Tokyo Morning
Asakusa is the center of Tokyo`s shitamachi (downtown). It is one of Tokyo`s very few areas which have preserved the atmosphere of old Tokyo. The architecture of Asakusa reflects its rich past and how in spite of the turbulent war period It retained its dignity.
The early mornings remind one of the laid back age where materialistic values were kept locked in the background and everything revolved around family, friends and neighbours. Here, in Asakusa you can see people out on their morning walks wishing Ohaiyou Gozaimasu (Good morning) with a smile to friends, acquaintances, strangers and also foreigners. I was forced to reciprocate the greeting with a smile. The people here also very patiently wait for the doors of the temple to open which is 6:30am (too late by their standards). This was in stark contrast to the normal Japanese salary men brooding and boarding the morning 8:00am trains on their way to office.
As you walk around the Asakusa neighborhoods, you are filled with serenity amidst the beautiful very neatly kept Japanese gardens and the exceptional cleanliness of the Japanese. The stupa fully bathed in the morning sunlight gives you a spiritual feeling and often makes you wonder why this land bore the fury of human destruction.
Asakusa`s main attraction is the Sensoji temple which was built in the 7th. Century. The approach to the temple is through a shopping street known as Nakamise which has a wide variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs.
For many centuries Asakusa used to be Tokyo`s leading entertainment district. During the Edo Period when Asakusa district was still located outside the city limits, Asakusa was the site of Kabuki theaters.
Asakusa is on the banks of the river Sumida. Sumida river sight seeing boats operate at regular intervals from Asakusa Pier. The boats take you along the Sumida river, through Modern Tokyo out into the Tokyo Bay at Odaiba.
While history and the past are the constant companions of Asakusa, what I fell in love with are the people. They possess a warmth and spirit. One of them said, "Not everything is as beautiful as you see. there are problems, but for sure there are also solutions". This I think is the Japanese resilience which made Japan what it is today isn`t it worth if we could learn something from them and make World a better place if not as beautiful as "The Land of the Rising Sun".
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