Asakusa is one of the few traditional quarters left in Tokyo. During the Edo period, it marked the Northern limit of the city. It was where the out-classed such as the prostitutes, yakusas and priests (as strange as it may seem) lived. Yoshiwara, the infamous pleasure quarter, was located in the Northern part of Asakusa, not far from Senso-ji Temple.

In the Meiji era, it was in Asakusa that the first Western imported entertainment were tested. That is where the first public cinema opened, where the first Western operas were shown (at the Imperial Theater) and that the first music hall and striptease clubs made their appearance.

Sensoji (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple) is a temple located in Asakusa, a central part of the Shitamachi. Shitamachi ("downtown") is the old town of Tokyo.

The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida river, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built there for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.