Today I was on my way to the Asakusa district which is around 1 hour walk on foot from where i live. The first spot to see was the Senso-ji Temple the oldest temple in Tokyo [efn_note]see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sens%C5%8D-ji, accessed on 04.05.2018 [/efn_note]. Because of several renovations and rebuilds this temple, although the oldest, looks really sturdy and massive. The alley which leads to this temple is filled with shops and will be probably even more packed at the Sanji Matsuri festival in mid May.
After the Asakusa district I headed to the Tokyo Skytree to meet up with some friends. From far away not too impressive it gets impressive enough when you reached its base. With 634 meters it is the highest tower and the second highest building in the world [efn_note] see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Skytree , accessed on 04.05.2018[/efn_note]. Although very tempting we decided not to get up that building since it takes some time and also costs around 20 € [efn_note] see http://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/ticket/ , accessed on 04.05.2018[/efn_note] .
On my way home it started raining so that i bought my first umbrella at a convenience store (which i will lose soon enough). On the upside i got some crazy pictures which i wouldn’t be able to shoot back in Dresden.
EDIT: 18.05.2019 – Asakusa Sanja Matsuri [efn_note]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanja_Matsuri, accessed on 17.06.2019 [/efn_note]
So we went to the festival on a Saturday, when many Mikoshis from different districts within Asakusa were carried to the Asakusa Shrine. Every carried Mikoshi is accompanied by many dozens of people. At different points in time people who carry the Mikoshi begin to go really wild and hump back and forth. Especially in narrow streets it is a real event to just be inside such a crowd and feel their spirit and enthusiasm.
TIL: Mikoshi are portable Shinto Shrines to transport a god/des while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine.