Hozomon Gate Webcam – See Senso-ji’s Pagoda and Main Hall

Live Cities and Towns Japan 📍 Hozomon Gate, Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan

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About this webcam

The Hozomon Gate Webcam looks down on the inner gate of Senso-ji, the great Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, from the rooftop of Asakusa Nakaya, a shop that sells festival goods. The two-story red gate fills the middle of the frame, with the five-story pagoda behind it on the left and the long tiled roof of the Main Hall to the right. Below the camera, a paved plaza and a row of trees lead up to the gate, and on most afternoons a steady stream of visitors walks through its central passage. Midday sun lights the red pillars, the crowds thin out toward evening, and after dark floodlights pick out the gate, the pagoda and the hall late into the night.

About Hozomon Gate

Hozomon is the second of Senso-ji’s two great gates. Visitors pass the outer Kaminarimon first, walk the length of Nakamise-dori, a shopping lane about 250 meters (820 feet) long, and reach Hozomon just before the temple courtyard. The first gate on this spot was built in 942 by Taira no Kinmasa. Fire destroyed it in 1631, Tokugawa Iemitsu had it rebuilt in 1636, and that version burned in the Tokyo air raids of 1945. The gate on screen today dates from 1964 and is built of steel-reinforced concrete.

Its name means Treasure House Gate, and it is meant literally. The upper story stores the temple’s treasured sutras, among them a copy of the Lotus Sutra designated a National Treasure. The gate stands 22.7 meters (74 feet) tall, 21 meters (69 feet) wide and 8 meters (26 feet) deep. Two Nio guardian figures, each 5.45 meters (17.9 feet) tall, stand in the side bays of the ground floor, behind the lattice screens on either side of the central passage. A pair of giant straw sandals, or waraji, also hangs on the gate, each 4.5 meters (15 feet) long and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide. Volunteers in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, donated the first pair in 1941, and a new pair has been made roughly once a decade since 1964.

Senso-ji traces its story to 628, when, according to temple tradition, the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Takenari found a statue of Kannon while fishing in the Sumida River. The Main Hall on the right of the frame was rebuilt between 1951 and 1958, and the pagoda on the left in 1973. The temple draws more than 30 million visitors a year.

Weather and Climate in Asakusa

Asakusa shares central Tokyo’s humid subtropical climate. Winters are cool and mostly dry. January averages about 5 C (41 F), with afternoon highs near 10 C (50 F) and early mornings close to 1 C (34 F), and December to February are the driest months of the year. Spring warms quickly, and April averages around 14 C (57 F).

Summer is hot and humid. The rainy season, known as tsuyu, usually runs from early June to mid-July, and August averages about 27 C (81 F), with highs around 30 C (86 F) and lows around 24 C (75 F). Typhoons can reach Tokyo between August and October, and September and October tend to be the wettest months in a year that brings about 1,600 millimeters (63 inches) of rain. By October the heat has gone, with daily averages around 18 C (64 F).

Things to Do Near Hozomon Gate

South of the gate, Nakamise-dori runs past around 70 shops to Kaminarimon and its giant red lantern. Near Kaminarimon, the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center has a free observation deck that looks over Nakamise and the temple roofs. Back inside the precinct, Asakusa Shrine stands beside the Main Hall and is one of the Edo-period buildings that survived the 1945 air raids. Its Sanja Matsuri festival fills the neighborhood for three or four days in late spring, and Asakusa Nakaya, the shop that hosts this camera, specializes in festival goods.

Hanayashiki, close to the temple grounds, opened as a flower park more than 150 years ago and now runs as a small amusement park. Kappabashi, about 600 meters (0.4 miles) west of Senso-ji, sells kitchen tools, tableware and the plastic food samples seen in Japanese restaurant windows. To the east, Tokyo Skytree, 634 meters (2,080 feet) tall, is about a 20-minute walk across the Sumida River, and Tokyo Water Bus sightseeing boats leave Asakusa Pier for Odaiba and Hinode Pier.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Hozomon Gate located?

Hozomon Gate stands in the grounds of Senso-ji in Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo, Japan, close to the Sumida River. It is the inner of the temple’s two main gates, at the north end of Nakamise-dori and just south of the Main Hall.

What can you see on the Hozomon Gate Webcam?

The camera looks at Hozomon from a rooftop in front of the gate, so the red two-story gate sits in the center of the frame. The five-story pagoda rises behind it on the left, the Main Hall fills the right, and a paved plaza with trees and a steady flow of visitors takes up the foreground.

Is this a live camera of Senso-ji Temple?

Yes. Hozomon is Senso-ji’s inner gate, and the same frame takes in the temple’s five-story pagoda and Main Hall. Asakusa Nakaya runs the camera from its rooftop, and it keeps streaming through the night, with the buildings floodlit after dark.

Does the Hozomon Gate Webcam show Kaminarimon or Tokyo Skytree?

No. Kaminarimon, the outer Thunder Gate with the famous red lantern, stands at the far end of Nakamise-dori, about 250 meters (820 feet) to the south, and is out of shot. Tokyo Skytree, across the Sumida River, is not in view either. Hozomon is often mixed up with Kaminarimon, but it is the second gate, the Treasure House Gate.

Can you see the Hozomon Gate lantern on the webcam?

Yes, in daylight. The large lanterns that hang under the gate’s roof appear side-on in its passage, between the red pillars. The better-known red lantern of Kaminarimon, 3.9 meters (13 feet) tall and about 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds), hangs at the outer gate, out of shot.

What is the weather like in Asakusa?

Asakusa has cool, dry winters averaging about 5 C (41 F) in January and hot, humid summers averaging about 27 C (81 F) in August, with a rainy season from early June to mid-July and typhoon risk from August to October.

What time does Senso-ji close?

The Main Hall opens at 6:00 (6:30 from October to March) and closes at 17:00. The camera keeps streaming after closing time, and late in the evening the floodlit gate, pagoda and hall are far quieter than during the day.

What is Asakusa famous for?

Asakusa is best known for Senso-ji and Nakamise-dori, the shopping lane that leads to it. Asakusa Shrine and its Sanja Matsuri, Hanayashiki and Kappabashi are close by, with Tokyo Skytree across the Sumida River.

Source: Asakusa Nakaya