Food for the Eyes and Food for the Mouth at Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan

We were staying at Oak Hostel Fuji, just half a kilometer east of Asakusa. No doubt a visit to Asakusa was part of the itinerary.

First up was the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center. FIRST UP literally because we zoomed past the information desk and the display of brochures on the ground floor and headed straight to the 8th floor for a view of Nakamise Shopping Street and Senso-ji to the north, and Tokyo Skytree to the east. (Also on the 8th floor is a cafe, but we didn't go to that floor to feed our mouth, but to feed our eyes.)

From our 8th floor perch, we swooped down the elevator to see Nakamise Shopping Street up close. We joined the gaggle of tourists swarming Senso-ji's Kaminarimon Gate. (Chotto matte, before entering the gate to go to Nakamise, do a 180-degree turn and admire the architectural design of Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center. We did.)

Nakamise Shopping Street is, duh, a shopping street: the path from Kaminarimon Gate down to Hozomon Gate (Senso-ji's second gate) is lined with souvenir shops and food stalls on both sides!

(If you abhor crowds and don't care much for shopping, trade the crowds with murals on the shops' rollup shutter doors by visiting Nakamise early in the morning or late at night, when the shops are closed.) ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).