Asakusa Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations

Correct answerSensoji

Sensoji is said to trace its origins to 628, when a statue of Kannon was caught in the net of two fishermen brothers on the Sumida River, making it Tokyo's oldest temple. The approach from Kaminarimon through Nakamise and Hozomon to the Main Hall is one of the city's premier sightseeing routes, drawing an estimated 30 million worshippers a year.

Source:Sensoji Main Hall

Correct answerKaminarimon

Kaminarimon is Sensoji's outer gate, officially named Furaijinmon. It is instantly recognizable for the giant red lantern painted with the characters for “Thunder Gate” hanging at its center, flanked by statues of the Wind God and Thunder God. The present gate recreates the look of its Edo-period predecessor and remains Asakusa's most photographed symbol.

Source:Sensoji Kaminarimon Gate

Correct answerNakamise

Nakamise is the main approach running from Kaminarimon to Hozomon, said to have begun in the Edo period when nearby residents responsible for keeping the temple grounds clean were granted the right to open stalls there. It is cherished today as one of Japan's most historic shopping streets, lined with shops selling classic Asakusa souvenirs such as kaminari-okoshi rice crackers and ningyoyaki cakes.

Source:Sensoji Nakamise

Correct answerSanja Matsuri

Sanja Matsuri is Asakusa Shrine's grand annual festival, said to trace its roots to a 1312 “boat festival” in which mikoshi were carried by boat across the Sumida River, one of Tokyo's most historic celebrations. Held every May, it fills Asakusa's streets for three days as neighborhood mikoshi, handed down through generations of parishioners, are carried from block to block in the shitamachi's biggest annual outpouring of energy.

Source:About Sanja MatsuriSanja Matsuri (Wikipedia)

Correct answerSumida River

The Sumida River flows along Asakusa's east side, branching off from the Arakawa River and emptying into Tokyo Bay, and it is famous for its annual fireworks festival and water-bus docks. Riverside Sumida Park has been a cherished cherry-blossom spot since the Edo period, and bridges such as Azuma Bridge connect Asakusa to Sumida Ward on the opposite bank.

Source:Cherry Blossoms at Sumida Park

Correct answerAsakusa Hanayashiki

Asakusa Hanayashiki opened in 1853 and is considered the oldest amusement park still operating in Japan. It began as a garden showcasing peonies and chrysanthemums before gradually adding rides and attractions over the decades. Its location just west of Sensoji, tucked into the heart of old shitamachi Tokyo, remains part of its distinctive charm.

Source:Asakusa Hanayashiki FAQ

Correct answerKappabashi Dougu Street

Kappabashi Dougu Street is a strip of specialty shops selling professional-grade cookware and tableware, running along a stretch of road between Asakusa and Ueno. It is said to carry almost everything needed to open or run a restaurant, drawing not only professional chefs but also casual shoppers and overseas visitors.

Source:The History of Kappabashi

Correct answerAsakusa Engei Hall

Asakusa Engei Hall has run its yose variety programs, including rakugo, every single day of the year since it opened, with no exceptions. Daytime and evening programs run back to back without re-entry, and the hall sits in Asakusa Rokku, the neighborhood's long-standing hub for performing arts and entertainment.

Source:Asakusa Engei Hall

Correct answerAsahi Group Headquarters

Atop the Super Dry Hall next to the Asahi Group Headquarters, across the Sumida River, gleams the golden flame sculpture “Flamme d'Or,” designed by French designer Philippe Starck. Seen from the foot of Azuma Bridge, this striking modern silhouette stands in playful contrast with Asakusa's old shitamachi streetscape and has become a favorite photo subject for visitors.

Source:What Is That Golden Building? Unraveling the Mystery of the Asahi Group Headquarters

Correct answerTrue

Asakusa Station is served by the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Toei Asakusa Line, and the Tobu Isesaki Line (Tobu Skytree Line), making it a busy transfer hub in everyday commuting. The Ginza Line in particular is one of Tokyo's oldest and busiest routes, and Asakusa Station has been its historic starting point for nearly a century.

Source:Asakusa Station (Wikipedia)

Correct answerAbout 5 lengths of a 50 m pool (200-299 m)

Nakamise is the approach running from Kaminarimon to Hozomon, lined with about 90 shops on each side, one of Japan's oldest shopping streets. Walking it feels like covering roughly five lengths of a 50-meter pool, a short but surprisingly full stretch for such a famous approach. The street is said to have originated when nearby residents responsible for keeping the temple grounds clean were granted the right to open stalls, and it still sells classic souvenirs like kaminari-okoshi rice crackers and ningyoyaki cakes today.

