Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa is Tokyo's oldest temple, originally completed in 645AD in honour of the goddess of Kannon. Visitors pass through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), down Nakamise shopping street to the five-storey pagoda and shrine, rebuilt by Tokugawa Iemitsu.
According to legend, in the year 628, two brothers caught a statue of Kannon-Bosatsu, (the goddess of mercy) in their net while fishing in the Sumida river. Despite returning the statue to the water, it always came back to them. Consequently, Senso-ji was built in honour of the goddess of Kannon.