Legend has it that two brothers found a tiny golden statue of Kannon, the buddhist goddess of mercy, while fishing in the Sumida River nearby. Sensoji Temple (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple) was dedicated to her almost 1400 years ago – Tokyo’s oldest temple and one of its’ most popular. If you come in late spring, Sensoji becomes the focus of Tokyo’s largest 3-4 day matsuri Shinto festival.