is an ancient Buddhist temple located in

Asakusa, Tokyo is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...

, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, it became independent after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It is dedicated to

Kannon Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She w ...

, the

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

of compassion, and is the most widely visited spiritual site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually. Adjacent to the temple is a five-story pagoda, the

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the . History The ...

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

, as well as many shops with traditional goods in the Nakamise-dōri. The temple has a titanium tiled roof that maintains the historic image but is stronger and lighter.

History

Dai Nippon Kinryū-zan no Zu, Aōdō Denzen, 1809

The temple is dedicated to the

(

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर, IPA: ) is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, one notable avatar being Padmapāṇi (lotus bearer). He is variably depicted, ...

). According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the

Sumida River The is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi (in Kita-ku) and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. It passes through the Kita, Adachi, Ara ...

in 628 AD by two fishermen, brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon. The first temple was founded in 645 AD, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo.World's greatest sites
accessed May 2, 2008 In the early years of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful '' daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this cl ...

. The Nishinomiya Inari shrine is located within the precincts of Sensō-ji and a

torii A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simple ...

identifies the entry into the hallowed ground of the shrine. A bronze plaque on the gateway structure lists those who contributed to the construction of the torii, which was erected in 1727 (''

Kyōhō , also pronounced Kyōho, was a after '' Shōtoku'' and before '' Gembun.'' This period spanned the years from July 1716 through April 1736. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1716 : The era name of ''Kyōhō'' (meaning "Underg ...

12, 11th month''). During World War II, the temple was bombed and destroyed during the 10 March air raid on Tokyo. It was rebuilt later and is a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people. In the courtyard there is a tree that was hit by a bomb in the air raids, and it had regrown in the husk of the old tree and is a similar symbol to the temple itself.

Temple grounds

Sensō-ji is the focus of Tokyo's largest and most popular

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Sanja Matsuri , or Sanja Festival, is one of the three largest Shinto festivals in Tokyo. It is considered one of the wildest and largest. The festival is held in honor of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari, and Hajino Nakatomo, the three men who establishe ...

. This takes place over 3–4 days in late spring, and sees the surrounding streets closed to traffic from dawn until late evening. Dominating the entrance to the temple is the

Kaminarimon The is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands 11.7 m tall, 11.4&nbs ...

or "Thunder Gate". This imposing Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning. Beyond the Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori with its shops, followed by the

Hōzōmon The is the inner of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the outer being the Kaminarimon) in Asakusa, Tokyo. A two-story gate ('' nijūmon''), the Hōzōmon's second story houses many of the Sensō-ji's treasures. The f ...

or "Treasure House Gate" which provides the entrance to the inner complex. Within the precincts stand a stately five-story

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

and the main hall, devoted to Kannon. Many tourists, both Japanese and from abroad, visit Sensō-ji every year. Catering to the visiting crowds, the surrounding area has many traditional shops and eating places that feature traditional dishes (hand-made noodles, sushi, tempura, etc.). Nakamise-Dori, the street leading from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself, is lined with small shops selling souvenirs ranging from fans, ''

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk ta ...

'' (

woodblock prints Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is crea ...

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

and other robes, Buddhist scrolls, traditional sweets, to

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

toys, t-shirts and mobile phone straps. These shops themselves are part of a living tradition of selling to pilgrims who walked to Sensō-ji. Within the temple itself, and also at many places on its approach, there are '' o-mikuji'' stalls. For a suggested donation of 100 yen, visitors may consult the oracle and divine answers to their questions. Querents shake labelled sticks from enclosed metal containers and read the corresponding answers they retrieve from one of 100 possible drawers. Within the temple is a quiet contemplative garden kept in the distinctive Japanese style.

Kaminarimon

The is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the

) in

, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands tall, wide and covers an area of . The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate dates from 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed in a fire in 1865.

History

The Kaminarimon was first built in 941 AD by

Taira The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided ...

no Kinmasa, a military commander. It was originally located near Komagata, but it was reconstructed in its current location in 1635. This is believed to be when the gods of wind and thunder were first placed on the gate. The gate has been destroyed many times throughout the ages. Four years after its relocation, the Kaminarimon burned down, and in 1649 AD

Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, w ...

rebuilt the gate along with several other of the major structures in the temple complex. The gate burnt to the ground in 1757 AD and again in 1865 AD. The Kaminarimon's current structure was dedicated in December 1960 AD . Ninety-five years after the last fire, Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (now

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

), was asked to rebuild the gate. With monetary donations from Matsushita, the gate was rebuilt in 1960.

