Tokyo “Asakusa” guide by a local 🇯🇵

Hello guys, I'm George. Today, I'm gonna be guiding you around Asakusa as a local. The reason why I'm doing a voiceover is I'm too shy to talk to the camera alone outside. I hope my voice sounds soothing to you and hope you enjoy this video. Let's go. This is Asakusa Station. Every tourist goes straight to Sensoji Temple, which is just a two minute walk from the station. But as a local, I'd recommend going to Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center first. There are two main reasons for this. First, it has Asakusa's number one cleanest restroom and it's Kusakunai. I call it number one Asakusakunai restroom. And of course, you can get maps and brochures in each language and get some information from the staff. The second reason is you can see the entire city of Asakusa and Tokyo Skytree from the top of this building. I'll show you. Now you can see Tokyo Skytree right in front of you. Here is one of the best spots to take a photo with it. Tokyo Skytree is 634 meters high. It is almost double the Eiffel Tower. Incredible. And over here, you can overlook Nakamise Shopping Street and Asakusa Sensoji Temple, which is the oldest temple in Tokyo. Now we're going there. Vamos. This is Kaminari-mon, which is a symbol of Sensoji Temple. Kaminari means thunder and mon means gate. So it's a thunder gate. Sometimes you can find Pikachu around here. After you go through this gate, you'll see Nakamise Shopping Street. It is one of the oldest shopping streets in Japan. Most of the shops open from around 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but some open as early as 8 a.m. and some close as late as 8 p.m. They sell everything from Japanese sweets like ningyoyaki, which are small cakes in the shape of dolls filled with sweet red bean paste, to authentic traditional Japanese crafts like Japanese sandals, Japanese holding fans, wind chimes, and Dragon Ball. This is the best place to buy Japanese souvenirs. When it comes to the best snacks slash sweets in Asakusa, I'll show you my all-time favorite places later, which are actually outside of Nakamise Shopping Street. Nakamise Shopping Street is usually packed with tourists and locals in the daytime. So go there as early as possible in the morning to avoid the crowds. If you are a night owl like me, you have no choice. Enjoy the crowds. But the nighttime there is beautiful with all the shutters painted with motifs of Asakusa's history. Also during the nighttime, the temple is lit up and it's so beautiful. All right, after going through another beautiful gate, you'll see the place where you can draw a fortune slip. It's called omikuji in Japanese. It's 100 yen per slip. Let's see whether I have good luck or bad luck. First, shake the two box well and then turn the box upside down. Then a stick comes out of the small hole in the top of the box. Check the kanji number written on the stick and then pull out a piece of paper from the drawer written with the same number. Let's see what mine is. Well, last time I did this, I got daikichi. So it's, meh, I'll ignore this. If you draw kyo or bad fortune, you should tie it to this place and leave it in the temple so as not to bring bad luck home. After enjoying the fortune slip, it's time to get smarter. This is a large incense burner called joukouro. Many people believe that this smoke has the effect of making them smarter. And then you get smarter. I got so much smarter than ever. After getting smarter, you go to omizuya. It's a place where you wash your hands and rinse your mouth before praying. All right, now we are perfectly ready to pray at this main hall. We usually offer five yen or goen because goen is almost the same pronunciation of connection or chance in Japanese, goen. But I didn't bring five yen with me that time, so I put 50 yen in the box. When praying at the temple, you don't clap. Just put your hands together, pray, and bow. It is always very relaxing the moment I close my eyes in front of the temple to pay my respects. Sensoji Temple is famous for fulfilling various wishes. Almost every wish I ever wished for at this temple always came true, like becoming a YouTuber, traveling the world, and completing the Fat Burger Triple L Burger Challenge. Good job, George, I'm proud of you. After you pray, go see beautiful carp in a small Japanese-y pond, and head straight to the Nishisando Shopping Arcade. At the entrance of Nishisando, you'll see the shop, Kagetsudo, and melon pans on their display. The bread usually doesn't include melon or its flavor, but its appearance just resembles a melon. That's why it's called melon pan. It's the same method of calling a person Harry Potter just because he looks like Harry Potter. Melon pan is almost always seen when you go to a bakery, convenience stores, and supermarkets in Japan. But this is the best melon pan you'll ever have in Tokyo. Personally, I love the version filled with vanilla ice cream. It's crispy and warm outside, but the inside is heavenly fluffy, and the vanilla ice cream makes it even more perfect. After you enjoy the melon pan, it's time to go through the Nishisando Shopping Arcade. The Nishisando Shopping Street vendors mainly specialize in traditional kimonos, samurai goods, and random cute stuff. Turn left at the end of the Shopping Arcade and go straight, and you'll see a local drinking hub called Hoppy Street. The must-have specialty at Hoppy Street is gyusuji nikomi, which is beef tendon stew. Outdoor table seating is available in front of the shops, making it possible for customers to enjoy delicious food and drinks out in the open. It could be fun to go bar hopping at various pubs right in the street. Last time I came here, I enjoyed my beloved Asahi beer at this place. But this time, since I got smarter, I didn't want to become Tipsy George, who is not smart at all. I just enjoyed the vibe here. All right, so we came back to Kaminarimon, and lastly, I'd like to introduce the best sweets shop in Asakusa. That is Kameju. Kameju is a popular traditional Japanese confectionery shop located across from Kaminarimon, just one minute away. It's been selected as Japan's number one souvenir dorayaki by magazines. Dorayaki is a sweet red bean pancake, which is Doraemon's favorite food. Kameju is extremely popular that you usually have to wait 20 to 30 minutes in the queue, but it's worth the wait because their dorayaki is delicious. I went there at around 2 p.m., but I was lucky. There was not a long queue that time. Believe it or not, my sister is working here. I think she's been working here for seven years or so. When you come here, try to look for my sister and spend all your money here so that my sister will be very, very happy. My sister is so nice that she got me dorayaki. Arigatou. All right, it's time to give it a try. Itadakimasu. The pancake is fluffy and moist, and the filling is not too sweet as well. Very, very fresh. It comes with red or white beans as the filling, and there are also other local products available that you can purchase in the store. All right, so thank you very much for watching this video. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next video. Have a good day. Bye!