ARCHITECT ATLAS
Loading atlas
Sensō-ji

Sensō-ji

Photo: Akonnchiroll · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
Client / Owner
Tokugawa Iemitsu (17th-century rebuilds)
Year
Completed 645
Access
Public
Typology
Spiritual
Style
—

Sensō-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo, has uncertain origins, with a legendary start in 628. The infobox gives 645, which the text describes as a renovation by the monk Katsumi. It names no architect, and says Tokugawa Iemitsu rebuilt the pagoda, main hall and gates in the 1600s. Gate dates conflict, with the Kaminarimon given as both 941 and 942.

The red and black Kaminarimon is 38 feet (11.7 m) tall and holds a paper lantern 12.8 feet (3.9 m) tall, weighing about 1,500 pounds (700 kg). The Hōzōmon is 74 feet (22.7 m) tall, and the current gate is steel-reinforced concrete from 1964. The main hall roof uses titanium tiles.

Fires struck in 1631, 1642, 1757 and 1865. The 1945 firebombing destroyed the main hall, pagoda and Hōzōmon. The hall was rebuilt in 1951 to 1958 and the pagoda in 1973. It is an active temple with over 30 million annual visitors.

Comments

  • Loading comments…
Be kind. Anyone can flag a comment for review.

Sign in

or

Your profile

3 to 24 letters, numbers, underscores or periods. It’s shown with your comments.

Contact us

Questions, corrections or ideas? Your message goes straight to the Architect Atlas owner.

Save to list

    Edit information

    We look the building up on Wikipedia for you. Architect Atlas lists buildings that have their own Wikipedia article: our test for notoriety and our source of truth.

        Typology
        Style (one to three)
        Photo (shown in a 4:3 frame)

        Drag and zoom to frame the building well. New photos are checked before they appear.

        Every change is checked before it goes live: facts against Wikipedia, photos by eye.