Home › Travel Guides › Asia Travel Guide › Japan › Tokyo › Sensoji

Sensoji

This is Tokyo’s most revered Buddhist temple, and pilgrims have flocked here for over 1,000 years – though its size, noise and commerce may surprise you. A military commander commissioned Sensoji’s entrance gate – and boy does it show! Giant lanterns watch over smoking incense, swirling crowds and teeming shops. Originally founded in AD628 to enshrine a statuette of the Kannon Bodhisattva (the Goddess of Mercy), damage from bombing raids mean that today you’ll find a lavish, five-storey reconstruction. Smoke from the huge incense burner in front of the temple is said to have healing powers.

Address: 
2-3-1 Asakusa,
Taito-ku,
Tokyo,
Japan
Telephone: 
(03) 3842 5566.
Website: 
www.senso-ji.jp/about/index_e.html
Opening times: 

Daily 24 hours (grounds), 0600-1700 (shrine).

Admission fees: 

No

Disabled access: 
Yes
Unesco: 
No

Recommended Sites:

Protect yourself from malaria
Before you travel, find out if your holiday destination is in a malaria zone.
(An educational initiative organised and funded by GlaxoSmithKline Travel Health. UK/MARK/0173/10 September 2010)
Travel insurance
For residents of over 150 countries. High levels of medical, evacuation, emergency & most adventure activities covered.