Senso-ji Temple

by Judy

(Pennsylvania)

Senso-ji’s gate

I went to Japan for the first time a couple weeks ago and one of the very first sites I went to was the Senso-ji Temple and Kaminari (Kaminarimon) Gate. One of the things that I noticed and enjoyed the most was the incense. I watched Japanese students, business men, parents and elderly light these incense sticks, place them into this beautiful incense burner and make a prayer. These people would then enter the temple and bow to the statue of Buddha and I’m guessing they made another prayer.

I don’t have a lot of knowledge about Buddhism so I just stood back and let these people show their respects. As a tourist and anthropologist, this was very interesting to see and I now have an interest in learning more about Buddhism.

The temple was beautiful and I loved the feeling of being within something important to Japanese people.

Because I knew of the importance, I didn’t take any pictures of inside the temple or of the Buddha statue right at the entrance/top of the stairs. I felt it was too personal so I just watched and enjoyed!