A Beginner's Guide to Asakusa

It's as big as my face. It was only 220 yen, very cheap. This is Asakusa, a more traditional hotspot amongst Tokyo's bustling city life. Asakusa dates back to the Edo period, between 1630 to 1868. For most of the 20th century, Asakusa remained a major entertainment district in Tokyo. And if you wanna experience a taste of traditional Japan on a day trip, Asakusa is the place for you. Hey, cheapos, Liz Kelly here. Today we're in Asakusa, and Asakusa is a very traditional place in Japan where you can find a lot of souvenirs, traditional Japanese food, lots of temples and shrines and things that you can see. So we're gonna go check it out. Okay, let's go! You can get to Asakusa from the Ginza or Asakusa line, as well as the Tobu Skytree line for those of you who have plans to visit one of the tallest towers in the world. The first stop you wanna make is at the cultural center across the street from Kaminarimon, which is the gate to Sensoji Temple. You can find out any information you desire about Asakusa, including its history. Or if you just wanna take a break, have a cup of coffee at the cafe on the eighth floor, charge your phone, use the Wi-Fi, or just take pictures of the amazing view, you can do that as well. We're at the top of the cultural center right now here. There's a cafe where you can get some coffee and tea, enjoy the view from outside. You can see Skytree from here. It's a really nice place to relax. They have Wi-Fi, you can charge your phones and everything. So definitely stop by here if you're looking to take a break. There's plenty of traditional Japanese souvenirs to purchase, food, and clothing. A couple of the best things about Asakusa are the colorful yukata most people wear around the temple grounds, as well as the delicious festival street food you can purchase and enjoy on the weekends. I love buying manju, which is a traditional Japanese sweet that tastes similar to a pancake. It usually has red or white bean paste inside. So I got this manju right here. It was only 300 yen for like a whole set of that. So I'm gonna try some because this is one of my favorite traditional Japanese sweets. It's hard to open. I did it. Kind of. Wait. So manju has bean paste in it. It's like red bean paste. It's really good. It's an acquired taste, I think, but it's definitely one of my favorites. And it's kind of like a pancake. It's like a pancake with red bean paste inside. It's so good. That's what it looks like on the inside. Manju is a huge delicacy in Asakusa, and another place to highlight is the fried manju shop down the street of Nakamise. This is one of the most amazing shopping centers. There's so much to look at, and everything's very cheap. Nakamise is a shopping street leading up to Sensoji Temple and full of traditional goods. But this fried manju shop is one of the most popular. It has 10 different flavors to choose from, including curry, custard, sweet potato, matcha green tea, pumpkin, and even Japanese cherry blossom. Once you reach the base of the temple, the sight you see in front of you is absolutely stunning, even on a snowy day. We recommend you get your fortune from one of the metal boxes resting on the wooden tables before entering the temple. All you have to do is pay 100 yen, shake it up, and pull out a wooden stick with your number on it. Gotta give it a good shake. Pretty heavy. Look for the number on the wooden drawers and pull out your fortune. Let's see what I get. If you get a bad fortune, don't worry. All you have to do is tie it to one of these metal bars, and that way, your fortune will hopefully be reversed. You can pray at the temple if you so wish to stand in line. The line goes pretty fast, and it's worth the experience if you've never prayed at a temple before. You'll also come across a bowl filled with incense before entering the temple. If you blow the smoke from the incense towards you, it's said to heal any pains or ailments you feel in your body. I'll leave a link below to Tokyo Cheapo's guide to visiting temples and shrines. After walking down Nakamise Street and visiting the temple, you'll come to one last amazing bread shop that has been around since 1945. Okay, so this is Kaketsudo. It's famous for their melon bread. And melon bread doesn't taste like melon bread, or melon, it looks like melon. But it's just bread. This dates back from 1945, so it's very famous. As you can see, the line behind me is so long. They not only have delicious bread, they have tons of flavors of ice cream. So you should definitely try some of the flavors that they have on this menu. It's as big as my face. It was only 220 yen, very cheap. It's like crunchy on the outside, and really soft on the inside. Bye bye diet. After strolling around Asakusa, if you have the time, there's an underground passage next to the Tobu Skytree line, replicating Japan back in the olden days. You can eat at small traditional Japanese snack bars, as well as try some of the variety of sake at the Ninja Bar. If you'd like to book a hotel near Asakusa, you can stay at the lovely Andon Ryokan nearby Asakusa's main street, along with an amazing night view of Skytree. I stayed there not too long ago and loved everything about it. It's affordable, they speak English, and are very accommodating. The link to the hotel will be below. We hope you enjoyed this guide to Asakusa. If you would like to know more information, please check out Tokyo Cheapo's website below. And if you'd like to see more videos like this, please make sure you subscribe, like this video, and comment down below if you have any information to add or questions. We'll see you next time. Thanks for watching and happy travels. Go. Mother.