Asakusa Cool Cats
The other day I went into Asakusa for the day and caught these two cool cats lounging around….they were guarding the front gate of the Asakusa shrine (Saja - sama) which is ironic as off to one side of the temple there was a smaller shrine with hundreds of small white ceramic cats on display.
I was in Asakusa to see the Jabusame (Japanese archery on horseback) demonstration at Sumida Park. It was a cool, overcast day and it was threatening to rain. The rain held off long enough for the demonstration which was great because it was amazing. I’m still working on the photos from the event and will post some soon, in the meantime here’s a larger shot of my two cool friends….
on 23 April, 2008 on 9:23 am
I think the statue is called “Shi-sa” ….. but i could be wrong … probably wrong.
on 23 April, 2008 on 10:56 am
I think that you are right. I did some research and they are lion dogs and can be called shi-sa or koma-inu.
Thanks for spurring me on to educate myself on this! One more factoid that may come in handy someday…