Tokyo 2019: Asakusa (November visit)

On November 25, 2019 I woke up in Tokyo for the first time in about 2.5 months. My journey across Japan and Korea was nearly over but I still had a few days left. During my previous stay I had already seen most of the spots I wanted to visit in Tokyo so during these final days I’d be revisiting some of my favorite places, along with a couple new ones. I started the day by heading over to Asakusa. Thick clouds covered the sky as I emerged from the subway station and I could only barely see the bottom part of the Tokyo Skytree in the distance.

I walked down the road to Kaminarimon Gate and then proceeded along the Nakamise shopping street. Asakusa was packed with visitors that morning and a few of the tourists had rented kimonos. Getting good photos of Kaminarimon is nearly impossible during the daytime due to the crowds and after taking a few quick shots I passed through the gate and down Nakamise. I had browsed the storefronts multiple times during my previous visits but even so I still kept an eye out for anything new. Although I wouldn’t be buying any souvenirs that morning I did take note of an ice cream shop that I’d come back to on my way out of Asakusa.

At Sensoji Temple the large number of visitors meant that the temple’s incense cauldron was spewing a steady plume of smoke. Sensoji gets more visitors than any other temple in Tokyo and for a few of my photos I was holding the camera high above my head. That said, I had photographed Sensoji Temple a couple times in the past, so I was focusing more on just wandering around and enjoying the temple, and wasn’t worrying too much about getting photos. While I was there I got to see the tail end of a ceremony that was being held inside Sensoji’s main hall.

Around the side from Sensoji’s main hall are a garden area and a few smaller buildings. This part of the temple grounds gets ignored by most of the tourists and can give you a brief escape from the crowds.

When I felt that I was done at Sensoji I walked back down Nakamise towards Kaminarimon. Along the way I stopped at the ice cream shop that I had noticed earlier and bought a small cone of ice cream. Then I headed out and left Asakusa. There were plenty of other spots in Tokyo that I wanted to hit that day and I wouldn’t be lingering too long in any individual place.