Japan Photo Guide

Asakusa, about one mile from Ueno in Tokyo, is most famous for the Buddhist temple Sensoji, inluding a huge lantern at the entrance (photo below), five story pagoda and a traditional Nakamise shopping arcade. At the shopping arcade you can find lots of souvenirs from fake swords and katanas to wall scrolls to funny tshirts (for example changing “Puma” to “Kuma,” which is bear in Japanese, along with a logo change) to photos of pop idols. You can also take a rickshaw ride and occasionally see geisha or maiko.

If you are spending time in Tokyo, Asakusa is worth checking out and a lot of interesting photos can be made here. Also there are a lot of festivals in Asakusa throughout the year, these festivals, or “matsuri” in Japanese, always make for good photographs. Here is some information with short descriptions of the festivals in Asakusa and here is another list with the 2007 dates of festivals in Asakusa. Note that some of the dates may change from year to year. Perhaps one of the more interesting festivals is the annual Samba Festival, which takes place in late August. It is interesting because it is obviously very different from the usual traditional festival in Japan. Here is more information on the history of the samba festival in Asakusa. Below is a photo of the shopping arcade.

Another interesting area close by is Kappabashi Dori, a restaurant wholesale shopping street where you can buy anything you can think of related to Japanese cooking. Kappabashi is a great place to buy gifts for the cook in the family and because most places are wholesales, the prices can’t be beat. It is about a 8-10 minute walk from Sensoji. Here is another photo from a festival in Asakusa.