Asakusa Walking Tour

Tawaramachi Station is accessible on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. It's the closest station to the first stop on this guide. You'll start this tour through the kitchen mecca of Tokyo, Kappabashi, head toward Sensoji Temple through the Nakamise shopping arcade, then finish with a well-earned meal at one of the most popular tempura restaurants in Tokyo: Daikokuya.

At the corner of Kappabashi Dori (street) and Asakusa Dori, Denkama sells Japanese handmade pottery ranging in price from the cheap 100-yen range to more than 10,000 yen.

Have a wacky person on your souvenir list? You might make a point of coming to Kappabashi, or Kitchen Town, to pick up a fake bowl of ramen, sushi or nearly any plastic food item you'd find in a restaurant window in Japan. Called a "sampuru," this fake food might be enough to fool you into thinking it's real.

The origin for the name "Kappabashi" is debatable--but because "kappa" also means turtle in Japanese, the local shops have adopted the mighty turtle as their mascot.

Plastic food aside, Kappabashi is also a great area to pick up cheap Japanese pottery, kitchen knives and other kitchen goods.

While strolling up to the Sensoji Temple, you'll come through the Nakamise outdoor shopping arcade, a good spot for traditional Japanese wares such as Buddhist goods, handkerchiefs, kimonos or swords. (Note: They may not be of top-quality variety, but they are at least convenient and readily grabbed as souvenirs.)

While strolling through the shopping arcade, you can buy one of Asakusa's snack specialties, senbei rice crackers. These tiny crackers are usually grilled on the spot, flavored with soy and wrapped in crunchy seaweed.

For an English guide to Nakamise shops, visit:
http://www.asakusa-nakamise.jp/shop-e.html

First built in 645, this is Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple, dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy. The temple was bombed during World War II and rebuilt.

The area around the temple features many traditional Japanese shops and restaurants, and part of the tradition of visiting Sensoji, or any temple in Japan, is getting an omikuji, or fortune (written in Japanese) on a strip of paper. For a suggested donation of 100 yen, you choose a randomly drawn fortune from a box at one of the many omikuji stands that dot the walk to Sensoji.

The temple is host to one of Tokyo's most popular festivals (the word for festival is matsuri in Japanese), called Sanja Matsuri, which takes place on the third weekend of May.

A great photo spot is in front of the impressive main gate that guards the entrance, called Kaminarimon, which means Thunder Gate. A giant lantern that has the kanji, or Chinese characters, bearing its name hangs from the gate. It makes for a very Japanese-looking landmark. This gate has been destroyed many times since it was first built in 942 (at a different location); the current gate dates back to 1960.
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03-3844-1575
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Admission Free
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Hours
Daily 6am-5pm

One of the most delicious things about visiting Asakusa is one of its food specialties: tempura. And there's no better place to have tempura than at one of the most famous tempura houses: Daikokuya.

I'll never forget the piece of shrimp tempura I had laid on a bowl of rice (tempura on top of rice is called "tendon")--longer than the diameter of the bowl, tender, hot, crisp and extremely tasty. Dab it in just a little tempura dipping sauce, follow it with a bite of hot Japanese sticky rice and a swig of Japanese beer, and it might possibly be one of your best memories of Japan.

Expect to wait in a long line at this place, but it will be worth it!
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1-38-10 Asakusa, Taito-ku
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Hours
Weekdays, Sunday 11:10am-8:30pm
Saturday, national holidays 11:30am-9pm
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http://www.tempura.co.jp/english/index.html

Furoshiki, traditional Japanese cloth, takes on a very beautifully crafted and artistic form at Anbo Dyeworks, which has been in the business for hundreds of years. On my first visit to Japan, I came here and bought a sky blue cloth depicting pink cherry blossom leaves falling from a tree. Over the course of the years, every time I move, I hang it in my new place.

If you're looking for a tasteful traditional Japanese gift for someone back home, or even yourself, this is a great place to look.
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Hours
Daily 10:30am-7pm
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(Address in Japanese--show to Japanese person if lost)
東京都台東区浅草1-21-12

Asakusa Station is accessible from the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line; Asakusa is in the northeastern part of the Tokyo metropolitan area in the Taito ward.

Your Asakusa guide ends here, the closest station accessible from the Sensoji Temple area.

Instead of ending the tour at Asakusa station, those interested in taking a boat ride on one of the high-tech-looking Tokyo Cruise Co. boats that run down Sumida River can get on board just south of Asakusa metro station. Ride the boat toward another destination, such as Odaiba, a man-made island that was originally built to protect Tokyo from sea attack. It has since been repurposed as a shopping mecca, in addition to being the Fuji TV headquarters.

For more information on the timetable and prices, check Tokyo Cruise Co.'s website at http://www.suijobus.co.jp/ (some information in English).