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2019年9月

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TOUR REPORT ON Sep/28(Sat)/2019 (THE EAST GARDEN OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE)

  • 2019.09.28

Thank you for joining our TOKYO free walking tour heading to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on September 28. We welcomed over 20 guests from Singapore,USA,UK,Poland,France,India,Australia,Germany,Spain,&c making 3 groups, and enjoyed the tour and the conversation each other. Some guests come Japan to enjoy RUGBY WORLD CUP JAPAN 2019, others said by coincidence! During the tour, we took the group photo in front of the RUGBY WORLD CUP monument on the GYOKO-street. One guest asked me if she can watch SUMO wrestling, we can see regular SUMO tournament every two months, and sometimes have one day SUMO tournament as the regional tour. Since regular SUMO tournament finished last week and she had only two weeks, i said this time might be difficult to watch it. But she said only one game would be enough just only watching it, therefore i recommend she might be able to watch the training at East TOKYO area and look for it on the internet. Hope she enjoy SUMO training!   After the tour, RUGBY WORLD CUP had the game between our JAPAN versus one of winner candidate Irish. I heard we can watch at the public area(please see tour report Sep/18) though, […]

Who is “The Last Samurai”? 22 September 2019, Asakusa & Ueno Park

  • 2019.09.23

We were delighted to welcome 35 guests from Bangladesh, Indonesia, USA, Pakistan, Germany and Australia in 3 tours of that day. 30 guests in Asakusa AM and PM tours and 5 guests in Ueno Park tour. The weather of the day was very fine in the morning but it started to rain in the afternoon. Usually Sunday tours get fewer number of guests than this. This time is different due to Rugby World Cup Japan. Asakusa AM and PM tours Ueno Park Tour Japan hosts Rugby World Cup this autumn and will host Olympics next year. More than a century ago no one could imagine how Japan would become so international that it would host such big international events . The man who was the model of the statue in Ueno Park which is the last spot of the tour, could not, either. That is the statue of SAIGO Takamori, who was a samurai in Satsuma domain (currently Kagoshima prefecture) and later became a military official in late 19th century. SAIGO was a model character for a samurai named Katsumoto in Hollywood film”The Last Samurai” (2003) in which Tom Cruise starred. As depicted in the film he was regarded as once contributor […]

Rugby World Cup and Female Sushi chef, 21 September 2019, the East Garden of the Imperial Palace

  • 2019.09.23

Many thanks to 24 guests who participated in this tour from USA, UK, Scotland, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Chile, Bangladesh, South Africa, Italy, Ireland, Argentina, Cambodia, Pakistan, Germany, and Spain. We divided into 4 groups. It was a cloudy early autumn day so we did not feel hot in the tour. Autumn is known to be season for sports in Japan because of mild climate. On previous day Rugby World Cup tournament began in Japan. Thanks to that event, we met some Rugby fans who were planning to view the games. So we can expect many more Rugby fans in our tours this coming 40 days of the tournament period. We are excited about that. Foreign Rugby fans should enjoy energetic muscular athletes’ hard movements in the games. Big guys tackling each other is what you’re eager to see in Rugby. These are so powerful scenes. However, there is a woman who tackled a male dominance of Japan society. She is a sushi chef in Akihabara, Tokyo. She manages a sushi bar, Nadeshiko-sushi. Traditionally women are not allowed to work in this industry. But she tackled and became a professional sushi chef who even traveled around the world to introduce greatness of […]

TOUR REPORT ON September 18, 2019 (THE EAST GARDEN OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE)

  • 2019.09.20

Thank you for joining our tour to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on September 18.  We welcomed 10 guests from Canada, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, and USA. We enjoyed our walking tour and great conversation very much. Our tour starts from Tokyo station. Very fortunately, we happened to see procession of horse-drawn carriages at the Ceremony of the Presentation of Credentials at Tokyo station. During the Ceremony of the Presentation of Credentials, ceremonial horse-drawn carriages welcome newly appointed ambassadors to Japan and convey them from the Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace South Porch. We welcomed two new ambassadors from Netherlands and Slovenia.   During the tour, we encountered rain, but we still enjoyed our walking tour and great conversation. One of our guests asked us about the place they can see IKEBANA. During our tour, we didn’t have a good clue. Now we’ve got some information. IKEBANA EXHIBITION is held at Meguro, the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo from September 20th to November 13th,  2019. Ikebana is one of the traditional Japanese art in which flowers and plants are specially arranged for appreciation. It has been practiced for more than 600 years, and there are so many styles […]

Important notice on our East Gardens of the Imperial Palace tour

  • 2019.09.17

Please be advised of the recent situations that may affect our tour. The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is being prepared for a once-in-a-reign Ceremony in November by the new Emperor. Some areas of the Gardens are closed down to erect a special ceremonial complex built just for this occasion. As the Ceremony nears and the construction progresses, these close-downs may necessitate us to modify or cancel our East Gardens tour. We will keep you posted on the developments. Please also refer to our terms and conditions. Thank you for your understanding!

