Sensou-ji Shrine (金龍山浅草寺) & Asakusa Shrine (浅草寺)

Sensou-ji Shrine & Asakusa Shrine

The Sensou-ji (浅草寺, “shallow grass temple”) and Asakusa Shrines (also the 三神様, pronounced Sanjin-sama, “Shrine of the Three Gods”) are coincidentally located in the Asakusa (浅草, “shallow grass”) neighborhood of Tokyo. I went with some of my colleagues from the Business School.

The Sensou-ji is Tokyo's oldest and most significant Buddhist temple, dedicated to the Bodhisattva Kannon (the Goddess of Mercy). The legend is that two fishermen brothers found a statue of Kannon in the Sumida River in 628 AD, an article that the village chief instantly deemed sanctified and for which he began remodeling his home to properly house. Historical records indicate that the remodeling began in 645 AD, making it the oldest temple in Tokyo. Off the record, a 17-year gap between the discovery and the remodeling does not strike me as “instantly remodeling” but please consider that people lived life slower in those days.

Unfortunately, the original was bombed during World War II, so the temple today is mostly a replica. Since the History Channel has moved away from their usual 24-7 coverage of WWII to focus on more important historical gems like “Ice Road Truckers” marathons and “UFO Hunters,” I was completely unaware of this fact.

The Asakusa Shrine is a Shinto shrine adjacent to it that commemorates the efforts of the two brothers and the village chief. Evidently, there is no conflict having Shinto and Buddhist shrines on the same grounds.

Additionally, the temple grounds have become a popular site for carrying out important Buddhist and Shinto traditions, including the Sanja Matsuri festival in May, which commemorates the three previously mentioned persons in May for about 4 days, and selling useless souvenirs to tourists which lasts for about 361 days, commemorating the opportunity to sell people things they normally wouldn't buy and at a premium price.