Tokyo - Asakusa: Sensō-ji - Joukoro
The smoke of the incense burner, or joukoro, in front of the Kannondō of Senso-ji, is said to bestow health. Visitors will waft the smoke over them, hoping to retain some of its strength.
Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺), or Sensō-ji, also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple, is a Buddhist temple—the oldest temple in Tokyo. Legend says that in the year 628, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, two fisherman, found a statue dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy, out of the Sumida River. Even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Their master, Hajino Nakamoto, recognizing the sanctity of the statue, enshrined it in his house, and then in 645 the holy man Shokai built the first temple on this location. In the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan. During World War II, the temple was bombed and for the most part, destroyed. It was rebuilt later and is a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people.
Tokyo - Asakusa: Sensō-ji - Joukoro
The smoke of the incense burner, or joukoro, in front of the Kannondō of Senso-ji, is said to bestow health. Visitors will waft the smoke over them, hoping to retain some of its strength.
Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺), or Sensō-ji, also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple, is a Buddhist temple—the oldest temple in Tokyo. Legend says that in the year 628, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, two fisherman, found a statue dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy, out of the Sumida River. Even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Their master, Hajino Nakamoto, recognizing the sanctity of the statue, enshrined it in his house, and then in 645 the holy man Shokai built the first temple on this location. In the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan. During World War II, the temple was bombed and for the most part, destroyed. It was rebuilt later and is a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people.