Source:Sensoji NakamiseNakamise | About Nakamise

Correct answerThe Toei Asakusa Line

The Toei Asakusa Line runs through-service with the Keikyu Line, so boarding an Airport Express (or similar) train at Asakusa gets you to Haneda Airport without changing trains. The same line also connects through to the Keisei Line, giving Asakusa a direct one-seat ride to Narita Airport as well, making the station a genuine gateway between the two international airports.

Source:Asakusa, Weekends/Holidays: Toward Nishi-Magome, Haneda Airport, Keikyu Line

Correct answerAbout 100

On Sanja Matsuri's second day, roughly 100 neighborhood mikoshi handed down by 44 parishioner districts gather at Sensoji, each receiving a blessing before being carried out through the streets. Each neighborhood wears its own distinct happi coat pattern, and spectators often gather to watch the bearers compete with spirited chanting as they carry their mikoshi through the crowds.

Source:Sanja Matsuri: 100 Mikoshi Return to Asakusa for the First Time in Four Years

Correct answerBeat Takeshi

As a young man, Beat Takeshi worked as an elevator boy at Asakusa France-za, watching senior performers up close from the wings and learning the craft. That experience is said to have laid the foundation for his later career as a performer. France-za combined striptease revues with comedy sketches, and it was one of the stages that sustained Asakusa Rokku's broader entertainment culture.

Source:Asakusa France-za Engeijo Toyokan (Wikipedia)

Correct answerNihonbashi Ningyocho

Ningyoyaki is said to have originated in Nihonbashi Ningyocho, a district that flourished with puppet theaters from the Edo period; the confection simply took the neighborhood's name. In the Taisho era, artisans moved to Asakusa and popularized it in the shapes of Kaminarimon and the five-story pagoda, later adding pigeon-shaped versions that became a defining Asakusa souvenir in their own right.

Source:Ningyoyaki (Wikipedia)

Correct answerKamiya Bar

Kamiya Bar opened in 1880 and is considered Japan's first Western-style bar; its signature Denki Bran cocktail is still beloved by regulars and visitors alike. The word "denki" (electric) in its name is said to nod to how novel electric lighting and gadgets felt at the time, a very Meiji-era way of branding something new and modern.

Source:Kamiya Bar (Wikipedia)

Correct answerA statue of Kannon

According to Asakusa Shrine's history, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Takenari were fishing in the Sumida River when a statue of Kannon was caught in their net, an event said to mark the origin of Sensoji. This image became Sensoji's principal object of worship, and the local leader Hajinaka Tomo later enshrined it in his own home and took religious vows, with all three men later honored together as Asakusa Shrine's enshrined deities.

Source:About Asakusa Shrine

Correct answer"Never keep money past nightfall" (yoigoshi no zeni wa motanai)

"Never keep money past nightfall" captures the Edo-kko pride in spending, the same day, whatever was earned that day rather than hoarding it, and it's often invoked to describe the spirit of shitamachi Asakusa. The phrase reflects a value system common among the craftsmen and merchants who filled the old downtown streets, one that prized generosity and flair over careful thrift.

Source:What Does "An Edo-kko Never Keeps Money Past Nightfall" Mean?

Correct answerThe Ginza Line

In 1927 (Showa 2), the first proper subway line in Asia opened between Asakusa and Ueno. That line is today's Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, and Asakusa Station has been its historic starting point ever since. The original stretch covered only about 2.2 kilometers, and the line was gradually extended over the following decades into the route running all the way to Shibuya that riders use today.

Source:Asakusa Station

Correct answerTheater and film

From the late Meiji era through the Showa era, Asakusa Rokku filled up with movie theaters and playhouses, becoming a launchpad for Japan's mass entertainment. Countless film stars and comedians got their start in this neighborhood, and even after the war it remained a lively entertainment quarter lined with strip theaters and variety halls, continuing to define one face of Asakusa.

Source:Asakusa Rokku Entertainment

Correct answerHimiko

Himiko is a water bus designed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, distinguished by its futuristic, teardrop-shaped hull. It entered service in 2004 and links Asakusa with the Odaiba waterfront. Matsumoto went on to design another water bus for the same fleet, and together they have become one of the signature sights of a Sumida River cruise.