Features

Four statues are housed in the Kaminarimon, two in the front alcoves and two on the other side. On the front of the gate, the statues of the

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

gods Fūjin and

Raijin , also known as , , , and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions, standing atop a cloud, be ...

are displayed. Fūjin, the god of wind, is located on the east side of the gate, while Raijin, the god of thunder, is located on the west side. The original sculptures were severely damaged in the fire of 1865, with only the heads being saved, and the statues restored for the gate's 1960 reconstruction.Enbutsu, Sumiko. ''Old Tokyo: Walks in the City of the Shogun''. Tokyo: Tuttle, 2012 Two additional statues stand on the reverse of the gate: the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

god Tenryū on the east, and the goddess Kinryū on the west side. These were donated in 1978 to commemorate the 1350th anniversary of the first appearance of the

(

) at Asakusa, which led to the founding of Sensō-ji. The statues were carved by then-106-year-old master sculptor Hirakushi Denchū. A giant red lantern ('' chōchin'') hangs under the center of the gate. It is tall, wide and weighs approximately . The current lantern, the fifth iteration, was built by Takahashi Chōchin K.K in 2013 and has the same metallic base on the bottom as the previous lantern. The base has a name plate that says "Matsushita Denki", an abbreviated form of Panasonic's old Japanese name, Matsushita Denki Sangyo Kabushiki Gaisha. The front of the lantern displays the gate's name, . Painted on the back is the gate's official name, . During festivals such as

, the lantern is collapsed to let tall objects pass through the gate. The characters on the tablet above the lantern read from right to left and reference the Sensō-ji.

Hozomon

The is the inner of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the outer being the

) in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. A two-story gate ('' nijūmon''), the Hōzōmon's second story houses many of the Sensō-ji's treasures. The first story houses two statues, three lanterns and two large sandals. It stands tall, wide, and deep.

History

The Hōzōmon was first built in 942 AD by

no Kinmasa. Destroyed by fire in 1631, it was rebuilt by

in 1636. It stood for 300 more years until it was once again burned down during the Tokyo air raids of 1945. In 1964, the present steel-reinforced concrete structure was built with a donation of ¥150 million from Yonetarō Motoya. Since the gate was reconstructed using flame-resistant materials, the upper story of the Hōzōmon stores the Sensō-ji's treasured

sutras ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

. These treasures include a copy of the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

that is designated a Japanese National Treasure and the ''Issai-kyō'', a complete collection of

scriptures that has been designated an Important Cultural Property.

Features

Unlike the Kaminarimon, which houses four different statues, the Hōzōmon houses two guardian statues that are located on either side of the gate's south face. These tall statues represent

Niō are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajra ...

, the guardian deities of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. Because of these statues, the gate was originally called the before it was renamed the Hōzōmon. The gate also features three large lanterns. The largest and most prominent lantern is a red '' chōchin'' that hangs under the center of the gate's opening. With a height of , a diameter of and a weight of , the lantern displays the name of the town . The current iteration of the lantern dates back to 2003 when ¥5 million was donated by the people of Kobunachō. Its donation commemorated the 400th-year-anniversary of the start of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

. On either side of the ''chōchin'' hangs two tall copper ''

tōrō are a type of traditional East Asian lantern made of stone, wood, or metal. Originating in China, stone lanterns spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, though they are most commonly found in both China – extant in Buddhist temples and traditional ...

'' weighing approximately each. All three lanterns are completely removed during festivals such as

. On the Hōzōmon's north (back) face are the '' waraji'', two long, wide straw sandals that weigh each.

Nakamise-dōri

The is a street on the approach to the temple. It is said to have come about in the early 18th century, when neighbors of Sensō-ji were granted permission to set up shops on the approach to the temple. However, in May 1885 the government of Tokyo ordered all shop owners to leave. In December of that same year the area was reconstructed in Western-style brick. During the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

many of the shops were destroyed, then rebuilt in 1925 using concrete, only to be destroyed again during the bombings of World War II. The length of the street is approximately and contains around 89 shops.Asakusa-Nakamise:
/ref>

Gallery

File:Nakamise1411.jpg, Pilgrims and tourists flocking to Sensō-ji have shopped at the small stores here for centuries File:Sensoji at night.JPG, The temple during nighttime. File:Asakusa - Senso-ji 35 (15576702197).jpg File:Sensō-ji - Ceiling - August 2013 - Sarah Stierch 02.JPG File:Sensoji Dragon Fountain.JPG File:Sensoji temple meiji era monochrome1910.jpg, 1910 File:Toto_Kinryuzan_Senso-ji_zu_02.jpg, 1820 File:100 views edo 039.jpg,

Hiroshige Utagawa Hiroshige (, also ; ja, 歌川広重 ), born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format l ...

File:View of mikoshi from sensoji Sanja Matsuri 2006-3.jpg,

File:Bosatsu Kannon from Simida River 02.JPG, An illustration window in Sensoji of how the two fishermen brothers find bosatsu

statuette in

File:Bosatsu Kannon from Simida River 01.JPG, An illustration window in Sensoji of bosatsu

consecrated and worshiped in early Senso-ji and

Asakusa Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , it is one of the most famous Shinto shrines in the city. The shrine honors the three men who founded the Sensō-ji. Asakusa Shrine is part of a larger groupi ...

File:Photo-TokyoAirRaids-1945-3-10-Destroyed Nakamise-4.png, Nakamise-Dori after the American bombings of 1945.

Notes

References

* McClain, James L., John M. Merriman, Kaoru Ugawa and Ugawa Kaoru. (1997)
''Edo and Paris: Urban Life and the State in the Early Modern Era.''
Ithaca:

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in ...

.
OCLC 39088759

External links

*
SensojiTemple.com. English language tourism resource about the buddhist Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senso-ji Asakusa Buddhist temples in Tokyo Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II Buildings and structures in Taitō

History

Temple grounds

Kaminarimon

History

Features

Hozomon

History

Features

Nakamise-dōri

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links