During the Edo period, Asakusa and Shitaya held a maze of temples and cemeteries extending in a semicircle around the city.

Asakusa's main attraction was the Kannonji. As a religious center, it did not shun entertainment on its sacred grounds, as is typical in Japan. From ancient times on, Asakusa had been the place to go to in search of pleasure, and it remained so right up until the Second World War. During the Edo and Meiji periods, these areas housed teahouses and kabuki theaters. After the earthquake had destroyed almost everything other than the temple, new forms of entertainment became all the rage. In the early Shōwa years, film lovers came here to watch the latest movies, both foreign and Japanese. Others visited the various revue shows, and even kabuki remained here in the form of the Miyatoza. If that didn't suffice, there was always the Yoshiwara district down the road, which held the famed licensed pleasure quarters that thrived during the Edo period.

Beyond Asakusa lie the lands of the Shitaya district, which were almost entirely taken over by townspeople when the Tokugawa regime was abolished in 1868. Only a few reminders of the old temple grounds remain, in such forms as Ueno Park.