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Sensoji Temple - Tokyo Hotels .com

Sensoji Temple at night

The Sensoji Temple, a Buddhist temple completed in 645 A.D., is one of Tokyo's oldest and most significant temples. The temple and its adjacent Shinto shrine attract thousands of visitors from around the world each year.

In the Spring, Sensoji is one of the sites of Tokyo's largest and most popular Shinto festival, called Asakusa Sanja Matsuri, a celebration that lasts up to four days. The kaminari-mon, or "Thunder Gate," with its enormous paper lantern dominates the temple's entrance. Once inside the gate, visitors encounter the imposing five-story pagoda and the main hall.

The temple was built around a legend of two brothers who, in 628 A.D., fished a statue of Kannon, the Buddhist representation of mercy, out of the Sumida River. Although they put it back in the water, it always returned to them. The Sensoji Temple is dedicated to Kannon and located in the Asakusa (Ueno-Asakusa-Ryogoku) neighborhood.