Better known to the Japanese people as the temple of the Asakusa Kannon, Senso-ji is the oldest temple in Tokyo and remains an important center of worship drawing around 30 million visitors every year.

Legend holds it that, in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River. Even though they put the statue back into the river, it kept returning to them, so a temple was built nearby for the goddess.

A stately 5-storey pagoda devoted to the goddess stands in the main hall and there is a quiet contemplative garden kept in the distinctive Japanese style within the temple.