This mini article was first published Jan. 21, 2020 on Wayfarer Daves Facebook. These will not be replacing regular full-length articles but may supplement from time to time on off weeks.

Last week I went to Tokyo for the Suzu’s House exhibition at Showa Living History Museum  but had also come for a few other little diversions one of which took us to Asakusa.

When I wrote Demon Slayer’s Taisho Secrets one of the highlighted places Tanjiro and Nezuko visit was Asakusa’s Nakamise Shopping Street. This is the street which leads to Senso-ji Temple and if you’re not careful, it also leads to lots of money wasted on cheap trinkets and tasty snacks.
I appreciate the research that went into this single shot because of what it doesn’t show. Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) at the end of the street is missing. Kaminarimon was originally built in 941 AD but burned down in 1865 so wasn’t around for the Taisho era (1912-1926). The gate was rebuilt in 1960.

Nakamise Street and the temple itself also look a little different now than they did then because Asakusa would be mostly destroyed during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Though the temple survived the street did not but was rebuilt. It was all destroyed in 1945 during an air raid.