Perspectives

Project Mapping Event Showcases Ema Paintings at Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo’s Asakusa

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By Ryuzo Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Photographer

11:52 JST, December 21, 2025

A projection mapping event was held this month for the first time at Sensoji temple in Taito Ward, Tokyo.

During the five-day event, which began on Dec. 3, images were repeatedly projected after sunset onto the Hozo-mon Gate, five-story pagoda and Niten-mon Gate buildings on the temple grounds over four hours each day during sessions that lasted about six minutes each.

By Ryuzo Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Photographer
Paintings are displayed at the temple’s Ema Hall during a preview for invited guests on Dec. 2.

Many tourists viewed the free show, applauding each times.

The event was held as part of the Asakusa Culture & Lights 2025 program. Denboin Garden and Ema Hall were also opened to the public for paid viewing for the first time in seven years.

Denboin Garden is a garden for walking located within the main quarters of the temple, which with its history of about 1,400 years is said to be the oldest temple in the Japanese capital. The scenery in the garden is designed to change as visitors walk through it, offering an enjoyable variety of views. It is said to have been built in the first half of the 17th century by Kobori Enshu, a renowned landscape architect. Designated as a national scenic spot, the garden is usually closed to the public.

By Ryuzo Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Photographer
Visitors see images projected onto the temple’s five-story pagoda, center, in the temple’s Demboin Garden during the event, with Ema Hall seen on the left and Tokyo Skytree on the right in the background.

Ema Hall contains more than 200 valuable ema votive paintings, which were created mainly during the Edo period (1603-1867) and dedicated to the temple. The paintings have been preserved as the temple’s treasures. Ema, also referred to as painted plaques or panels, are traditionally offered at shrines and temples in Japan to make wishes or express gratitude to deities. Horses have been drawn in some ema paintings, serving as substitutes for live offerings. The paintings once hung along the nageshi horizontal beams of the temple’s main hall, but now they are preserved in Ema Hall and not usually accessible by the public.

By Ryuzo Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Photographer
An image of a horse is projected onto the Niten-mon Gate, which has been designated as a national important cultural property.

The images used in the projection mapping event included traditional ceremonies long held at the temple and ones depicted on large ema paintings preserved in Ema Hall.

By Ryuzo Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Photographer
Denboin Garden during daytime

The event was planned by an executive committee and produced by Hitohata, Inc. a digital creative company. It was funded with a subsidy from the Cultural Affairs Agency as a project to promote the use of attractive cultural properties.

In 2028, the temple will mark the 1,400th anniversary of the discovery of its principal statue of Kannon in the Sumida River.