Sensoji (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple) is located in the central part of the Shitamachi. Shitamachi ("downtown") is the old town of Tokyo. The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida river, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built there for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.