Many thanks for joining our tours at Asakusa and Ueno Park on December 24, 2023. We welcomed 15 guests from the US, Portugal, India, Malaysia, and Turkey. It was a tremendous opportunity for us to meet wonderful guests from many countries and share interesting conversations. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached so that you can remember the fun times we had during the tour. <Asakusa> It was a really cold but typical Japanese winter, with a maximum temperature of around 10 degrees Celsius. There were reports on TV news of frozen road surfaces and a car slipping, but despite that, we enjoyed heartwarming conversations with our guests. This tour was the final one of Tokyo Free Walking Tour in 2023. While it’s common to enjoy turkey on Christmas Day in Western countries, it’s intriguing why there are long lines at KFC in Japan during Christmas. It’s rumored that sales on December 24 are 10 times higher than the yearly average. KFC, the American fried chicken chain, made its debut in Japan in 1970 and reportedly initiated its Christmas campaign. A foreign visitor, finding no turkey available on Christmas in Tokyo, remarked, “I’ll celebrate Christmas with Kentucky’s fried chicken […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at East Garden of Imperial Palace on December 23. We welcomed 3 of guests from US, Canada and Germany. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. On December 23, it’s a 90th birthday of our former Emperor.Do you know he is a biologist?In the pond at the East Garden of Imperial Palace, there are special carps called Hirenaga-nishikigoi in Japanese. It has both of Japanese colorful body and Indonesian long fin. The idea to combine two species comes from our former Emperor. Actually, I’ve never seen same type of carps any other place. It’s worth watching in our tour! “One touch KIMONO” is temporally appeared in the tour. You can put on Japanese Kimono in 30 seconds and take photo in front of Edo castle site. Today new model was just prepared. Our guest kindly tried it on, which is arranged with lily flower. Please come, join and try it! Your feedback is important and helpful to us. If you enjoyed our tour, please considerposting a review on our TripAdvisor/Facebook etc. […]
2024年1月の新規会員の募集にあたり、オリエンテーション（説明会）を開催致します。 当会では、皇居東御苑、浅草、上野公園、明治神宮・原宿の4コースにおいて、英語によるボランティアガイド活動を行っています。外国からのお客様に、日本文化や歴史について理解を深めていただき、日本に親しみを持っていただくことを第一の目的として活動しております。そのための基本的な英語力や、日本文化、歴史の知識は必要ですが、外国のお客様への「おもてなしのこころ」を何よりも大切にしています。まずは「習うより慣れろ」ですので、お気軽にご参加いただければと思います。 ＜応募資格＞１．当会の活動にご賛同いただき、ツアーへの参加および運営活動を含めたボランティア活動に参加いただける方。２．年齢18歳以上（高校生を除く） ＜申込期間＞2023年11月1日（水）～2024年1月15日（月） ＜会費等＞入会金：1,000円年会費：2,000円 ＜オリエンテーション実施要領＞日時： 2024年1月27日（土）10:00～12:00（予定）会場： Zoom開催（接続先はお申し込みをいただいた方に開催日１週間前を目途にご連絡します） ＊オリエンテーション参加により必ず入会しなければならないというものではありません。活動内容をお聞きいただいた上でご判断いただけます。＊ご入会検討の一助としていただくため、オリエンテーション開催前に体験ツアーを1月20日（土）に開催予定です。 詳細につきましては、当団体のHPトップ上段のグリーンのバナーからご確認いただき、お申込みをお願いします。 当会HP：Free walking tours for foreign tourists and residents│Tokyo Free Walking Tour (tfwt.jp)
Thank you for choosing our weekly tour at East Garden of the Imperial Palace on December 20. We welcomed 5guests from Singapore, U.S.A, Korea, and Philippines. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. It was the perfect day for the tour to stroll. We enjoyed last-colored leaves under the beautiful blue sky. By the way, Winter solstice is coming on December 22. We eat cooked pumpkins and take a bath with yuzu floating in it. We call Yuzuyu. On that day, most of the Japanese Onsen and Sentoh (public bath in towns) offer Yuzuyu. You can experience Yuzuyu if you would stay in Japan on winter solstice. As you know, Yuzu fragrance smells good. It will heal your soul and body. In addition, don’t eat used Yuzu in the bath. Now we can enjoy Christmas decorations all over Japan, but most of the decorations in Japan will completely change from those of Christmas to Japanese new years’ such as bamboo, pine trees, and zodiac sine of the next year “Dragons” after Christmas eve. Please enjoy these dramatic […]
Thank you very much for participating in the tour of the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. On that day we hosted 6 people from USA and Singapore in an unusual warm weather for this time of the year. December is a winter month but the temperature rose to 20 degree centigrade in the afternoon. Although we could view autumn scenes in the East Garden, anyone could go through the garden without wearing a jacket. It was like October. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. It was a warm day but one of the guides went skiing in Iwate prefecture. So we’re already in the winter season. Even you feel warm in a day but that can not continue for days. So please always prepare clothes for winter when going outside. This month December is called “Shiwasu” in Japan. It literally means “Monks running” because it is the most busiest time of the year to prepare for coming new year. Monks in the old days had to run around the towns to do their businesses. That is how the word “Shiwasu” was derived. People become very busy to write new year […]
