Thank you for all our guests who joined the tour of East Gardens of The Imperial Palace. We welcomed 6 guests from Canada, UK, and Brazil. We divided all guests into 3 groups, and started the tour at 10am. It was a little bit cold, but a good day for walking around. Plum blossoms are in full bloom just right now! We all enjoyed pink and white flowers and the scent of those flowers. Recently, the current Emperor published a paper to report feeding habits of the raccoon in the Imperial Palace. The raccoon is known as “Tanuki” which scientific name is Nyctereutes procyonoides. The raccoon is a native animal to Japan and it belongs to mammal species of the canid family member similar to foxes, wolves and domestic dogs. The Emperor collected and examined feces from raccoons for 5 years in a specific place within the Imperial Palace, and reported what kinds of foods they ate in each seasons. The paper writes that raccoon in the Imperial Palace strongly depends on natural foods such as fruits and insects. Most of those food items are native to Japan since the past Edo period. “Tanuki” is well respected in Japanese […]
While fine days and rainy days are coming periodically, spring is approaching. It was a really warm day, many thanks for joining our tour in Asakusa on February 24. We met 14 wonderful people from Canada, Germany, India, Italy, UK. and USA. It is getting warmer and warmer. Now we can feel the breath of spring. Spring brings beautiful flowers. Peach flower festival, “Momo no sekku” or “Hinamatsuri” is just around the corner. The other day, I attended a workshop “Let’s make Hina dolls” which was held in Tokyo National Museum. This museum is my favorite one, included in our tour course which will be held on March 21 in Ueno. “Hina and Japanese Dolls” exhibition is being shown in this museum until March 17, 2019 (Sun). https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=1952&lang=en Hinamatsuri, celebrated on March 3 every year, is one of the most beautiful Japanese events, is approaching. Hinamatsuri is a day on which Japanese households with young daughters decorate their homes with Hina dolls for girls and their families’ bright and happy future. Much like most Japanese traditional customs, Hinamatsuri is said to have begun as a custom to ward off evil demons and pray for prosperous and healthy future. In the […]
Thank you for all our guests who joined “February 23, The East Gardens of The Imperial Place Tour”. We welcomed 15 guests from Australia, Canada, USA, Philippines, France, India, Spain, and Ukraine. We devided all guests into 3 groups, and started the tour 13:00 . During our tour sometimes we got strong wind. That is the sign of Spring. Spring is the time of when we meet new friends and leave old friends behind. Japanese school semester begins in April and ends in March. I graduated from a nurse college in March 14 years ago. Last week I had a small party with my former classmates of the college.Friendship of classmates is so nice. One of them is going to Vientiane in Laos as a midwife of JICA( Japan International Cooperation Agency). She will do her best there. International exchange program contribute to people’s heartwarming life. All guides of TFWT are waiting for you. Why don’t you join our tour of East garden of the Imperial Place, Asakusa, Meijijingu shrine and Ueno . (reported by Keiko N.)
Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Harajuku area. On that day, February 17, we were honored to welcome three guests to our walking tour. These people came from different corners of the world, including Israel and U.S.A,. As observed nationwide, the cold front that approached Japan and relentlessly brought about a strong mass of cold air for the past few days, is leaving. It is highly likely that there is a breakthrough in the cold temperature and the weather seems to have finally improved. In Tokyo, the temperature has ranged from 2 to 15 degrees Celsius during the week. It is said that this kind of weather transition symbolizes the end of winter season. As our group was walking along its usual tour route, we encountered a stream of visitors moving towards the main religious hall of the shrine. Normally, it takes around 15 minutes of walking from the torii gate, or the Shinto shrine gate to the main building of the holly ground. This gives us enough time to introduce a few features and locations we pass by along the way, like torii and the tamajyari path, or the path covered by small gravel. Both […]
Thank you for joining our tour to the East garden of the Imperial Palace on Feb. 16th. We welcomed 15 guests from Australia, USA, UK, Argentina and Spain. Weather condition was almost perfect for the tour. It was fine, no wind and sunshine was warm. Some guests took off their coats during the tour. At the street between the Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace we found two couples wearing wedding dress for taking photos. I’m sure that good weather condition bring them out to the scenic photo spot. We could feel that spring is just round the corner. East garden flowers also noticed us that spring is just knocking the door. Some early flowering cherry trees are just beginning to come out. Many Japanese apricot flowers are soon in full bloom and also the scent of them attract us when passing by. All guests are divided into four groups and some guides accompany them. I hope during 2 and half hours tour close communication between us contribute to deeper understanding of Japanese culture, history and also modern Japan. Our guides had surprising reunion with guests of our Meiji Shrine tour 2weeks ago by chance at entrance of the garden. […]
