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From Shinjuku, we
took a subway to
Asakusa, where we entered the Shin Nakamise shopping mall. |
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Here we found dozens,
maybe even hundreds of little shops selling all sorts of food and
merchandise. There was even a McDonalds as you can see to the
right. |
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One of the shops was selling
these little pastries that were baked right on the spot. In the center
ring are these little circular molds. The baker fills the mold with batter
and then it circles around the middle ring (the white cakes). Then a
little paddle automatically flips the cakes and they make their final
circle on the outer ring (the brown cakes). These were very sweet and
delicious.
The sign indicates that the
cakes are 3 for 200 yen. At the time of our visit, the exchange rate was
about 1 dollar US to 125 yen. So that works out to about $1.60 US. |
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Connecting to Shin
Nakamise was Nakamise street with even more shops. The main
picture is looking towards the Hozomon gate and the mouse over
picture is looking back to Shin Nakamise. |
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Jennifer's head is just
peeking above the center display as she shopped in this little store of
chopsticks, fans and other souvenirs.
The mouse over photo shows us getting closer to the Hozomon gate. |
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As we continued down
Nakamise, we came to the Hozomon gate which leads to the
Senso-ji Temple.
On the mouse over
picture, you can see a five-story pagoda to the left of the gate.
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Here we stand next to one of
the two Nio gods who defend the temple from evil. They bear angry
expressions in order to frighten away the evil spirits. One has its mouth
open to signify the beginning of all things and one has its mouth closed
to signify the end.
Through
the entrance, you can see the Senso-ji Temple itself with a giant
paper lantern over the entrance. This temple is considered to be one
of the oldest in Tokyo. |
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Once inside the gate,
we entered the temple courtyard. Here we see the back of the
Hozomon gate. In the center of the courtyard is a giant incense
burner. You burn sticks of incense and then wave the aromatic
smoke over your body and head for good luck. Also note the two
giant sandals on either side of the entrance.
There was an adorable
scene there where a father was holding his little girl in his arms
next to the urn and the little girl used both hands to scoop the
smoke over her dad first before doing so to herself. |
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Inside the temple
courtyard you can purchase fortunes. There are dozens of little
drawers on a wall. Next to the drawers is a canister filled with
numbered sticks. You shake the canister until a single stick falls
out. Then you match the number on the stick to a drawer. In the
drawer is a sheet of paper with your fortune. The fortunes can
range from Best Luck all the way down to Worst Luck. If you are
unfortunate enough to draw a bad luck fortune, you can tie it to
the rod as Jennifer is doing. At the end of the day, the Buddhist
monks will burn the fortunes and offer prayers which will cancel
the bad luck. |
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