Asakusa temple (Originally posted Jan. 30, 2009)

Went to Asakusa last weekend. It was QUITE cold, but I think we all had a good time anyway. The temple is a Buddhist temple honoring Kannon. The neighborhood has a more old-style feel of Tokyo, not quite like the flashing lights of Shibuya or Shinjuku. It's on the northeastern end of Tokyo, known to some as 'Shitamachi' named for the area's low geography. (Shita=low/under machi=town)






Asakusa is easily distinguished by the huge lantern at the front of the temple.




If you walk under the lantern, you're greeted by a huge shopping area.












Not to sure of the significance of the hands...




Sake offerings.














There are a LOT of cats running around Asakusa--and Tokyo in general.



If you pay 100yen (about $1) you can shake a wooden box and pull out a stick with a number on it. Those drawers have fortunes for the corrisponding numbers. Fortunes are ranked by best, good, half, and... not so good. And then really bad haha.




And out of everyone, who do you think got the Best Fortune?




Hmmmm.... I wonder who...






If you get a bad fortune, you can tie it up and leave it behind.


There were also lots of food stalls. We all bought something for about $5 and then shared--there was some AMAZING Korean BBQ, de3licious takoyaki (octopus dumplings) and red bean-paste odango (little dumplings with bean jam on them SO GOOD). Hopefully we'll be able to go back when it's warm.