Asakusa

Took the family over to Asakusa at twilight last evening. It was hard to take a bad photo of Senso-ji temple; very picturesque. Legend has it that two fishermen found a statue of Kannon in the nearby Sumida river. The temple was built to worship the statue in 645, which is about the time that Buddhism was coming across from India to Japan via China and nearby Korea. The pagoda was lit up beautifully, and the shopping street on the Nakamise-dori (traditional shopping street leading up to the shrine) was incredibly scenic. We picked up some small traditional gifts for friends. A light rain was falling, which gave all the colors a deep saturation. More photos here.

Afterwards, we darted into some of the back streets around the temple grounds to grab some warm ramen in a cozy restaurant, which was a welcome respite from the cool rain that was falling outside.

It was blah & rainy earlier in the day, so we decided to go to Akihabara (the electronics district) and visit Yodobashi camera, Japan's largest electronics store. The place is massive, with nine floors of nothing but electronics. Forrest was in heaven. Of special interest was the latest Japanese mini-computers.

While there, I shopped around for some camera equipment, and ended up getting my filter fixed (it had jammed onto the lens casing via my mis-threading it). The staff was unbelievably kind & fixed it for free. I ended up getting a lens cap, and one of those elastic straps that keep it attached to the lens.