Source:Sumida River Water Bus: Cruise Aboard the Leiji Matsumoto-Designed Himiko

Correct answerSmallest of the 23 wards

At 10.11 km2, Taito City is the smallest of the 23 wards, yet with Ueno and Asakusa as its two major sightseeing areas, it looms large in daytime population and visitor numbers. Despite its compact size, the ward packs in temples, shrines, museums, and shopping streets so densely that it stands out as one of Tokyo's most walkable sightseeing districts.

Source:Taito City (Wikipedia)

Correct answerAsakusa Culture Tourist Information Center

The Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, designed by Kengo Kuma, reopened in 2012; its free 8th-floor observation terrace looks out over Kaminarimon toward Tokyo Skytree. The building's exterior, resembling a stack of small wooden houses, also houses tourist information and multilingual service counters, making it a natural first stop for visitors arriving in Asakusa.

Source:Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center (Wikipedia)

Correct answerAsakusa Yokocho

Asakusa Yokocho opened in July 2022 under the concept "A Palace of Food and Festivals," complete with street performers, letting visitors enjoy a meal amid the festive atmosphere of a Japanese hare (celebratory) day. Housed inside a modern commercial building in Asakusa Rokku, its interior recreates the stall-lined look of a traditional festival night market.

Source:"Asakusa Yokocho, A Palace of Food and Festivals," Opens on the 4th Floor of the Tokyo Rakutenchi Asakusa Building on Friday, July 1

Correct answerKamiya Bar is a Meiji-era establishment famous for its "Denki Bran" cocktail / Hoppy Dori is a street lined with standing bars and oden stalls where you can drink casually from midday / Asakusa Menchi is a menchi-katsu specialty shop on Denboin-dori known for its lines

Kamiya Bar, Hoppy Dori, and Asakusa Menchi are all fixtures of Asakusa's shitamachi food-and-drink scene today. Denki Bran is actually a strong brandy-based cocktail, not a non-alcoholic drink. All three have long been cherished by locals as much as visitors, reflecting just how deep and varied Asakusa's everyday food culture really runs.

Source:Kamiya Bar (Wikipedia)Drinking Your Way Down Asakusa's Hoppy Dori: A Shitamachi Stew ParadiseAsakusa Menchi

Correct answerAbout 800 m

Kappabashi Dougu Street stretches about 800 meters north to south, packed with specialty shops selling everything from cookware to plastic food samples. Professional chefs and everyday shoppers alike come here to stock up, making it one of Japan's leading kitchenware districts. It is said to have begun in the Taisho era when secondhand dealers gathered here, growing over nearly a century into the food-service hub it is today.

Source:The History of Kappabashi Dougu Street

Correct answerMid-Edo period

Asakusa Hanamachi took shape in the mid-Edo period, in the temple town in front of Sensoji. It initially consisted of three separate geisha groups, the Hirokoji geisha, the Hori geisha, and the Sarukawacho geisha, who later merged into a single district counted among Tokyo's Six Hanamachi. It carries forward the geisha traditions of Sarukawacho, once a thriving theater district, keeping alive a stylish strand of old Asakusa culture.

Source:Asakusa (Hanamachi) (Wikipedia)

Correct answerParish neighborhood associations carry them

Sanja Matsuri's mikoshi are carried in rotation by parish groups (mutsumi) from each of Asakusa's neighborhoods, never by tourists or monks. Each neighborhood's happi coat has its own distinctive pattern, and the rival spirit among the bearers is one of the festival's highlights. These parish groups pass their role down across generations, and being chosen to carry a mikoshi has long been a point of pride in shitamachi Asakusa.

Source:About Sanja Matsuri

Correct answerThe elevator to stardom

Beat Takeshi has said that late at night, riding the elevator, he watched senior performers up close and learned from them. In tribute to that story, France-za's elevator came to be known as “the elevator to stardom.” Many other comedians trained at the same theater, part of the reason Asakusa is still spoken of as a training ground where performers earned their stripes.

Source:Stories of Performers Past and Present: Beat TakeshiAsakusa France-za Engeijo Toyokan (Wikipedia)

Correct answerMeisho-yaki

In the Taisho era, artisans who had moved from Nihonbashi Ningyocho to Asakusa began selling ningyoyaki shaped like Kaminarimon, the five-story pagoda, and pigeons, confections originally sold under the name “meisho-yaki,” or “famous-sights cakes.” The treat later became firmly associated with Asakusa's landmarks, and the name “ningyoyaki” we use today gradually took hold instead.

