Japan Report 09 - Senso-Ji

During our trip to Japan we went to several temples, from small ones embedded in rural neighborhoods to large complexes full of tourists. It's incredible how well maintained and beautiful they are! The larger temples are often surrounded by greenery like the Meiji Temple in Shibuya, which is in the middle of what we would consider a forest. Today we went to the Senso-Ji temple in Asakusa, one of the most visited temples worldwide and the oldest in Japan. This temple is famous on social media for the three enormous lanterns (Chōchin) placed at its three entrances. Beyond the first door to the temple there is a shopping plaza full of sweets, food and curiosities. We bought many beautiful souvenirs, although Access, stingy as always, thought we had spent too much. One of the things that surprised me the most about Japan is just how much shopping you can do in the temples. Postcards, amulets, special stamp books (goshuincho) and the stamps themselves, even seals made by priests and priestesses written in Japanese calligraphy (Goshuin). Leena, like any responsible collector, got all the seals from every temple we visited. We also tested our luck. For 100 yen we got a stick with a number on it that we then looked for in long drawers to get a small matching piece of paper with our fortune printed on it. If you got something bad, you could leave the stick tied in a knot in the temple itself. Access spent almost a thousand yen trying to get a good prediction (he failed). While we explored the temple we met an authentic temple priestess (Miko). This beautiful dragon girl kindly posed for us. It’s actually not that difficult to find priestesses with mutations related to important animals in Shintoism or Buddhism. Many look at it as a sign to pursue a spiritual calling. We’re almost at the end of the trip and we’ve enjoyed every moment. Tomorrow it’s time to go to Ginza, one of my most anticipated destinations. I cant wait. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credit Card Balance ---------------------- Temple Charms: ¥5,000 Goshuincho: ¥3,000 Goshuin: ¥500 Sweets and Food: ¥8,000 Souvenirs: ¥10,000 Total: ¥26,500