On Monday (after realising that all the museums are closed on Mondays) we headed out on the subway again to Asakusa to visit the Asakusa Kannon temple there, also known as the Sensouji Temple. First of all we went through the Kaminarimon Gate, painted vermilion and housing a recently renovated huge red lantern. On the left of the gate is a statue of the God of Wind and on the right stands the God of Thunder. But bright blue skies for us today.
We went through the gate into the Nakamise shopping street, a row of shops that date back to the early 18th century. We bought some cool souvenirs here; a duo of Daruma dolls, a Kokeshi doll, (ours is the one on the right), postcards and some other little cute knick-knacks. And Liam bought some (rubber) shuriken, or ninja throwing stars. He also had his eye on a ninja outfit.
We went on towards the temple itself, where we chose some fortunes for ourselves. It involves shaking a long stick out of a metal box, then choosing the corresponding fortune out of the wooden cabinet. Mine and Liam's were good (wishes will come true, good time for travel, the one you are waiting for will come), Cliff's was not (wishes will not come true, not a good time to travel, the one you are waiting for will not come). He says he's going back again tomorrow.
In front of the temple there's an incense cauldron; the smoke is said to bring good health (err, have they read the reports on the effects of smoking?) and visitors rub it into their bodies through their clothes.
In the late afternoon, Cliff headed back to the hotel for a nap and Liam and I went to the Sony building to play with their toys (3D tv and an amazing camera that I have my eye on). We took dinner back to the hotel and made plans for our final day in this amazing city.
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