Today is Setsubun
Which is a Japanese Festival
That marks the start of spring
It's at the start of February
We've come to Asakusa
In Tokyo
To see what's going on
I'm thinking it's going to be quite busy
And Senso-Ji's one of the major tourist attractions in Tokyo anyway
So I'm hoping it's not going to be too much of a mistake to come here today
If it's too crazy and crowded
We're going to take a look around the festival
See what's going on
And I'll show you some more of what's in this area of Tokyo
That you can see all year round
Even when the festival isn't on
This area, Asakusa
Is a place I think a lot of people go
On their first trip
For a taste of historic Japan
Within Tokyo
If you're only going to see one temple in Tokyo
This is the one most people tend to pick
There's new Japan videos on my channel every Thursday
If you want to subscribe
And if you click the bell
It'll tell you when my new video's out
There's two main sites in Tokyo
For Setsubun
Here in Asakusa at Sensoji
And Zojo-ji
Which is another really big temple
Setsubun is the start of spring
It's also called the bean-throwing festival
Where someone in the house
Dresses up as a demon
With a demon mask
And everyone else throws beans at them
Bad luck for the person dressing up as the demon!
I'm guessing that's usually the dad or something!
The beans are dried soybeans
And here at Sensoji
I've heard they have people like celebrities
And sumo wrestlers
And actors come out
And they're throwing packets of soybeans out to the crowd
So we're going to see what's going on
The other thing people do on Setsubun
Is: there's a special sushi roll called an ehomaki
Or ehomaki
It's spelt E H O maki
It's got 7 fillings
Which is a lucky number
You have to face the lucky direction for that year
And eat the whole sushi roll
Without talking
I don't know why!
That's just what people do
I've seen them selling these sushi rolls
In convenience stores
And department stores as I've been going around
This street, Nakamise Dori
Is the oldest shopping street in Tokyo
Leading up to the oldest temple
Asakusa is a very historic part of the city
Big mic shadow on my face!
We just walked down Asakusa Nakamise
Which is the main street leading up to the temple
Which is full of shops
And little kiosks selling snacks and things
It was rammed, it was so busy!
Just beside the main temple
There's some food stalls
We're going to go and have a look
Food stalls like these have some interesting options
And things you don't really find in restaurants
Like yakisoba
Now here in the UK
They always have it at Japanese restaurants
But in Japan
It's more of a food stall thing
If you're learning to read Japanese
You can practice your hiragana on these signs
That's if you can decipher the font
It can be a bit tricky
Or you can just see what they have
Some of them have english translations
So here, you can see it's beef diaphragm
Sounds appetising...!
If you don't speak Japanese
You can just point to order
There was a kind of stage at one of the smaller buildings
To the side of the main temple building
As an outsider
It's kind of hard to know exactly what's going on
I imagine this must be a pretty prestigious position
For these girls to be performing
At the festival, at one of the main temples in Tokyo
This reminded me of the dance the shrine maidens perform
In Your Name
I love that film!
There were some speeches
Then everyone came out onto the stage
Smallest ones at the front
*Japanese*
The bean-throwing began!
Everyone wanted to catch them!
What they're throwing out to the crowd
Are little packets of soybeans
For good luck
There was a really big crowd
Waiting around the main building of the temple
So we crammed in
Anywhere we could
It's not the best view
But you can kind of see what's going on
*Japanese*
I like this man's outfit
Look at his shoulders!
I think we were on the wrong side to see properly what's going on
But I think it was a bigger version of what we saw on the small stage
Not stage-
It seemed like a bigger version
Of what we saw behind me here
With more speeches
And maybe those people were famous people
Or politicians? I'm not really sure.
