A Walk around Kita Senju (Part 1) / 北千住の散歩 （パート１）

Once again I was on my own, so I decided to go on my own walking tour of some random neighborhood. Okay, Kita Senju was not a random choice. A couple of nights ago while watching a show called "Onegai Ranking", there was a small corner on what to do for free on the weekend. One of the events was to check out the red Enma-sama at Shosenji Temple in Kita Senju (Enma Daiou being the ruler of the underworld in Buddhist mythology). What makes this red enma-sama special? It is only open to the public two times a year - January　15 & 16 and July 15 & 16. A former co-worker of mine also lives in this neighborhood and is also the location for a gourmet burger shop that I had been wanting to check out. I would be meeting my former co-worker around 3pm but was in Kita Senju around 1:30pm. I decided to do a little exploring on my own.

今日はまた一人だったので、一人でどっかの近所散歩に出かけた。今回の目的地は北千住。一昨日の夜テレビで「お願いランキング」とゆう番組を観たら、週末でただで楽しめる場所を紹介してた。その一つは北千住にある勝専寺（しょうせんじ）。赤門寺とも呼ばれてる。この寺に赤い閻魔様の像があるお寺です。赤門は年二回しか公開されない；１月１５と１６日と7月１５と１６日。閻魔様のご縁日です。元同僚もこの近くに住んでるし、自分が行きたかったグルメバーガー屋の町でもある。元同僚は午後三時に会う約束して、北千住に着いたのは一時半。時間があったから、ちょっとぶらり散歩を。

I started my walk by heading out the east entrance head explored the Gakuen Dori Market Street.

散歩は東口の駅を出て、学園通り商店街から始まりました。

There really wasn't anything of interest down this market street. However, I came across a sign pointing to the Yanagihara Chigusa Botanical Gardens and decided to check it out. Before I found the garden, I came across a stairway in what seemed like the middle of nowhere so of course I had to climb it.

こちろの商店街はあんまり面白いところがなかったが、あるサインを発見。柳原千草園が徒歩で15分か20分位に距離であった。行ってみることに。柳原千草園を見つかる前になにもなさそうな所に階段がありました。上るしかない。

Where does it lead?

上に何があるんだ？

Once you reach the top, you can see the Arakawa River (the Yanagihara Chigusa Botanical Gardens was a little further away so I skipped it). Looking around this area, I realized that this was used for the opening scene in a popular Japanese television drama called "San Nen B Gumi : Kinpachi Sensei".

階段を上ると見えてくるのは荒川。（柳原千草園はもっと遠かったので、行くのを一旦却下）。回りを見ると、ここは「三年B組：金八先生」のオーペニングで使われてる舞台だった。

Time to head back to the station to hook up with my former co-worker to check out the Red Enma-sama at Shosenji Temple.

駅に戻って、元同僚と会って、これから勝専寺に行って赤門を見に行く。

With the public viewing of the Red Enma-sama, the area had the atmosphere of a large festival. There were quite a few food booths to pass through before reaching the gate of the temple

赤門寺の公開の為と思うですが、お寺の周りは祭りの雰囲気でした。勝専寺の門まで狭い道に屋台がずらりと並んでた。

Akamonji Temple housing the Red Enma-sama

赤門寺 （中に赤い閻魔様が居る）

The Red Enma-sama / 赤い閻魔様


After checking out Shosenji Temple, it was off to eat at the Sunny Diner. But before that, we stopped off at another temple - Senju Moto Hikawa Jinja, a shrine that features one of the seven lucky gods of fortune. This one features Daikokuten, the Japanese God of Wealth and Farmers.

勝専寺と赤門寺を見たあと、スニーダイナーで食べに行くことに。でもその前に、もう一つのお寺を訪ねた。七福仁の大黒天のお寺、千住元氷川神社。

We thought this was the main temple, until we looked around the corner.

こちが本寺と思ったら、右を回るとメインのお寺がありました。

Senju Moto Hikawa Jinja / 千住元氷川神社

To be continued...

つづく。。。