Sensoji Buddhist Temple is the oldest and one of the most important temples in Tokyo. There is a five-storey pagoda next to the temple, as well as many shops selling traditional goods on the Nakamise-dori shopping street that runs from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself.
Sensoji Kannon Temple is dedicated to Kannon Bosatsu, the bodhisattva deity of compassion, and is the most visited spiritual site in Japan, with more than 30 million visitors each year.
According to legend, in 628 AD, two fishermen, brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, found a statue of the goddess Kanon in the Sumida River. When the statue was taken to the village, the elder Hajino Nakamoto recognised it as the goddess Kanon. He appreciated the sacredness of the statue and commemorated it by converting his house into a small shrine temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon.
The first temple was founded in 645, making it the oldest temple in Tokyo.
The temple was bombed during World War II and destroyed on 10 March 1945. It was later rebuilt and is a symbol of rebirth and peace for the Japanese. A tree that was hit by a bomb during the air raids grows in the courtyard and has grown into the shell of an old tree.
Senso-ji is the centre of Tokyo’s largest and most popular sanja matsuri festival. It takes place for 3-4 days in late spring in May. I have written more about the festival in other articles.
At the entrance to the temple stands the Kaminari-mon or “Thunder Gate”. This impressive Buddhist structure has a huge paper lantern painted in bright red and black tones to resemble thunder clouds and lightning.
Kaminarimon (雷門, “Thunder Gate”) is the outer of the two large entrance gates that eventually lead to the senso-ji. The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate was rebuilt in 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed by fire in 1865.
The first Kaminarimon Gate was built in 941 by the warlord Taira no Kinmasa. It is believed that this is when the gods of wind and thunder were first placed on the gate. The gate has been destroyed many times over the centuries.
The present Kaminarimon structure was consecrated in December 1960. Ninety-five years after the last fire, Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (now Panasonic), was asked to rebuild the gate. Matsushita donated money and the gate was rebuilt in 1960.
Kaminarimon has four statues: two in the front niches and two on the other side. In front of the gate are statues of the Shinto gods Fujin and Raijin. Fujin, the god of the wind, stands on the eastern side of the gate and Raijin, the god of thunder, on the western side. The original statues were badly damaged in a fire in 1865, only the heads were preserved, and the statues were restored when the gate was reconstructed in 1960.
Two more statues stand on the other side of the gate: the Buddhist god Tenryu on the eastern side and the goddess Kinryu on the western side. They were donated in 1978 for the 1350th anniversary. The statues were carved by master sculptor Hirakushi Denchu, then 106 years old.
A giant red lantern (chochin) hangs below the centre of the gate. It is 3.9 m high, 3.3 m wide and weighs about 700 kg. The current lantern, its fifth iteration, was built in 2013 by Takahashi Chochin K.K.. The bottom of the lantern has the same metal base as the previous lantern. On the base is a plaque with the inscription ‘Matsushita Denki’, a shortened form of the old Japanese Panasonic name ‘Matsushita Denki Sangyo Kabushiki Gaisha’. The name of the gate, Kaminarimon (雷門), is depicted on the front of the lamp. The official name of the gate, Furaijinmon (風雷神門), is painted on the back. During festivals, such as sanja matsuri, the lantern is lowered to allow tall objects to pass through the gate.
Behind Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori, with its shops, and beyond that is Hozomon, or the “treasure house gate”, which gives access to the inner complex. Nearby is a magnificent five-storey pagoda and the main hall dedicated to Kannon.
As the gate has been reconstructed using refractory materials, the upper floor of the Hozomon is used to store the precious sutras of the Sensō-ji. These include a copy of the Lotus Sutra, which has been declared a national treasure of Japan, and the Issai-kyo, a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures, which has been declared an important cultural treasure.
Sensō-ji is visited by many tourists every year, both Japanese and foreign. The surrounding area is full of traditional shops and eateries serving traditional dishes (handmade noodles, sushi, tempura, etc.). On Nakamise-dori Street, which leads from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself, there are small shops selling a variety of souvenirs such as fans, ukiyo-e (wood carvings), kimono and other garments, Buddhist scrolls, traditional sweets, t-shirts and mobile phone accessories. These shops are part of a living tradition of selling to pilgrims who walked to Senso-ji. The street is about 250 m long and has about a hundred shops.
There are omikuji stalls in the temple itself, as well as in many places around the temple. For a suggested donation of 100 yen, visitors can consult the oracle and get answers to their questions. Enquirers shake labelled sticks out of sealed metal containers and read the corresponding answers, which they pull out of one of 100 available drawers.
Inside the temple is a traditional Japanese garden.
This is definitely a temple to visit when visiting Tokyo.
