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Asakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asakusa as an entertainment district during the Edo period came about in part because of the neighboring district, Kuramae. Kuramae was a district of storehouses for rice, which was then used as payment for servants of the feudal government. The keepers () of these storage houses initially stored the rice for a small fee, but over the years began exchanging the rice for money or selling it to local shopkeepers at a margin. Through such trading, many came to have a considerable amount of disposable income and as result theaters and geisha houses began to spring up in nearby Asakusa. For most of the 20th century, Asakusa remained a major entertainment district in Tokyo. The or "Sixth District" was in particular famous as a theater district, f ...
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Sanja Matsuri
, or Sanja Festival, is one of the three largest Shinto festivals in Tokyo. It is considered one of the wildest and largest in Japan. The festival is held in honor of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari, and Hajino Nakatomo, the three men who established and founded the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple. Sanja Matsuri is held on the third weekend of every May at Asakusa Shrine. Its prominent parades revolve around three ''mikoshi'' (the portable shrines referenced in the festival's name), as well as traditional music and dancing. Over the course of three days, the festival attracts 1.5–2 million locals and tourists every year. History Like many Japanese festivals, Sanja Matsuri is a religious celebration, but it is an unusual survival of a cross-faith festival: it is a weekend-long Shinto festival that is dedicated to the ''kami'' (spirits) of three men who founded a Buddhist temple. It is believed that two fishermen—brothers named Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari—fou ...
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Taitō
is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. In English, it is known as Taitō City. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 186,276, and a population density of 18,420 persons per km2. The total area is . This makes Taito ward the smallest of Tokyo's wards in area, and third-smallest in population. History The ward was founded on March 15, 1947, with the merger of the old Asakusa and Shitaya wards when Tokyo City was transformed into Tokyo Metropolis. During the Edo period, the Yoshiwara licensed quarter was in what is now Taitō. Taitō shares the same Chinese characters, "台東" with Taitung, a city in Taiwan. Geography Situated in the northeastern portion of the wards area of Tokyo, Taitō is surrounded by five other special wards: Chiyoda, Bunkyō, Arakawa, Sumida and Chūō. Districts and neighborhoods ;Asakusa area * Asakusa * Asakusabashi * Hanakawado * Hashiba * Higashi-Asakusa (East Asakusa) * Imado * Kaminarimon * Kiyokawa ...
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Hanayashiki
is an amusement park in Asakusa, Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, that has operated since 1853. It is operated by Hanayashiki Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. It is claimed to be the oldest amusement park in Japan. One of the unofficial mascots of the park is the Panda Car (). History Origins Asakusa Hanayashiki opened in 1853, at the end of the Edo period (1603–1867), and is considered the oldest amusement park in Japan, though the park at that time did not meet the modern definition of an amusement park. In the first two decades after the park opened, it was a botanical garden created by garden designer Morita Rokusaburo, featuring peonies and chrysanthemums. The place was called ''Hanayashiki'' (), which means ''Flowery Mansion''. Around 1872 (the beginning of the Meiji period), amusement facilities were established inside the park exhibiting animals and various oddities. From the Taishō era to the early Shōwa era, it was known as one of the leading zoos in Jap ...
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Sensō-ji
, is an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest-established temple, and one of its most significant. It is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Structures in the temple complex include the main hall, a five-story pagoda and large gates. It is the most widely visited religious site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually. The temple was destroyed during a 10 March 1945 firebombing air raid on Tokyo during World War II. The main hall was rebuilt in the 1950s. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, the temple became independent after the war. Leading to it is Nakamise-dōri street, containing many shops with traditional goods. Adjacent to the east of Sensō-ji is the Asakusa Shrine of the Shinto religion. History The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara). According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 AD by two fishermen, brothers Hinokuma Hamanar ...
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The Scarlet Gang Of Asakusa
is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. It was originally serialized in a newspaper before eventually being compiled into a novel in 1930. Plot In the 1920s, Asakusa was to Tokyo what Montmartre had been to 1890s Paris, Alexanderplatz was to 1920s Berlin and Times Square was to be to 1940s New York. ''The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa'' describes the decadent allure of this entertainment district, where beggars and teenage prostitutes mixed with revue dancers and famous authors. Originally serialized in a Tokyo daily newspaper '' Tokyo Asahi'' between 20 December 1929 and February 16, 1930, this vibrant novel uses unorthodox, kinetic literary techniques to reflect the raw energy of Asakusa, seen through the eyes of a wandering narrator and the cast of mostly female juvenile delinquents who show him their way of life. Markedly different from Kawabata's later work, ''The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa'' was greatly influenced by Western modernism. Publication history The origin ...