It was a freezing cold cloudy day. But we welcomed 11 guests in total from Australia, Singapore, Thailand, UK & USA. Thank YOU very much for your participation to our bi-weekly Sunday Asakusa route tour. It is always amazing that we have guests from such various countries & regions. Lots of tourist interests are packed in Asakusa. One example is that you can visit both Shinto shrine and Buddhism temple in short distance. In fact, they locate side by side. Shinto (“the way of the deities”) is an indigenous religion of Japan as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan’s major religion alongside Buddhism. Shinto is deeply rooted in the Japanese people and traditions. “Shinto deities” are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of concepts and things important to life, such as mountains, rivers, trees, wind, rain, thunder and fertility. Even human become kami after passing away. The kami of extraordinary people are enshrined at some shrines. An interesting aspect of Shinto shrine is that they have a specific role expected according to the deity enshrined. For example, the Inari enshrines the god of good harvests, and so people visits there pray for their success […]
We had seven guests joining our tour at the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on Feb.9. They were from Australia, United Kingdom, U.S.A. and Vietnam. Feb.4 was the New Year’s day in the lunar calendar and the beginning of spring as well. However, it had snowed in the tour’s morning and was very cold. We enjoyed blossoms of camellia and plum trees covered with snow. Our guests also found Kanzakura-cherry blossoms (species of winter-blooming cherry trees) at the Honmaru area which reminded us that spring was surely knocking on the door. We hope they add our tour and the warmth of the Houji-cha ( roasted green tea ) on their memories of Japan. ( by Rei )
Thank you so much for joining the first tour at Ueno Park on February 11. We welcomed five guests from America, UK, France and Canada. I really appreciate your participation in our tour in spite of the cold weather. It is spring according to the calendar but is still wintry. Some winter cherry blossoms were blooming. I hope all of you enjoyed walking with us on the memorable day at Ueno Park. As you may know Ueno Park is full of tourist attractions such as nature, museums, temples, shrines, statues, pond etc. Among them the most popular destination may be Tokyo National Museum. Tokyo National Museum is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. They have about 120,000 items including 89 national treasures. There’s no other place in Japan where you can admire so many cultural and historical masterpieces. The current main building, Japanese gallery was reconstructed after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and the building structure is the combination of Japanese and European architecture. One of the reasons for the popularity is that their permanent display of the main building is outstanding and definitely worthwhile to visit. Main building shows the variety of the Japanese arts from the ancient […]
In addition to the existing tours at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, Asakusa Sensoji Temple and Meiji Shrine / Harajuku, we will have another walking tour at the heart of Ueno Park starting on February 11. This will be the fourth tour for TFWT. The starting point is the front of Park Exit of JR Ueno Station and the goal is the statue of Saigo Takamori. Ueno Park is one of the first public parks in Japan. In fact, the park was the site of Kaneiji Temple, the Japan’s largest and family temple of the ruling Tokugawa dynasty during the Edo period which continued for nearly 270 years. The temple was politically and religiously influential and the site of the temple was twice as large as the current park at its peak. However, when the Japan’s largest ever civil war broke out in the late 1800s, Kaneiji was ruined and devastated by fires. Afterwards, the grounds became a public park. Fortunately, the 400-year old historical buildings including Ueno Toshogu Shrine, five-storied pagoda and Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple survive the earthquakes, fires and wars in the original forms and miraculously remain intact and aesthetic. Now the park is expansive, offers […]
What a perfect day! We could welcome 12 guests at our meeting place, the Giant Torii under such a mild climate even it was in the middle of the winter. Thank you for coming from U.S.A, Brazil, U.K.,Australia, Singapore. The precinct surrounded by greenary was such a relief, and the energetic Harajuku area was also so stimulating for all of us. Each time we visit the shopping area, we could find new shops or discover more “hyper” things. More to say, this day(Feb 3rd), was the exact day of a seasonal event called Setsubun.The Setsubun is the day before a new season starts. In Japan we throw soy beans on setsubun as we say “out with the demon and in with fortune” This ceremony started because people believed that evil spirits were released every time the season changed. For good luck, we eat as many soy beans as we are years old on this day. On Setsubun people also eat an entire roll of sushi for a good luck. Why entire? Because it is said that the luck will be cut off as well if you slice the roll. And one more advice is that you have to eat […]
