Senso-ji- Japanese LocationLocation · Landmark"Tokyo's Oldest Temple"
Also known as: 浅草寺, Kinsō-zan Sensō-ji, and Sensō-ji
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Description
Two fishermen netted a golden statue from the Sumida River in 628 CE and threw it back, but the figure returned to their nets again and again. The temple built to enshrine it became the oldest in what is now Tokyo, and the Kannon image has never been shown to the public.
Mythology & Lore
The Statue in the River
In 628 CE, two fisherman brothers, Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, cast their nets into the Sumida River and pulled up a small golden statue. Not recognizing what they had found, they returned the figure to the water. It appeared in their nets again. They cast it back. It returned. No matter where they threw their nets, the statue found its way back to them.
The village headman, Hajino Nakatomo, identified the figure as an image of Shō Kannon and consecrated his own home as a hall to enshrine it. The temple was formally established in 645 CE. The statue became a hibutsu, a hidden buddha, sealed away and never displayed to the public. The Kannon that insisted on being found has never been seen since.
The Three Founders
The adjacent Asakusa Shrine venerates the two fisherman brothers and the village headman as the sanja, the three founders whose discovery brought the temple into being. The Sanja Matsuri held each May in their honor fills the streets of Asakusa with portable shrines carried through crowds of shouting and drumming, honoring the men who pulled a god from the river.
The temple's main gate, the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), was originally erected in 942 CE. Statues of the wind god Fūjin and the thunder god Raijin flank the entrance, and a great red paper lantern hangs between them.
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