Thank you very much for participating in the tour of that day. On that day we hosted 7 guests from Germany, Taiwan, Turkey, Canada, Singapore, and Poland. The weather was fine so we were comfortable walking on the tour course although it was a cold winter day. Some early blossoming specie of cherry blossoms have bloomed as well as plums in the garden. Photos taken during the tour are posted to remind you of wonderful time we spent together. When we guide the East Garden, we describe the place as a former castle premise of Shogun. Shogun is a practical leader of Japan in the feudal period besides Emperor. Emperor has been a divine symbol of the nation and rarely intervened in the national politics. Shogun we refer to in the tour is Tokugawa Shoguns who ruled Japan between 1603 and 1867 for 15 generations. Some of foreigners might be familiar with the name “Shogun” as a famous novel title and its adaptation to TV dramas. The novel was written by James Clavell and made into 1980 NBC TV mini-series as well as recent version of it produced by FX network. The story is based on a biography of the […]
Thank you for joining the Ueno Park tour on February 21. We welcomed four people from Germany, Canada and Netherlands. Although it was a little cold and rainy all day, I hope you enjoyed walking with us. As you may know, Ueno Park is one of the best cherry blossom spots in Tokyo. There are about 800 cherry trees in the park and they are estimated to start to bloom on or around March 19. The following 7 to 10 days may be the best time to see them. Photos taken during the tour are posted. As we referred during the tour, the two special exhibitions are currently underway at Tokyo National Museum, Japan’s oldest and largest museum in Ueno Park. Hon’ami Koetsu(1558-1637) is one of the great multi-talented artists in the beginning of the Edo period. The exhibition specializes in Koetsu’s works and you may be able to see the six national treasures represented by Writing Box with a Pontoon Bridge and many other awesome artifacts. Koetsu developed his own style in wide range of fields: calligraphy, lacquerware, tea bowls, paintings, and decorative arts. His works had a significant impact on Japanese culture. He established a reputation for a […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on 17th February. We welcomed 3 guests from Australia. It wasn’t so cold we expected. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snap shots are attached to remember the fun times we had. Next Thursday is our Emperor’s birthday and national holiday. Imperial Household Agency takes place in the Visit of public to the Imperial Palace for His Majesty’s birthday. Anyone can meet the Imperial family at the Imperial Palace. If you stay in Tokyo on that day, let’s try. Before going to the Imperial Palace, please visit their website. After the celebration, you can also enjoy plum flowers in the East Garden of the Imperial palace. Speaking of the plum flowers, they have been deeply related to Tenjin-shrine. Tenjin-shrine and Tenmangu are dedicated to Sugawara Michizane who was a higher-class legendary scholar of thousand years ago. He was so smart that he promoted faster than others. As the result he was jealous and demoted to Kyushu Dazaifu far away from Kyoto. He could never return to Kyoto and finally died at Dazaifu. He loved plum […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at Meiji shrine and Harajuku on Feb 22. We welcomed 15 guests from Morocco, Australia, Netherland, Argentina, New Zealand and USA. 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. <Group A> <Group B> Sometimes our guests stop and gaze at this shop in fascination when we walk along a Harajuku street. The name of the shop is FENDER FLAGSHIP TOKYO. Fender is one of the most popular electric guitar. Many famous musicians such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy page loved and love Fender guitar. Additionally, it is only one flagship shop in the world and newly opened two month ago. From 30thousand to 100million yen range, so many guitars are displayed fashionably. Why is it opened just in Harajuku? How lucky we are! If you have some interest in electric guitar, don’t miss it!! Fender Flagship Tokyo | Fender our feedback is important and helpful to us. If you enjoyed our tour, please considerposting a review on our TripAdvisor/Facebook etc. Your comments will help contributeto higher-quality tours. Once again, thank […]
Thank you so much for joining our tours at Asakusa in the morning and Ueno Park in the afternoon on Feb 11h. We welcomed 15 guests in total from Australia, China, USA, Korea, Canada and UK. 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. (Asaksa AM) (Ueno Park) (Asakusa PM) It was a perfect day for a tour where we could feel a little bit of spring sunshine. There seemed to be more Chinese tourists than usual in the precincts of Sensoji Temple, probably because of the Lunar New Year holidays.Japan switched from a solar-lunar calendar to a solar calendar in 1872, and now there are almost no customs of celebrating the Lunar New Year.This day, February 11th, was National Foundation Day. The national flags were also hoisted at Nakamise-Shopping Street. According to legend, this is the day when the first emperor ascended the throne in 660 BC. This day falls on January 1st of the solar-lunar calendar and February 11th of the new calendar, so this day is considered the National Foundation Day. I think it can […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on February 10, 2024. We welcomed 15 guests from US, Mexico, and India. 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. Heavy snow was expected from February 5th to 6th. Some sections of toll roads in Tokyo were closed as a precaution to prevent vehicles from being stuck due to snow and icy roads. It was the first time to do this measure in Tokyo. Many business people worked from home or left for home earlier. Snow and lighting occurred at the same time around 9 pm on February 5th, and it was a rare phenomenon worldwide. We heard our guest met snowfall during their stay in Japan. Today was a sunny day and we enjoyed a pleasant tour with our guests. There are three Japanese historical incidents related to heavy snow. These are “Ako incident”, “Sakuradamon incident”, and “February 26 incident”. The story of Ako incident is guided at Matsu-no-Oroka, Great Pine Corridor in the Edo castle area during our tour. The 47 […]
Thank you to those who participated in the Tokyo Free Walking Tour (TFWT) at Meiji Shrine & Harajuku today. On a cold, rainy first Sunday of February, we welcomed 10 guests from Germany, Canada, Taiwan, USA, China, Singapore and the Philippines. We hope you all enjoyed and shared interesting and joyful conversations with each other during the tour. The guests are curiously watching the wedding procession. You can be shown on the screen at the gate of Takeshita Street! Takeshita Street, included in this tour, is a source of pop culture and fashion especially among teenagers. Speaking of the most popular sweets around the street, it’s been crepe since the 1970s. Now, what are the most popular sweets in February? The answer is “chocolates” for St. Valentine’s Day! Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is becoming one of the biggest events out of the Japanese annual events. However, the Japanese custom of Valentine’s Day might be a little bit different from other countries’ and has been changing from its old custom. In Japan, women usually give men chocolates on that day. Women used to give chocolates to whom they really love or to whom they secretly fall in love. On the other hand, […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at East garden of Imperial Prerace on February 3rd 2024. We welcomed 5 guests from Germany, and India. Start with a family with 7month cutie kid from Berline/Germany, at Wadakura-mon gate we welcomed a Family from India. 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. Feb 3rd, it is called “SETSUBUN” as a last day of winter, and now we are standing just before Spring, “RISSHUN”, according to a Japanese luna calendar. We could see a “Mamemaki” (throwing roasted soy beans) event at most Shrine and Temples, saying “Oni wa soto(Devils out), Fuku wa Uchi(Happiness in)” . It is said people eat beans as many as your age, then you could alive more with happiness. How come if my age is 70 ? Also there is an old song, DODOITSU that initially introduced at late EDO Era. “UME WA SAITAKA? SAKURA WA MADKAINA?” mean Does Flower of Plume open ? How about Cherry Blossom?” It is really song of current time of season. By the way , we could see Plume blossoms […]
