Hozomon Gate

After passing through Nakamise-dori Street of Senso-ji Temple, you will find Hozomon Gate in front of the main hall. The original gate was built in 942 but it was demolished due to fires and air raids. It was later reconstructed in 1964. The gate that houses Nio statues (Kongo Rikishi statues) on each side and has a big lantern in the center is worth seeing. It used to be called Niomon since it had 2 Nio statues. However, a storage room to keep Senso-ji Temple's treasures was created in the gate during the reconstruction work. Thus now it's called Hozomon (treasure house gate). Giant waraji sandals dedicated in 1940 are hung on the other side of the gate. The 4.5-meter long and 1.5-meter wide waraji sandals weigh 500 kg each and were created to ward off evil. There is a perfect spot near the gate to take photos of the waraji sandals with Tokyo Skytree (R) in the background. A 5-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Subway Ginza and Asakusa Lines or Tobu Isezaki Line (Tobu Skytree Line).