Senso-ji Temple
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- Formal Name
- Kinryuzan Senso-ji
- Other Name(s)
- Asakusa Kannon
- Current Address
- Taito-ku, Asakusa
- Description
- A temple located in Taito Ward. At present it is the head temple for the Shokannon Sect. It was formerly of the Tendai Sect. It's sango (honorific mountain name prefixed to a temple's name) is Kinyuzan. It is said the temple began when in 628, 2 brothers were fishing downstream in the Sumida-gawa River and discovered a Kannon statue in their net, which they enshrined in a straw thatched shrine. The temple did well after the founding of Edo as the place of worship of the Tokugawa Clan. The site is one of the leading sacred sites dedicated to the Kannon, and was one of the busiest entertainment spots in all of the Kanto region.
The shops lining the passageway from the Kaminari-mon Gate dedicated to Fujin (wind god) and Raijin (thunder god) to the Nio Gate (reconstructed and renamed the Hozo-mon Gate after World War II) began from the shops being assigned the cleaning of the temple grounds in exchange for being allowed to set up the shops within the temple. The temple is also famous for its pigeons.
The year-end market and the minoichi (straw and bamboo hat market) were both very popular year-end events. The year-end market was also called the Hagoita-ichi (paddle market, because of the paddles used in traditional New Year's games) and sold New Year's decorations, foods, kitchen goods and other products and was held from December 17-18. The minoichi was a market where people would come from neighboring areas to sell straw raincoats and bamboo hats and was held on March 19 (18 during years with no festival) and December 19, the day after the year-end market.
