Shopping and Crafts: Rickshaws often pass through Orange Street, and their drivers point out popular stores. You’ll find Japanese textiles, accessories, crafts, and sweets. If you’re interested in dressing up in kimono or yukata, browse the shops opposite the theater near Asakusa Public Hall. They offer rentals and sales of new and vintage outfits. Don’t miss the picturesque Nakasei tempura restaurant for kimono photos! Traditional Skills with a Modern Twist: Further down the street, explore modern accessories made using traditional skills. Kamawanu sells tenugui (thin cotton towels) hand-dyed with classic Japanese patterns. Asakusa Kashiwa Beads offers accessories and bags adorned with small Japanese beads.

Asakusa Sushiya-dori (literally, sushi bar street) is lined with business establishments running between Kaminarimon-dori street and Rokku Broadway District in Asakusa. Nearly 70% are food establishments with a great number of sushi eateries. Hence coining the name Asakusa Sushiya-dori. Compared to the souvenirs and novelties sold along Nakamise-dori, Asakusa Sushiya-dori offers a different vibe and atmosphere for visitors to enjoy.

This street is actually on temple property and so it starts and ends with a temple gate: at the southern end is the outer gate of Kaminarimon, and at the northern end is the inner gate of Hozomon. Between these two gates are 89 shops, with 54 shops on the east side, and 35 shops on the west. “Nakamise” is a traditional name given to shopping streets on the grounds of temples or shrines, so this is not the only “Nakamise” in Japan, but it is one of the oldest and most famous.

Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of the nearby Sumida-gawa by two fishermen in AD 628. The image has remained on the spot ever since but is never on public display. The present structure dates from 1958. Sensō-ji is always busy, particularly on weekends; consider visiting in the evening to see it with fewer people and the buildings beautifully illuminated.

Hoppy Street, Asakusa, Japan

You can’t miss this Sanrio store with its facade of a giant Hello Kitty holding a red apple that forms the entrance. Inside you’ll find a host of Sanrio characters from the aforementioned kitty to Cinnamoroll, Gudetama, My Melody and others, available in all shapes and forms including plush dolls, apparel, suitcases and gift-ready snacks and sweets known as omiyage. Since the store is located in Tokyo’s historical Asakusa neighborhood, just around the corner from Sensoji Temple, the shop offers several unique items made in collaboration with local artisans, such as bags from Inujirushi Kaban, a long-established Japanese label known for its rugged canvas bags.

Asakusa’s Nakamise shopping street is believed to have got its start sometime between the late 17th and early 18th centuries when local people in Asakusa were granted permission to open shops on the temple grounds. In return, the new shopkeepers were expected to perform cleaning services and keep the temple precincts nice and tidy. Already at that time, Sensoji Temple was a popular center of pilgrimage, and so the shopkeepers of Nakamise could do a great trade providing food and drink to weary pilgrims. Since that time, the appearance of the street has undergone a number of changes.