Asakusa is established in the minds of Tokyoites and visitors alike as the place to experience traditional Tokyo. The main reason is probably Senso-ji, the oldest temple in Tokyo. But Asakusa abounds in traditional crafts and entertainment. Read on to find out more.
Asakusa is established in the minds of Tokyoites and visitors alike as the place to experience traditional Tokyo. The main reason is Senso-ji, the oldest temple in Tokyo. But Asakusa abounds in conventional crafts and entertainment. Read on to find out more.
The red-light district of Yoshiwara continued to exist until prostitution was officially banned in 1958, but the district was severely damaged by fire in 1913, by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and, of course, by the Allied bombing of Tokyo during WWII. Today, nothing remains save some information boards and the occasional monument.
Contrary to what you may read in manga or see in anime, life in Yoshiwara was harsh, and the women, living like slaves, often died early.
Those who survived might have gotten the chance to become Oiran (high-ranking courtesans) or be bought out by a smitten customer, but life in a brothel in Edo would have appeared glamorous only if you were a visiting (male) customer. The life of women was as highly regulated as that of men, although they were at the bottom of the pyramid.
In Asakusa proper, however, entertainment was more wholesome. There were kabuki theatres, sumo wrestling on stages in front of the Senso-ji temple, and geisha houses (geisha were strictly prohibited from engaging in prostitution).
Everything perished during the Allied bombings, and nothing was left but ash and smoking rubble. Like most of the rest of Tokyo, Asakusa was destroyed. Nothing was left standing, including the Senso-ji. What you see today is a reconstruction, although the sacred treasure around which the temple was built was removed during the war and is now back in its proper place inside the temple treasury.
After the war, Asakusa did not forget its entertainment roots, but people had other things on their minds. Like how to eke out a day-to-day living in a burned-out heap of ruins. Slowly, however, life returned — but not with geishas, kabuki, and oiran.
Asakusa returned to its working-class roots and became known as the home of ”shitamachi”, the Tokyo neighborhood spirit, where everyone pitched in to help each other, and the children were always safe because everyone looked out for everyone else.
It may have been more a dream of ”showa” spirit than reality, but the ideal was so strong that it captured an entire generation. And Asakusa was its epicenter.
As the city grew, and housing became more and more of a pressing issue, the working class and no longer so poor, low-ranking salarymen, moved on to new suburbs in the east and north. Asakusa returned to its roots once more. You can still find stores selling exquisite traditional crafts dotting the streets, although nowadays they are drowning in tourist cafes selling green tea ice cream and other concoctions designed to capture the wealth of the visitors.
Whatever you do, do not go shopping in the Nakamise. The road from the Kaminarimon, the gate with the huge red paper lantern, all the way up to the Senso-ji proper is dotted with small shops selling senbei (Japanese rice crackers) and more than the usual low-quality tourist junk.
Nakamise is nothing specific to Senso-ji (there is a very nice one leading up to the temple in Narita City), but it is the biggest and most prominent one in Tokyo. And, by virtue of being located at one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of Tokyo, one of the few places where the merchandise is likely to break the minute you start using it, if not before.
Japanese goods are famous for their high quality, which is a necessity in a country where loyalty to the shops you regularly use stretches for generations. When your customers keep coming back time after time, shoddy merchandise and bad taste will not do. This is why Japanese restaurants where the chef has aged with the regular customers are both tastier and cheaper than modern formula restaurants, cut from the same mold, serving the same gyudon as the other chain store down the street. You may even have trouble telling which one you are in.
Luckily, Asakusa still has its share of old-style eateries (or maybe drinkeries), but as customers age, so does the chef, and it may not be long before they disappear completely.
The Senso-ji may be the most visible of the sights in Asakusa, but there is another street not too far away that you need to visit if you are into Japanese cuisine. Or just want some truly unique souvenirs.
In ancient Edo, every profession had their own streets and districts. A few are still visible today. The fishmongers were in Nihonbashi (now moved to Toyosu). The booksellers were clustered in Kanda. And next to Asakusa were the cooks, chefs, and bakers would go to pick up novel utensils and new tools.
Imagine an entire street lined with stores selling nothing but cooking utensils. When pots, pans, and knives were still something to be cherished and not a last-minute throw in the shopping cart at IKEA, the Kappabashi Dougai was the place to go. Here, the chefs of Tokyo would find the goods they needed to make palates sing.
It is a short walk from Asakusa proper, but it is worth a visit. Not because of the pots, pans, and knives — you can get those in Aeon — but because this is, hands down, the best place to find fake food in Tokyo.
Huh? Fake food? You mean, the stuff they have outside the restaurants, to show what the dishes look like? That looks more real than the real food?
Yes, exactly. Kappabashi Dougai has reinvented itself as the home of food models, which sit outside almost every restaurant in Tokyo. Or at least used to before they started using tablets for ordering. You can pick up life-like plastic sushi, shrimp tempura, ramen, and any other dish you can think of.
And not only that. You can make your own. There are classes for tourists, so if you want your very own tempura soba at home, here is your chance.
Stay tuned for more exciting content like this! Follow us on our social media platforms and check out our blog regularly to stay updated on the latest news, trends, and insider stories from Japan. Don’t miss out on future updates—sign up for our newsletter for exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox!
