Senso-ji opening hours
Senso-ji keeps fixed hours for its main hall (hondo) and publishes nothing separate for the open grounds. The temple's visiting page gives:
| Season | Main hall | Morning service |
|---|---|---|
| October – March | 6:30–17:00 | 6:30 |
| April – September | 6:00–17:00 | 6:00 |
Daily services are also held at 10:00 and 14:00. For the hours of the other halls on the grounds, the temple asks you to contact it.
Japan's tourism organisation says the temple is lit up every evening from sunset until around 23:00. Taito City's tourism page suggests evening as the time when there are fewer people and you can take your time. At night the Nakamise shops are shuttered, so you see painted shutters rather than stalls.
Is there an entrance fee?
No admission charge appears on the temple's site. The prices on its visiting page are offerings for prayer services: a kito blessing starts from ¥5,000 for a paper talisman, and memorial prayers from ¥3,000. Visiting the hall, the gates and the grounds does not involve a ticket.
Optional extras are omikuji fortunes and goshuin stamps, which are issued at the Yogodo hall on the west side. The temple's FAQ explains that its "Kannon Hyakusen" fortunes contain many bad results; you return the stick to its holder and can tie a bad fortune at the spot provided.
Getting to Senso-ji
All four Asakusa stations are about 5 minutes on foot from the temple, according to the temple's access page:
| Line | Station | From the station |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Metro Ginza Line | Asakusa | About 5 min |
| Toei Asakusa Line | Asakusa, Exit A4 | About 5 min |
| Tobu Skytree Line | Asakusa | About 5 min |
| Tsukuba Express | Asakusa | About 5 min |
Toei buses, Keisei Town Bus and Taito City's Meguru-n loop bus also stop nearby. There is no parking at Senso-ji; the temple points drivers to the ward's Kaminarimon underground car park.
Kaminarimon, Nakamise and the main hall
The classic approach starts at Kaminarimon, the temple's main gate. From there the Nakamise shopping street runs about 250 m to Hozomon gate. The temple traces Nakamise to around 1685, when local residents were allowed to set up stalls in exchange for cleaning the grounds; GO TOKYO counts about 90 shops today.
The current main hall was rebuilt in 1958 after the previous one burned in the March 1945 air raid. The main image is kept hidden. To go up onto the tatami of the inner sanctum, you take off your shoes.
Busy days and winter events
JNTO describes Kaminarimon as bustling with visitors taking photos. For a calmer visit, come at the 6:30 opening (6:00 from April) or after dark.
The temple's events calendar has several winter dates that draw extra crowds:
- Around 15 November: Shichi-go-san blessings for children in the main hall.
- 13 December, 14:00: the one annual showing of the front-standing image.
- 17–19 December: Hagoita-ichi, the decorated battledore fair.
- 31 December: the New Year's Eve bell at Bentenyama.
- 31 December – 6 January: New Year services, with daily New Year prayers from 1 to 7 January.
For what else in Tokyo closes over the holidays, see our year-end and New Year closures guide.
