Japan’s Palanquin Mikoshi Fest marks reopening of tourism

Monday, June 6, 2022

This is a religious palanquin ‘mikoshi’, a sacred shrine that is strolling through a crowd of spectators.

The visitors are rejoiced to witness celebrations after the long pandemic break.

For the first time in three years, three Mikoshis were carried out from Asakusa shrine area.


These sacred shrines are led by a musical band and lined up in a row. Originally 1,000 carriers crowded into one Mikoshi but to prevent infection, the number of carriers was limited to 100 by attaching tires to it.

Nevertheless, many spectators gathered on the street to see the portable shrines touring the city for the first time in three years.

Asakusa, is one of the most popular tourism cities in Japan. It is crowded with foreign tourists because of housing famous attractions like Senso-ji temple, ancient sweet shops.

However, due to the new coronavirus, the number of tourists coming to the city has decreased from 30% to 2%.


The Nakamise shopping street in front of the Senso-ji temple grounds was also affected due to the pandemic. The Nakamise shopping street in front of the Senso-ji temple grounds which was visited by many foreign tourists was also seriously affected.

The Japanese government has announced that it will ease restrictions on the entry of foreign nationals and begin accepting foreign tourists from this month.

Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center is located across the road from Kaminarimon. Its information staff also feel a positive movement of foreign tourists returning to Asakusa.

At Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, Staff accommodate foreign visitors from all over the world, such as providing information in various languages at the reception desk.

Japan hopes to revive inbound tourism by easing restrictions on the entry of foreign tourists.

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