Thank you for choosing our Meiji Shrine and Harajuku tour on December 17, 2023. We welcomed 14 guests from US and Singapore. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. Today, the temperature has dropped about 10 degrees compared to yesterday. Temperature changes can affect our physical condition. Some of our guests joined our tours several years ago, and some joined our other tours recently. We are very grateful for such repeat guests. We are sometimes asked by our guests where they can find trash cans. As you know, the number of trash cans is decreasing in the city. They were removed as a place to hide suspicious items after the terrorist attacks. However, there are plenty of places in the city where people can hide suspicious items if they want to. Terrorists would not stop terrorizing because of the lack of trash cans. A major reason for the decrease in the number of trash cans is that governments and businesses have realized they can reduce the time and cost by removing trash cans. It is easy to […]
Many thanks for joining our tour in Asakusa on December 13th. We welcomed 19 people from Singapore, America, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, UK and Spain. The weather was great in our favor in the beginning of winter. The Nakamise Shopping Street was lively and bustling as usual. We hope you enjoyed the walking tour with us. As mentioned, group and snap photos are posted. As mentioned during the tour, Sensoji Temple houses the statues of the Goddess of Mercy and its replica at its main hall. The Goddess is a hidden statue but its replica is shown to the public only on December 13th when we had a tour. According to the Sensoji legend, the temple was established in the year of 628 when the Goddess was discovered in the river. As soon as the Buddha statue was found, it was decided that the statue must be kept hidden from the public and has never been revealed with an exception. The rule is still effective until today. Because people missed to visit the temple without an object, a worship replica was carved a high-ranking priest in the early Heian Period (794-1185). It’s not just a copy but represents the Goddess of […]
Many thanks to the guests who joined the tour on that day. We welcomed 3 guests from USA, Argentine and Australia. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. Happiest thing for us in this tour was that all guests talked each other and became close friend. During the tour one of guests mentioned he visited many shrines, temples, museums in Tokyo. Visiting there is good way to feel Japanese culture, however in this report, let me tell you “The Tokyo Toilet”, modern public toilets in Tokyo Shibuya city. All toilets have well designed form because those are designed by 16 architects and designers. People can use it comfortably, regardless of gender, age, or disability, and toilets are kept clean. I think it’s worth to visit to feel Cool Japan. URL: THE TOKYO TOILET | The Nippon Foundation (nippon-foundation.or.jp) Your feedback is important and helpful to us. If you enjoyed our tour, please consider posting a review on our TripAdvisor/Facebook etc. Your comments will help contribute to higher-quality tours. Once again, thank you for choosing Tokyo Free Walking […]
Thank you so much for joining our tours at Asakusa in the morning and Ueno Park in the afternoon on Dec 10th. We welcomed 31 guests from Australia, Singapore, the United States, China, Ireland, Argentina, Chile, Egypt and India. We hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. (Asakusa AM Group A-1) (Asakusa AM Group A-2) (Asakusa AM Group B) (Ueno Park Group A) (Ueno Park Group B) (Asakusa PM) In December, the ginkgo tree, Tokyo’s symbol tree, turns beautiful colors. By the way, did you know that there are different names for the months in Japan? January is “Mutsuki”, February is “Kisaragi”, and May is “Satsuki”. The sisters who appear in the Ghibli animated film “My Neighbor Totoro” are Satsuki and Mei, and it turns out that they were both born in May. December is “Shiwasu”. “Shi” means a monk, and “Wasu” means running. It literally means the month when monks are busy. In the past, many families held memorial services in December, which kept the monks busy. Sensoji Temple seems to be busy all year round, but […]
Thank you for choosing our Meiji Shrine and Harajuku tour on December 3, 2023. We welcomed 4 guests from UK, Singapore, and Colombia. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. It was cold since winter was about to begin. We need to dress warmly for our walking tour. Autumn leaves are falling now. The zelkova trees planted along Omotesando Boulevard, the approach to Meiji Shrine, are illuminated with LED lights at night. It creates a romantic atmosphere and feel peaceful. A bonenkai is a party that happens in December. In Japan, these parties often take place in Japanese-style bars called “Izakaya,” which become busy during this time. For some Japanese, it is like a special gathering. The main idea is to let go of any problems from the past year and get ready for a new start in the next one. These parties are often organized among colleagues who work together in a company. It was restrained during the pandemic. We always strive to give high-quality tours. Your feedback is very important and usefulto us. If you […]