Tour Report for Meji Shrine and Harajuku on September 15th

  • 2019.09.16

Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on September 15th. We had guests from various countries such as Australia, US, India, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Singapore, Pakistan, and Germany. As always, we shared good atmosphere in a quiet forest and historical objects in Meiji Shrine. At this time of year, we have a lot of Typoon, but fortunately the weather was good, and temperature was just comfortable. This good condition is also good for a bride and groom who just started their new life from Meiji Shrine. Congratulations to the young couple! Just one block away from busy TAKESHITA street, there is a small facility called Ota Memorial Museum of Art, which has specialty in UKIYOE wood block print. It is amazing that such a quiet and pretty museum showing traditional Japanese art is located in the center of pop culture. The museum holds themed exhibition from time to time. You can obtain good knowledge of UKIYOE from a special angle in such exhibitions. This week’s exhibition is all about Utagawa Toyokuni who had his work in late 18th to early 19th century. If you are interested in UKIYOE, it’s surely worth while spending […]

Metro Marks in Tokyo: The East Garden of the Imperial Palace, 14th Sep 2019

  • 2019.09.15

Thanks to all the guests for joining the tour and having a good time with us on 14th September! We welcomed 34 guests and divided into 2 groups. Our group welcomed 18 guests and another group welcomed 16 guests. It’s larger than usual because it’s fine day for walking. Guests enjoyed the tour and talking with other guests in same group. Guests also enjoyed simple wearing Kimono at the tour end. Guests give us lots of questions during the tour, but most interesting question today was about Metro train. A guest wants to buy one day ticket for his sightseeing in Tokyo. Tokyo Metro offers reasonable one day ticket pass. However problem is that there are two metro train companies in Tokyo, Tokyo Metro and Toei Metro, and the reasonable ticket is available for Tokyo Metro only. He gave me a question how to know the Metro entrance which his ticket is available for? I couldn’t answer it immediately but I got the answer with help of other guides. Tokyo Metro’s mark is like character “M”, and Toei Metro’s mark is a ginkgo leaf. (Gingko tree is the represent tree of Tokyo Metropolitan.) Metro companies also sell other type of […]

THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN UENO HAVE LONG BEEN DRIVING EVIL SPIRIT AWAY- September 8 in Ueno & Asakusa.

  • 2019.09.10

Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Ueno and Asakusa. On the day of our two-guided tours, the 8th of September, we welcomed 12 guests on our walking tour. These people came from different regions of the world, including Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, U.K and U.S. Strong typhoon was approaching Japan, and Japanese meteorological agency repeatedly issued the alert. In Tokyo, however, we had strong sunshine and occasionally scattered clouds in the sky, and the daytime temperature rose up to around 30 degrees Celsius. Seemingly, scorching heat of the sun has not been pushed back yet. Under these circumstances, we met twelve guests in Asakusa and Ueno. Some of the attendants of Asakusa Morning Tour made their time to join Ueno Afternoon Tour. We really appreciate it. Around 10 a.m., we started a morning tour at Asakusa. After overlooking the entire Asakusa district from the rooftop of the Asakusa Information Center, we moved to a gorgeous gate called Kaminarimon Gate, or a thunder gate in English. After passing through the 250 meters shopping stretch, we witnessed temple visitors waiting for their turn in a long line to worship. They’re going to make wishes like improving their […]

What is drawing attention to the people in the East Garden of Imperial palace? Sept.07 2019

  • 2019.09.08

Hello, viewers!! Suddenly, a quiz for you. What do you think is drawing attention to the people  in the above pic? ①Sunglasses accidentally fell into the pond.②No one has seen such a huge turtle taking a sunbath at this place. ③Colorful carps with long fins and tails are swimming  so elegantly. We very much appreciate our guests energetic enough to  join our tour last day. We could welcome 15 guest from coutries as the U.S.A,  Mexico, Columbia, Germany, Austria, Poland. It was an extremely hot day, so hot as like another mid summer day of last month, but we could have a blessful time sharing the Japanese history and cultural talk with all of you. The sun shone on the water, the asphalt path, the Japanese Garden so clearly this day. The blue sky was just perfect to take any photos.  And also the evergreen colored trees, grass, lotus were so refreshing to our eyes. After the tour, we were happy to see our guests enjoying the TFWT Instant Kimonos. All of you looked so cool and lovely in the Japanese style!! Oops…!! I almost forgot to give the answer of  the first quiz. On our tour course, you can usually see the beautiful carps (koi)mixed with Indonesian and Japanese carps. […]

Wall paintings and lunch at Cat Street in Ura Harajuku (September 1)

  • 2019.09.02

Thank you for choosing our tour among the many candidates in Meiji Shrine and Harajuku area on September 1. 12 guests kindly joined our tour from America, Britain, Ireland, France. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan. I hope all of you enjoyed walking with us in spite of muggy weather. Cat Street is a 1 kilometer-road between Harajuku and Shibuya, and crosses Omote Sando Avenue in the middle. The street is almost straight consisting of south part (Shibuya) and north part (toward Shinjuku) going deeper into Harajuku (“Ura Harajuku”). The narrow road seems to originate from many homeless cats basking in the sun in the old days. You may not be able to see them now. In fact, this road was made over the river prior to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. Cat Street is one of the hot spots in Harajuku. There are a number of trendy shops and cafes including vintage clothing stores. However, it has much less teenagers in cosplay like Takeshita Street. People show more adult fashion. Since there is not that much traffic, it is an ideal place to go for a walk with your friends or family. In addition, you will see many outstanding mural arts […]