I spent the end of November and beginning of December 2018 living in and exploring Tokyo, Japan.

My husband and I stayed in a neighborhood called Asakusa. We were warned that Asakusa was a bit of a tourist trap due to the enormous Buddhist shrine –  Senso-Ji  – and dozens of tiny alleys and old-fashioned shopping streets located there. However, Asakusa turned out to be the perfect neighborhood – far enough out of Shinjuku and central Tokyo to feel quiet, yet close enough to be an easy subway ride away, and a perfect mix of tourist attractions, restaurants, shopping, and residential blocks.

Because Asakusa turned out to be a place where Tokyo residents actually lived, shopped, ate, worked, and went to school, we were able to observe and experience life in Tokyo like a real resident.

The photos above and below are of different parts of Asakusa’s Buddhist temple, Senso-Ji.

I took the photo above on the left on our first night in Tokyo, as we were walking through Asakusa on our way to our hotel. I was incredibly exhausted, but walking through the neon night streets of Tokyo had given me a new buzz of excitement and energy.

The photo above on the right was taken the next morning. It was very early – before anyone else was up and walking around or exploring the shrine. We were both still exhausted from our travels but incredibly jet-lagged, and hadn’t been able to sleep for long. We walked along the shopping alleys through the fog, watching the stall-holders set up their stalls, eating steaming fresh-baked melon bread (amazing!) and drinking milk tea from one of the few stalls that was open that early.

Because our hotel was right across the street, we ended up spending part of every morning in Senso-Ji before heading out to explore another part of the city. The mix of fall colors, red pagodas, and crumbling stone was amazing.

Other parts of Asakusa were equally beautiful.

The photo above on the left is a stone Shinto shrine that we came across while exploring Asakusa’s park. The fall foliage in the park was especially beautiful. The photo on the right is probably my favorite photo that I took during my time in Japan. The koi stream, stone bridge, and red pagoda were part of a Shinto fox shrine that we found on the other side of the river that runs through Asakusa.

At night, Asakusa’s alleys and shopping streets come alive with pop-up food stalls and bars.

Strings of lights twinkle overhead, and neon signs spill pools of color into the streets. Chairs and tables appear in the alleyways, which are packed with a crush of salary men and women looking to relax after work. But away from Senso-Ji, Asakusa at night is quiet. The photo below is of a cozy Sherlock Holmes – themed cafe we came across while walking home one night. Five blocks away, salary men and tourists played drinking games. But the surrounding streets were so quiet it felt like another world.

If I’m every lucky enough to go back to Tokyo, I would certainly love to stay in Asakusa again.

For weeks after returning home, I still dreamed of waking up to the temple bells ringing in the dawn, and walking through the foggy alleyways of Senso-Ji.