Feel Like There’s always Festive Mood “Asakusa Nishi-Sando Shopping Street” – Also Pay Attention to the Wooden Rare Boardwalk

“Asakusa Nishi-Sando Shopping Street” (浅草西参道商店街) is located on the west-side entrance of Sensoji Temple. The shops are lined up along a rare boardwalk made on public roads for the first time in Japan, and there are unique ones such as goldfish scooping, shooting galleries and dealing with Japanese swords. It’s also a benefit that you can enjoy shopping without an umbrella because the street is an arcade shopping street.

The arcade shopping street about 100m, “Asakusa Nishi-Sando Shopping Street” is located on the west side of Sensoji Temple. This shopping street, which was built in 1954, was renovated in 2013. Then it was renewed as ‘Festival Shopping Street Nishi-Sando’ because there are many festivals in the center of Sanja Matsuri (three major festivals in Tokyo). The Kabukiza-style arch which is installed entrance of this street and many ‘banners’ on both sides of the street make you feel nostalgic and lively.

People tend to look up when walking in this street, but please pay attention to the ground. Actually, here is Japan’s first boardwalk shopping street. The ground is paved with cypress wood. Generally, it isn’t allowed to pave the public road with wood, it seems that the permission was granted due to the private road on the grounds of Sensoji Temple.

On the street where you can feel Japaneseness everywhere, there are many shops reminiscent of the festival such as goldfish scooping and shooting galleries. As the theme of the shopping street, you can feel a festive mood. It’ll be more exciting if you rent a Yukata and take a walk.