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Hozuki (Ground Cherry) Market - Tokyo Hotels .com

Ground cherries at the Hozuki Market

Every year, throngs of people gather at the Ueno-Asakusa-Ryogoku Sensoji Temple for the Hozuki Market. The market celebrates the blossoming of the hozuki, or ground cherry -- a beautiful summer plant that is held sacred by Japanese temple-goers. To temple parishioners, this is no ordinary marketplace, however. It coincides with the Day of 46,000 Blessings. Tradition holds that if you attend the fair and pray at the temple, you will be granted as many blessings as you would if you were to pray for 46,000 consecutive days.

Thousands attend the market to get their hands on a pot of ground cherries and receive these special blessings. Market merchants also sell a multitude of other goods in addition to ground cherries, as over 200 different street booths are set up each year.