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Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The official name is . It is long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, and Taitō, Tokyo, Taitō. It is the oldest subway line in Asia, having opened in 1927. The line was named after the Ginza commercial district in Chūō, Tokyo, under which it passes. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color orange, and its stations are given numbers using the letter "G". Operations Almost all Ginza Line trains operate on the line's full length from Asakusa to Shibuya. However, two trains depart in the early morning from Toranomon, and some late-night trains from Shibuya are taken out of service at Ueno. Along with the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Marunouchi Line, it is self-enclosed and does not have any through train, through services with other railway lines. On weekdays, trains run every 2 minutes 15 seconds in the morning and ev ...
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Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring Prefectures of Japan, prefectures, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents . Lying at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region, on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. It is Japan's economic center and the seat of the Government of Japan, Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers Tokyo's central Special wards of Tokyo, 23 special wards, which formerly made up Tokyo City; various commuter towns and suburbs in Western Tokyo, its western area; and two outlying island chains, the Tokyo Islands. Although most of the w ...
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Yasunari Kawabata
was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read. Early life Born into a well-established family in Osaka, Japan, Kawabata was orphaned by the time he was four, after which he lived with his grandparents. He had an older sister who was taken in by an aunt, and whom he met only once thereafter, in July 1909, when he was ten. She died when Kawabata was 11. Kawabata's grandmother died in September 1906, when he was seven, and his grandfather in May 1914, when he was fifteen. Having lost all close paternal relatives, Kawabata moved in with his mother's family, the Kurodas. However, in January 1916, he moved into a boarding house near the junior high school (comparable to a modern high school) to which he had formerly commuted by train. After graduating in March 1917, ...
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Kaminarimon From Above - 2020 9 11 Various 23 56 11 827000
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 m wide and covers an area of 69.3 m2. 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 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 had the gate rebuilt along with several other of the major structures in the temple complex. The gate burned to the ground in 1757 AD and ...
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Bombing Of Tokyo (10 March 1945)
On the night of 9/10 March 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) conducted a devastating firebombing raid on Tokyo, the Japanese capital city. This attack was code-named Operation Meetinghouse by the USAAF and is known as the in Japan. Bombs, dropped from 279 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers, burned out much of eastern Tokyo. More than 90,000 and possibly over 100,000 Japanese people were killed, mostly civilians, and one million were left homeless, making it probably the most destructive single Air warfare of World War II, air attack in human history, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese air and civil defenses proved largely inadequate; 14 American aircraft and 96 airmen were lost. The attack on Tokyo was an intensification of the air raids on Japan which had begun in June 1944. Prior to this operation, the USAAF had focused on a precision bombing campaign against Japanese industrial facilities. These attacks were generally unsu ...
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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, Arakawa, Sumida, Taitō, Kōtō and Chūō wards of Tokyo. What is now known as the "Sumida River" was previously the path of the Ara-kawa. Toward the end of the Meiji era, the Ara-kawa was manually diverted to prevent flooding, as the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda is nearby. Art Sumida Gawa pottery was named after the Sumida River and was originally manufactured in the Asakusa district near Tokyo by potter Inoue Ryosai I and his son Inoue Ryosai II. In the late 1890s, Ryosai I developed a style of applied figures on a surface with flowing glaze, based on Chinese glazes called "flambe." Sumida pieces could be teapots, ash trays, or vases, and were made for export to the West. Inoue Ryosai III, grandson of Ryosai I, moved the manufacturi ...
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Tokyo City
was a Cities of Japan, municipality in Japan and capital of Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943), Tokyo Prefecture (or ''Tokyo-fu'') which existed from 1 May 1889 until the establishment of Tokyo Metropolis on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the Special wards of Tokyo, special wards of Tokyo. The defunct city and its prefecture became what is now Tokyo, also known as the Tokyo Metropolis or, ambiguously, Tokyo Prefecture. History In 1868, the city of Edo, seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of Tokyo Prefecture (''-fu'') were opened. The extent of Tokyo Prefecture was initially limited to the former Edo city, but rapidly augmented to be comparable with the present Tokyo Metropolis. In 1878, the Meiji government's reorganization of local governments subdivided prefectures into Counties of Japan, counties or districts (''gun'', further subdivided into Towns of Japan, towns and Villages of J ...
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