Asakusa

My students have been hounding me to go to Tokyo's premiere temple in Asakusa. It is one of the main tourist destinations in the city and I put it off for too long. I headed out by myself (not so much fun after finding a good travel partner) and was surprised at how close it was to my apartment.

Once getting there I noticed everything seemed a bit dirty and old. I think this area remained pretty untouched during the Allied bombings of WWII. I nearly split my forehead open a few times on the incredibly low exit signs placed throughout the station.


Once getting to the surface I was surrounded by throngs of people of every size and color. At the front of the Temple area there is a big gate with a big red lantern. Just behind that there is a narrow passage lined with souvenir shops selling little cell phone charms of naked babies dressed as strange things (I have one dressed as a cucumber) to overpriced kimono to overpriced plastic Anpanman (Bean-filled Breadman) masks.


Getting to the temple (at least 100 meters through souvenir alley) proved a bit challenging due to all the people walking in all directions. Once I did arrive, it seemed like the shopping was the only thing worth seeing.



I tried a different route out and ended up on some nearly deserted streets (in Tokyo, nearly deserted means that you aren't having to keep your head on a swivel looking out for bikes and scarf clad school kids) to wander around. I came across an old amusement park that didn't look too exciting. It cost 900 yen to just get in, then more for each ride. I decided it was better to head in the direction of the huge cloud of smoke.



When I reached a very large nondescript gray building I was able to see the source of the smoke. Thousands of old disheveled men (and a few even worse looking old women) were reading small looking newspapers quite intensely. After milling about inside I was able to figure out that this was a horse betting hall. This was probably the most depressing place I have seen since I have been here. I was by far the youngest adult there, and probably had more teeth then the entire hall put together.

I did see one boy sitting outside, probably waiting for grandpa. I thought this was sad, but later that night a friend told me about how her father always took her to the track when she was a kid. She said most times she would sit there and do her homework, but sometimes her dad would teach her about playing the odds. Dad, why didn't you ever take me to the track?


I wandered around a bit more and found a lot of wig and sock shops. Japan must love socks and wigs.