//
Held on the last Saturday of August. The street parade, which features thousands of participants from all over Japan, is held in the afternoon around Sensō-ji, and there are some stage shows in the evening. The event started in 1981, it's the biggest party of the year for the many Japanese-Brazilian residents of Tokyo.
雷門, Thunder Gate
Up first, it features a much-photographed giant lantern and statues of guardian gods Raijin (god of thunder) and Fūjin (god of wind). First built in 942, the gate has been destroyed numerous times and the current incarnation dates to 1960. The Nakamise shopping arcade leading up to the temple starts after the gate (see Buy).
宝蔵門
At the end of the arcade, it is the main gate, notable for a giant straw sandal (waraji) hung up on one side. This gate too is guarded by ferocious guardian gods. Rebuilt 1964.
観音堂, Kannon Hall
Behind the gate, the main hall of the temple is perennially busy with a steady stream of worshippers wafting incense over themselves and trooping up the steps to pray and donate. According to legend, the hall was first built in 628 to house a statue of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, fished out of the Sumida River by two brothers. Rebuilt 1951–58.
五重塔, 5-Story Pagoda
It reputedly contains some of the ashes of the Buddha. Rebuilt 1973.
浅草神社
To the east behind the temple is this Shinto shrine devoted to protecting the Buddhist temple in a typically Japanese arrangement. The fairly plain shrine is not much to look at, but is notable as the focal point of the Sanja Matsuri festival (see Do).
鎮護堂
If you turn left before the Hōzōmon gate and head west for a few hundred meters, this quiet shrine is on your left. The shrine is dedicated to the Japanese raccoon god tanuki, notably primarily for its big flask of sake and gigantic testicles (at least when depicted as a statue).