio. The story told at the temple is that evil, seeing sandals of this size, leaves the place rather than meet whatever wears them. The main hall stands a short way ahead, across the courtyard. Pause at the water pavilion to the side if you wish to purify your hands and mouth before you approach the hall, as the temple explains on its visiting page.

This is the main hall of Senso-ji, the Kannon-do. The temple describes itself as the oldest temple in Tokyo. In the temple's own account, on 18 March 628, two brothers, Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, found a statue of Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Mercy, in the Sumida River. The village headman, Haji no Nakatomo, recognised the image and made his house into a temple. In 645 a priest named Shokai built a hall here. After a revelation in a dream, he hid the statue from view. The temple says that it has never been unveiled since, and that even the chief priests do not see it. A later priest, Ennin, made a statue that could be shown on rare occasions. The hall in front of you is a rebuilding. The earlier main hall, then a National Treasure, was destroyed on 10 March 1945, in the Great Tokyo Air Raid. It was rebuilt in 1958, with donations from across Japan. The hall is generally open from six until five in the afternoon, or from half past six between October and March. Entry is free. If you go inside, follow the posted signs and dress modestly. To pray, the temple asks you to place your hands together and say "Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu," "I place my trust in Bodhisattva Kannon." If you step into the inner, tatami-floored part of the hall, take your shoes off. Do not photograph worshippers without their agreement. Walk a short way west to the five-storied pagoda.

The five-storey pagoda stands to the southwest of the main hall. The temple gives its height as 53 metres from the ground. The temple traces a pagoda at Senso-ji to 942, first built by Taira no Kinmasa. The five-storey pagoda that later became a National Treasure stood on the east side of the hall. It was destroyed on 10 March 1945, in the same air raid as the main hall. The pagoda in front of you was rebuilt in 1973. Relics of the Buddha, given by the Isurumuniya Temple in Sri Lanka, were formally received on 18 March 1966 and are housed in the top storey. The memorial halls around the base are not a general public visit. Look at the pagoda from the precinct path. When you are ready, walk east, past the main hall, to Asakusa Shrine, a few dozen metres away. It is a separate place of worship, not part of the Buddhist temple.

The buildings in front of you belong to Asakusa Shrine, a Shinto shrine that stands beside Senso-ji but is a different institution. The shrine is dedicated to the three founders in the temple legend: the fishermen brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, and the landlord Haji no Nakatomo. The shrine's own English page tells the same finding of the Kannon statue, and says that the people of Asakusa came to honour these three men with a festival. That festival is the Sanja Matsuri, held on the third weekend of May. The shrine calls it one of the three great festivals of Edo, now Tokyo. On those days the streets around here fill with processions, and ordinary walking is difficult. Check the shrine's calendar if you are here in mid-May. This is an active shrine. Dress modestly, and follow the posted signs for how to pray. Do not photograph worshippers without their agreement. The shrine office is generally open from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, or until half past four at weekends and on holidays. When you are ready, walk a few dozen metres to Nitenmon, the vermilion east gate, and then out toward the river.

This vermilion gate is Nitenmon, the east gate of Senso-ji, and a national Important Cultural Property. The present wooden gate dates from 1649. A major restoration, completed in 2010, returned it to the bright colour of that first building. The name means the Gate of the Two Devas. As you face the gate, Jikokuten stands on the right and Zochoten on the left, two of the Four Heavenly Kings who guard the Buddhist world. Unlike Kaminarimon and Hozomon, this gate is not a postwar reconstruction. It is one of the older wooden buildings still standing in the precinct. From here the walk leaves the temple precinct. Go through, or around, and continue east, then south, into Sumida Park, along the west bank of the river. Azuma Bridge is about five hundred metres south, a walk of some seven or eight minutes. The tower on the far bank is Tokyo Skytree, where this walk ends.

You are at Azuma Bridge, which carries Kaminarimon-dori across the Sumida. The red arch under your feet was completed in 1931. Taito City gives its length as 150 metres, and notes that this is the closest bridge to Senso-ji. Look for the Thunder Gate mark on the railings between the road and the sidewalk. A crossing has stood near this spot since 1774, according to the official Tokyo tourism guide. Look downstream and across the water. Tokyo Skytree stands on the east bank. In late March and early April, the cherry trees in Sumida Park bring heavy crowds to this riverside. The park paths themselves are open throughout the year. Watch the traffic as you cross. When you are ready, continue east across the bridge and on to the public approach at Tokyo Skytree, a little over a kilometre, about fifteen minutes. A shorter pedestrian deck on the railway bridge, the Sumida River Walk, is an optional later crossing; it has its own hours, generally from seven in the morning until ten at night.

The tower in front of you is Tokyo Skytree. It is 634 metres high and opened on 22 May 2012. The operator records it as the world's tallest tower, a title confirmed by Guinness World Records in 2011, and as a free-standing broadcasting tower. The number 634 can be read "Musashi," an old name for this part of the country. Its main work is to send out terrestrial digital television signals over a city of tall buildings. You are on the public plaza, near Tokyo Skytree Station. The observation decks are optional and ticketed. Hours and prices change, so check the official site or the desk if you want to go up. The plaza itself needs no ticket. This is the end of the walk. Tokyo Skytree Station is beside you, on the Tobu line. Oshiage Station is a short walk further east, on several subway and railway lines.