Monday, December 12, 2011

Japan Trip Day 6 - Asakusa, Tokyo's historic site.

After introducing ourselves to our Malaysian tourist guide, we then headed our way to Shinjuku Subway Station where we'll be using an ALL-DAY train ticket that costs only 710 yen. This means we could get on any train on the Tokyo Metro Line for 24 hours with only one ticket! ^^

And that's a very good money saver option to travel around Tokyo, Japan. =)

The first stop for the day was a place called Asakusa. Details on it is read below.

Asakusa (浅草) is the center of Tokyo's shitamachi (literally "low city"), one of Tokyo's districts, where an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades survives.


Asakusa's main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century. The temple is approached via the Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries. (source)
It was raining heavily that day. We managed by buying lutsinar umbrellas from the Nakamise Shopping Street which is situated just outside the Sensoji Temple. If you're lucky, you could buy an umbrella with the bargain price of only 250 yen. A much cheaper option compared to some outlets that sells it almost triple the price!

 Kaminarimon (雷門) or "Thunder Gate"
This entrance features a much-photographed giant lantern and statues of guardian gods Raijin (god of thunder) and Fujin (god of wind). First built in 942, the gate has been destroyed numerous times and the current incarnation dates to only 1950. The Nakamise shopping arcade leading up to the temple starts after the gate. (source)

Despite the rain, we were blissfully happy. LoL.

The whole view of the Thunder Gate.
I read somewhere that Asakusa was once the main entertainment district for Tokyo but now the role goes to Shinjuku. You could read about the golden years of Asakusa being vividly portrayed in Yasunari Kawabata's novel The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa (1930; English translation, 2005). But then the area was heavily damaged by US bombing raids during World War II, particularly the March 1945 firebombing of Tokyo. After the war it was rebuilt but has long lost its golden years. Now it stands as the most historic part of Tokyo to showcase its past glories.

Me and Asraff pictured outside the Sensoji Shrine.
Inside the Sensoji Temple is a very golden Shrine. People made offerings here by throwing coins into a fountain inside the temple. Even the doorknobs of the shrines were golden. Asraff says that the shrine is made from REAL GOLD and was built using the offerings that the people made.

WOW!!

Real gold ehh??? Why no perompak? 
As seen in the above picture, the golden shrine is behind a grilled, window. No access allowed perhaps. We could only see from outside.

We soon made our way to the outside of the thunder gate which holds the Nakamise shopping arcade where one can shop for souvenirs, many traditional Japanese collector items and also the renowned silk kimonos. Which regrettably none was bought by me due to shortage of funds. HUHU.

Heading out of the Thunder Gate.
Seen below are the colorful vastness of the items on display, outside the shops of Nakamise.

Also sells Ninja costumes. 
The streets is ever so bustling with people despite the heavily pouring rain. Even though this place is deemed as a TOP tourist place in Tokyo but I didn't see many foreigners there. We were basically surrounded by Japanese people and seemed we were the only tourists there. LOL.

Do see any tourists?
After much sight-seeing and shopping, we then stopped for lunch at some cafe that Asraff recommended. Not exactly a HALAL restaurant but they serve no pork there and so it's deemed safe for consumption.

I forgot the name of this lunch set. But the fish was delicious!
Asraff did his Zuhur prayers right there in the shop after lunch! A good example for muslim students abroad. So kudos to his stand in religion. Much appraised by my friend. =)

After lunch, we headed to Shibuya and Akihabara. More on that later.

Thank you for reading!

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7 comments:

JieJ said... [Reply]

Best nya Jard..syukur ko sdh dpt memijak kan kaki ke sana..huhuhu

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@JieJ... kamu pon boleh.. Airasia kan murah dah skang. gi Osaka leh dapat RM100 je pergi balik. tp kena rajin lawat web diorg. hehe.. gud luck beb!

~Ati_Hime~ said... [Reply]

dah berapa post aku follow psl jepun nih..aku nak jerit tanpa suara kuat2..BESTNYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said... [Reply]

wah...seronok beb...

xtau bila akan ada peluang utk aku...

hazman aka species1980 said... [Reply]

Tahniah sebab menang BLUE RAY HOME THEATRE.... adik aku dok tanya saper la si JARD nie...hehehehe

tahid said... [Reply]

Bulan apa you ke Jepang? kok nampak selalu hujan.

Anonymous said... [Reply]

Salam,

Nak tya restaurant tu nama ape n kat area mana eh? mcm mana nk pegi situ kalau dari nakamise street?

TQ