Oct 25 (rocketnews24.com) - Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district is one of the top tourist sites in the country, drawing thousands of tourists to the area every year.
If you've ever visited Sensoji, chances are you've entered through the Kaminarimon "Thunder Gate" with the enormous red lantern hanging inside, before walking up the bustling walkway lined with shops that leads to the main temple building.
This shopping street, located inside the temple grounds, is known as Nakamise Dori (literally "street of inside stores"), and it's one of the oldest shopping strips in Japan. Today, approximately 89 shops can be found along the 250-metre (820-foot) long approach to the temple, selling all sorts of Japanese souvenirs and traditional food and confectioneries.
Despite the steady stream of customers along the approach, shopkeepers are now concerned about their future, after Sensoji sent out a notice to business owners advising them of a 16-fold increase in their rent. According to one shopkeeper, he was made aware of the sudden change in September, when each store along Nakamise Dori was given two sheets of paper to inform them that the rent would be increased by 16 times from next January. He says he won't be able to pay the rent after such an increase and nor will many of the other store owners.
The reason for the increase appears to be due to the fact that the storeholders had previously been paying rent to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, because although the land that Nakamise Dori is situated on is owned by Sensoji temple, the buildings on the land belong to Tokyo. However, in July, Sensoji bought the buildings on the land from Tokyo, which is why the incredibly cheap current average monthly rent of 23,000 yen (US$261.50) will soon shoot up to 370,000 yen.
