Asakusa Senso-ji Temple

Senso-ji, in Tokyo's Asakusa district, is the city's oldest temple. According to legend, it was founded in the year 645 after two fishermen brothers pulled a small statue of the bodhisattva Kannon from the Sumida River — a discovery that led to a temple being built on the site to enshrine it.

Visitors approach the temple through Kaminarimon, the "Thunder Gate," instantly recognizable by the enormous red lantern hanging at its center and the fierce guardian statues of Fujin and Raijin — the gods of wind and thunder — standing on either side. Beyond the gate runs Nakamise-dori, a shopping street lined with stalls selling traditional snacks and souvenirs that has served temple visitors for centuries.

Senso-ji's current main hall, along with much of the surrounding complex, is a postwar reconstruction — the original structures were destroyed in the 1945 firebombing of Tokyo — but the temple's five-story pagoda and Kaminarimon gate remain among the most photographed sights in the city, especially at night when the lanterns are lit.