This thesis discusses the relation of ritual and community in Asakusa Tokyo, a famous tourist attraction around the world. In the old days, Asakusa had once prospered as a castle town during the Edo period, and later it has gradually transformed into a cultural epicenter. The aim of this study focuses on how Japanese recognize the concepts of Buddha(hotoke/&;#20175;/Asakusa Temple) and God(kami/神/ Asakusa Shrine) and how they explain the sanctity and the secularity in their social lives. Through the ethnographic field research of Asakusa, I indicate that the ideas of Shindo(神道)and Buddhism in Japan can be combined to form“lived religion”. The other part of this thesis is concerned with how Japanese arrange and participate in matsuri(祭). Matsuri are traditional Japanese festivals which in many areas still have the ability to reinforce the solidarity of a local community. This functional aspect is exhibited clearly in traditional community like Asakusa. This study analyzes the ritual of a shrine matsuri in order to reveal both the compatibility and conflicts among different groups of people in the modern metropolitan festival in Asakusa. Sanja Matsuri(三社祭) is held at Asakusa Shrine yearly on the third weekend in May and it plays an important role in reconstructing historical memories and strengthening the self-identity of Asakusa. In Sanja Matsuri, the young people from each district proudly bear the mikoshi(神輿)of three patron through all the neighborhoods of Asakusa. In order to understand the differentiation between social groups participating in shrine matsuri, this thesis outlines and illustrates the boundary between the shrine community and outsiders. In addition, further examination of time and spatial orientation, I indicate that Ujiko(氏子), Buddha(hotoke/&;#20175;), and God(kami/神) become a unity through Sanja Matsuri. Finally, this thesis concludes that a matsuri appears to contain both an extremely formally correct, polite side together with a side representing impropriety or disruption of order. When viewing the structure of a matsuri its characteristics appear to involve happy, playfullness, informality and harmony. People construct social relationships and the concept of person by practicing and participating in matsuri. As conclusion, this research points out that Japanese religious ceremony in Asakusa brings together not only, insiders and outsiders but also descendants with their ancestors.
