The unique amalgam of prayer and play at the Sensoji temple in Edo is often cited as proof of the degenerate Buddhism of the Tokugawa period. This investigation of the economy and cultural politics of Sensoji, however, shows that its culture of prayer and play reflected changes taking place in Tokugawa Japan, particularly in the city of Edo. Play was an integral part of the business of religion at Sensoji, and the temple supplied both in equal measure to often rootless Edoites. Hur's reappraisal of prayer and play and their inherent connectedness provides a cultural critique of conventional...