Source:Where Does the Name Ningyoyaki Come From? From Its Origins to Long-Established ShopsNingyoyaki (Wikipedia)

Correct answerHotaluna

Hotaluna's name blends “hotaru” (firefly), evoking fireflies dancing over the Sumida River on a moonlit night, with “luna,” the moon goddess. Like Himiko, it was designed by Leiji Matsumoto. Its gleaming silver, futuristic hull follows a different design language from its sister vessel, so despite the shared designer, the two boats leave quite different visual impressions.

Source:HotalunaSumida River Water Bus: Cruise Aboard the Leiji Matsumoto-Designed Himiko

Correct answerThe tail end of the high-growth era (1970s)

Asakusa Public Hall opened near the tail end of Japan's high-growth era. Taito City built it as a new home for the performing arts to take over from the fading theater district of Rokku. It hosts everything from rakugo and theater to concerts, and together with Star Plaza out front, it has become a symbol of Asakusa's performing-arts culture.

Source:Asakusa Public Hall

Correct answer1973

Sensoji's five-story pagoda burned down in the Tokyo air raids and was rebuilt in 1973, well after the Main Hall and Hozomon, showing just how long postwar reconstruction stretched on. Though its present frame is steel-reinforced concrete, the pagoda still carries forward the traditional five-tiered silhouette and towers noticeably above every other building on the temple grounds.

Source:Sensoji Five-Story Pagoda

Correct answer1964

Hozomon burned down in the Tokyo air raids and was rebuilt in 1964 through a donation from businessman Otani Yonetaro and his wife, coincidentally the very same year Asakusa Engei Hall opened. Highlights such as the Nio statues and the giant straw sandals were also newly installed as part of this postwar reconstruction.

Source:Sensoji Hozomon Gate

Correct answerAbout 170

About 170 specialty shops line Kappabashi Dougu Street, offering everything a restaurant owner could need, from tableware and kitchen equipment to plastic food samples. In recent years the street has also drawn growing numbers of overseas visitors, curious to glimpse the craftsmanship that quietly supports Japan's food culture behind the scenes.

Source:The History of Kappabashi Dougu Street

Correct answerShinbashi / Akasaka / Yoshicho / Kagurazaka / Asakusa / Mukojima

Tokyo's Six Hanamachi are Shinbashi, Akasaka, Yoshicho, Kagurazaka, Asakusa, and Mukojima. Yanagibashi once belonged to the list too, but after its geisha district faded, Mukojima took its place to form today's lineup. Gion and Pontocho are geisha districts in Kyoto, not Tokyo. Among the six, Asakusa Hanamachi stands out for its distinctive origin as a geisha district that grew up in a temple town rather than around a theater or port.

Source:Hanamachi of Tokyo (Wikipedia)Asakusa (Hanamachi) (Wikipedia)

Correct answerBinzasara Dance

Binzasara Dance, a form of dengaku, is a prayer for a bountiful harvest dedicated at Asakusa Shrine's main hall ahead of Sanja Matsuri. The parishioners' time-honored movements are one of its highlights. Dengaku originated as a ritual performed before rice planting to pray for a good harvest, and its survival within Sanja Matsuri preserves a trace of that much older agricultural custom.

Source:Binzasara Dance

Correct answerPaving stones are dedicated along the approach → The shops are rebuilt as brick structures → The Great Kanto Earthquake destroys it → It is reborn as a vermilion-painted shopping street → Utility poles are removed and wires are buried underground

Nakamise itself dates back further, but among these listed milestones, the dedication of paving stones along the approach comes first, followed by its rebuilding as Western-style brick buildings in the Meiji era, then its destruction in the Great Kanto Earthquake. After the earthquake it was rebuilt into the vermilion-painted street seen today, and in recent years the removal of utility poles and burial of wires have further polished its appearance. From the Edo period through earthquake and wartime destruction, this approach has reinvented itself again and again.

Source:Sensoji Nakamise

Correct answerDenboin Garden

Denboin Garden is a strolling-style garden said to date from the Edo period, sometimes attributed to the tea master Kobori Enshu. It is normally closed to the public, but is occasionally opened for special spring and autumn viewings. Visitors stroll a circuit around a central pond lined with carefully arranged rocks and plantings, a quiet contrast to the bustle of Sensoji just outside its walls.

Source:Sensoji Denboin Garden

Correct answerAround the Jokyo era, just before Genroku

Nakamise is said to have originated around 1685, in the Jokyo era just before the Genroku period, when nearby residents responsible for keeping the approach clean were granted the right to open stalls, one of Japan's oldest shopping streets. For more than 330 years since, it has welcomed worshippers walking from Kaminarimon toward the Main Hall with souvenirs and sweets.

Source:Sensoji Nakamise