The traditional chant for Setsubun
Is: "Oni wa soto"
"Fuku wa uchi"
Which means: Demons out, good luck in
I know they do a slight variation on that here at Senso-Ji
Yes, it is different here in Asakusa
Usually, they chant: "demons out, good luck in"
But here they change it to something like:
"Long life, good luck in"
Or "Good luck forever"
That's because demons can't be present in front of Kannon
That's the buddhist goddess of mercy
And this temple is dedicated to her
When you're there, it's kind of hard to know exactly what's going on
I'm sure I missed a few things
I think there is also a dance
There's not really any programme
Or signs telling you what's happening when or where
You just turn up
And see what's going on
I like how they have the one cute one at the end
You always see lots of people around here wearing kimono
And there's quite a few shops round here
Where you can rent them
And they help you get dressed up and everything
So you can wear it as you go round the temple
And get some really nice photos
And these gardens to the side of the temple
Would be the perfect place for your photos
Obviously Senso-Ji
Is really popular
Because it's the oldest temple in Tokyo
It's the one that I think everyone comes to when they come here
But I think it's so crowded that you don't really get much of a sense of the atmosphere
If you want to go somewhere more atmospheric
It's better to go to a temple at night
Because they are still open
You can still wander around
Or go to a smaller one that isn't so popular
Then you get more of a feeling of what the place is like
It's usually fine to just wander around
The outer grounds
You can just walk in
But remember, temples and shrines are religious places
So just be conscious of that
I've been here before when there wasn't a festival on
And it still is pretty busy
That street with all the shops and stalls
Has almost as many people there
There just aren't as many people standing around in the main area
Sorry, I just saw someone
With a pushchair with a rabbit inside
So, I think because Senso-Ji's on everyone's itinerary
When they come to Tokyo
That's why it's so busy
If you want to actually explore the temple
And the gardens and the buildings
Which are beautiful
Come when it isn't a festival
But the festival atmosphere is really interesting to experience as well
And you get the contrast of old and new Tokyo
With the pagoda
And the SkyTree!
So, we've had the oldest temple in Tokyo
The oldest shopping street in Tokyo
Now, we've got the oldest theme park in the whole of Japan
This is Hanayashiki
It's kind of strange to see theme park rides
When you're somewhere so traditional
Right next to the pagoda and the temple
There's a few more side roads around here
With more souvenirs & lots of street food & snacks and things
As always, remember to explore the side streets
Beyond the main area
There's lots of street food and restaurants around here
And picturesque little alleyways
We've just seen this sign: "Welcome to Orange Street"
Which is a street of shops
I guess - because it's orange...?!
We've spotted this guy: "Orante Kun"
Birthday 22nd of May
Seeming like a genius
Ihave no idea what's going on here
I've read the whole description
And I'm none the wiser
"Rule over the whole country"
"There are many geniuses"
This is the Asahi Building
For Asahi beer
This sculpture's called the Golden Flame
It's supposed to represent Asahi's passion for brewing
It's also known as the Golden Poop
I'm not sure what that represents
And the skyscraper next to it
Is supposed to look like a pint of beer
You can actually walk to the SkyTree from here
Across the river
It's about a mile, or a 20 minute walk
At the SkyTree, as well as the observation deck
There's also a shopping mall
An aquarium
A planetarium and a museum about the postal service
If you're coming to Japan
If there's any festivals or special events going on during your trip
There are lots of minor festivals
At temples and shrines throughout the whole year
As well as the major ones that everyone knows about
It's worth going along
Just to experience the atmosphere
And see what happens
Another festival I'm going to soon
Is the Sapporo Snow Festival
Which I think is going to be completely different
From this one
They've got ice sculptures
And they light them up at night
I think it's going to be really amazing
I'm going to be making a video about that one as well
Ok, I didn't edit these in chronological order!
That video's already up
And the Sapporo Snow Festival was amazing
You can watch it on my channel
Along with all my other Hokkaido videos
You know I said temples & shrines are more magical at night?
Senso-Ji sparkles with illumination
Every day from sunset to around 11pm
I bet that looks really magical
I hope you enjoyed this look around Asakusa
It's one of those areas
That I think most people visit on their first trip to Tokyo
It's beautiful but it is crowded
And it's not the only place you can experience traditional Japan
In Tokyo
And there's more to explore beyond the main areas
You can find some hidden treasures
Like this orange hand mascot!
I'll be back next week
With more videos about Japan
I'll see you then!