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2020年9月

Tokyo Now#15: Why not spend an autumn holiday strolling at a Japanese garden?

  • 2020.09.23

Now that the scorching summer heat is over, how do you spend your autumn holidays? Monday and Tuesday of this week were national holidays, so we had a four-day long weekend. As travel restrictions were eased recently, some ventured out to remote areas as far as Okinawa or Hokkaido. But most people seem to have preferred spending their holidays at places not far from home. Tokyo has many chisan-kaiyushiki gardens, that is, the gardens designed to stroll around a pond and hills with trees and rocks aesthetically laid out. One of them is Kiyosumi-teien garden located on the east side of Sumida River. The garden was built by Yataro Iwasaki, an industrialist who founded Mitsubishi conglomerate, at the end of 19th century. Later, the garden was donated to Tokyo City. He searched for various kinds of stones across Japan and placed them beside the pond. Walking along the street from Kiyosumi-teien to Fukagawa Edo Museum, a small but intriguing museum that exhibits the town of old Edo, I found a scarecrow competition was being held on the street. There is no wonder that many scarecrows are made to scare the coronavirus away. Written by Chino From TFWT PA&C

Tokyo Now#14: Thank you for your long time service! Lovely Harajuku St.

  • 2020.09.20

Have you ever been to Tokyo?  If “yes”,  I guess you visited “Harajuku” as it is  one of the most popular area not only for tourist but residence in Japan.  Two most popular tourist site in Harajuku, or even in Tokyo, are Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine and Harajuku town itself.  Uniqueness of Harajuku is that serene spiritual greenery spot and cool fashionable district locate both side of the lovely JR Harajuku station building. Famous for its triangular roof and a weathercock placed on the roof, the oldest wooden train station building in Tokyo was constructed in a Western style in 1924 mainly for use by visitors to nearby Meiji Jingu, which was built in 1920. The station building watched over development of Harajuku, surviving Word War II. Buy finally, the loved old Harajuku Station building ended its service in March this year, and is set to be demolished as it does not meet fireproof standards. Good news is that some parts, such as stained glass, remain intact in the station building since its completion, according to JR East. After the building is demolished, a replica of its exterior is planned to be constructed near the new Harajuku Station building, partially […]

Tokyo Now #13 : Shibuya, still less scrambled

  • 2020.09.16

Do you know the scrambled intersection in Shibuya? It is amazing to see many people walking in different directions without hitting each other. The number of people is decreasing due to the influence of the new corona, but they are training every day. Speaking of Shibuya, Hachi-ko, the faithful dog. This dog was the model for the movie “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” starring Richard Gere. Worth a look. He is also looking forward to welcoming you with the message, “Take care of love. You are not alone.” Shibuya is next to Meiji Jingu Shrine and Harajuku. by TFWT PA&C