Nikko was a wonderful place to visit. As it poured down and we left the town, we weren’t entirely sure what was ahead of us. We hoped less rain than the torrential downpour we were driving through. However, one never knew what was coming next. Either way, to get “home” meant driving toward and through Tokyo so that was the direction we headed.
After a while, the rain subsided and eventually, as we neared Tokyo the skies were partly cloudy and the sun was peeking through. My sister came up with the idea that it’d be a good idea to make a detour into Tokyo and stop by the Sensoji Temple. The oldest temple complex in Tokyo, the Senso-ji is right in the middle of the city.
We finally reached the city and discovered we were near the Tokyo Skytree. This massive tower could be seen from miles around and really is impressive to look at. A short time later, we parked outside one of the gates to the temple complex. The day was lovely and one of my nephews opted to explore while my niece napped.
We hopped out of the car and made our way into the massive temple complex. It wasn’t lost on me that we were walking from a street where we were surrounded by modern new buildings into a complex where some of the buildings dated back nearly 1400 years!
Less than a block from the parking lot we came across a gate. It turns out this is the Niten-mon Gate. This was originally built in 1618 to protect the Tosho-gu Shrine in the precinct of Senso-ji.
We wandered through the gate and were immediately struck with how popular of a location this was. Where other places on the visit had been quiet and calm, this was bustling. People were swarming around, taking pictures, and some were enjoying eating lunch it looked like.
After walking through the side gate, we found ourselves walking toward another gate via a lovely little garden on our left. It is called the Hozo-mon Gate (commonly called Nio-mon Gate). People were taking pictures of this and crowded underneath it. Behind us was a shopping area but we’ll return to that later! To the left was the Five-storied pagoda.
Ahead of us, we could see the Main Temple. Around us, there were quite a few other old buildings. They were all distinct and unique and I had no clue what most of them were. Some looked like temples, others looked like shops that sold things for the temples. This was the moment I wish I had my sister along to explain what I was looking at!
My nephew and I made our way up to the Main Temple. Here, lots of people were swarming for photos of the building and also of the view from the building. Many people were removing their shoes and heading inside. We opted not to do this and instead continued to explore the grounds.
We made our way down the left side of the Main Temple and found more buildings that were surrounded by gardens. They were quite lovely. There were also some lovely views of the Main Temple from the area to the side as well.
One of the buildings we found was the Yogodo Hall. This is where eight Buddhas are enshrined, each protecting one or two animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Continuing the adventure, we found a Koi Pond and more beautiful plants. We also discovered the Awashimado Hall. For a time after World War II, this had been used as the Main Hall before being moved to its current location and refurbished in 1994.
We then wandered around the Five-storied Pagoda. This was first built in 942 AD. Since then, it has been destroyed and rebuilt twice. It houses Buddha’s ashes, which were given as a gift from the royal temple of Sri Lanka. There were also some lovely views of the Main Temple from different perspectives as well.
The next stop was to continue the loop around the complex. This found us arriving at the Nakamise Shopping Street. This is one of the oldest shopping streets in all of Japan. Shoppers can find Japanese toys, cakes, and other souvenirs here.
Having made a fairly quick but substantial enough tour of Senso-ji, we decided to head back before the car was too hot for the rest of the family who were waiting/napping there. Along the way, my camera snapped away the lovely views that were made even lovelier by the sun that was beginning to lower on the horizon. We arrived and shared about our explorations of Senso-ji as we headed home for the night.
There would be plenty more adventures to be had as the trip really was less than halfway through! While we were exhausted, we also were quite excited about what was yet to come.
What do you think of Senso-ji? Have you been there? What do you like the most about it? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
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