I spoke with one young man who was born and brought up in Asakusa, named Osawa Hajime. "I spend the whole year waiting for the festival day, and when it's over I feel empty inside. But by the next day I'm thinking about the festival the following year-that's how much my life revolves around it." Osawa leads the Mitsuami, a local group of enthusiasts who have banded together to organize the festival. He says they want to make sure the festival is celebrated in the same traditional way each year, well into the future.

People flock to Asakusa for more than just religious functions at Senso-ji Temple. Many come to shop, to enjoy various unique attractions, or to take in a play. The Okuyama district to the west of the temple has attracted visitors since ancient times. Okuyama is full of shops and attractions typical of Asakusa, like unpretentious restaurants with tables and chairs hugging the sidewalk, shops selling miscellaneous items (a curious mix of goods like Buddhist statues and aprons for liquor and rice store clerks), and the Hanayashiki Amusement Park offering plenty of rides in a tidy little corner of the district.

The adjoining district, Rokku, was developed by Tokyo's entertainment industry in the Meiji period (1868-1912). Here you'll see cinemas and vaudeville-like theaters. The day we were there the excitement in the area was heightened by a tiny band strolling the streets, playing a clarinet and drums. Bands like these, called chindon-ya, advertise the opening of a new store or a special sale. In Asakusa, you're almost sure to run into something unusual.

A little further west from Rokku is the Kappabashi Dogu-gai shopping district, the landmark of which is a huge replica of a chef on a building at the southern gateway to the district. One wholesaler is jostled up against another on both sides of a street running north-south for about one kilometer. Crowded stores offer everything from tableware and kitchen utensils to display cases. You'll never get bored here, browsing among frying pans, saucepans, ceramics, lacquer ware, bamboo goods, neon signs, noren split curtains for doorways, and so much more. The plastic samples of restaurant meals, which look just like the real thing, are popular items among souvenir-hunting tourists from abroad. I have heard that one of the most popular items these days is imitation sushi.

Asakusa is like a jack-in-the-box-open it up and you're bound to be surprised and fascinated by what jumps out. Local people, and others from far away, have a great time and enjoy the unique atmosphere here.

If you get tired of all the excitement, I suggest you stroll a bit further and rest at a temple called Matsuchiyama Shoden. The temple is dedicated to the Indian god, Ganesa (the supernatural being, Shoten, in Japanese Buddhism) and people come here in the hope that their business will prosper and their descendants will be happy. Asakusa is a flat, low-lying area, and the temple is the only place on higher ground. Here gingko trees spread their branches over the temple's main hall, and quiet reigns. From the hill there's a good view of the Sumida-gawa River-it's a great place to relax.