The closeness of this Shintō holy place, behind Sensō-ji and to the right, gives evidence to the comfortable co-existence of Japan's two most important faiths. Asakusa-jinja was constructed in honor of the brothers who discovered the Kannon statue and is well-known as a excellent example of an architectural technique called gongen-zukuri .

It is also the place of one of Tokyo's most significant festivals, the Sanja Matsuri, a three-day show of costumed carnivals, about 100 lurching portable shrines and stripped-to-the-waist yakuza sporting extraordinary tattoos.

Niten-mon gate, which marks one of the entrances to Asakusa-jinja, was built in 1618 as a private entry to the temple for the Tokugawa shōgun. The door was constructed here at the same time as Tōshō-gū, which burnt up at this site and was relocated to Ueno for fire prevention.

The gate's worn wooden pillars, plastered with votive papers left by Shintō pilgrims, and its massive red paper lamp merit a stop on your way out of the complex. Outstandingly, Niten-mon is the only structure in the temple boundaries to have survived Asakusa's various catastrophes.