As we notified on our website, there will be the morning and afternoon tours in Asakusa and the afternoon tour in Ueno Park on February 5. We are delighted to advise that there will be more tour opportunities for our guests from February.
February ５ schedule:
The Asakusa tours
Morning tour: start at 10 am and finish around 11:30 am
Afternoon tour: start at 1 pm and finish around 2:30 pm
The Ueno Park tour
Start at 1:30 pm and finish around 3:30pm
Asakusa and Ueno are close to each other. Two tours may be combined.
Asakusa has many sightseeing spots around the Sensoj Temple. The Denpoin Street is one of them. Crossing the Nakamise Street, the atmosphere is different from there. The length of the street is 200 meters. The Denpoin Street is wider, less crowded and easier to walk in. You’ll feel like traveling back into the Edo period. They have a variety of traditional crafts such as glass craftwork, combs and brushes.
During the Edo period there were notable thieves. Their dolls are displayed on the street. The most famous ones were the five master thieves. The man striking a pose is their boss. The other four characters are seen or hidden somewhere. By the way, the ground floor of the building where the youngest thief is sitting on top is a ramen shop ‘Yoroiya’. It’s one of the best ramen restaurants in Asakusa. Why not look for the five thieves when you are there?
The other extraordinary thief is Jirokichi sitting on the roof of a clothing store. He’s known as Nezumi Kozo which is translated into a rat boy, because he was quick and smart like a rat. It is said that he was always alone and sneaked only in the samurai residences in Edo, currently Tokyo.
Since these thieves are said to have stolen money from the rich and have given it to the poor, they were praised as heroes just like Robin Hood. The stories are still being shown in Kabuki theaters.
There is a ladder and a bell. It’s a fire bell which was seen all over Edo City. There were many frequent fires in Edo. When a fire broke out, the civilian firefighters climbed a ladder and struck the bell informing people of the fire outbreak.
The Ueno area also has many tourist spots other than Ueno Park. The Ameyoko Street may be the most famous. Ameyoko is the abbreviated name of Ameya-Yokocho and is located under the rail line between the JR Ueno Station and JR Okachimachi Station. There are more than 400 shops and restaurants on the 400-meter street. The products are exotic and shop staff are from all over the world. The atmosphere is also unique.
They have a massive selection of seafood, clothing, jewelry cosmetics, sweets, whatever you could think of. A lot of things are sold off or you can negotiate with the shop owners. In the middle of the street there is a bronze statue wishing for business prosperity.
There are two theories about the origin of Ameyoko. Ame means candy and yoko means an alley. After WWⅡdue to the shortage of goods such as sugar, there were a number of street vendors selling hard candy on the street. The other theory is the shortened form of America. The headquarters of America was in Tokyo in the years following WWⅡ and the black market of American products were opened here. For this reason, Ameyoko represents ‘Candy alley’ or ‘American alley’. There are still the stores retailing candy and American items.
In recent months people have come back to the street and regained liveliness after the pandemic. The street is easily accessible from the Ueno Station and not far from Asakusa. Walking on the street will be a great fun. Why not drop in before or after the tours in Asakusa and Ueno Park?
We are confident that we can provide more information and make the tour more pleasant with us than on your own. See the details on our website. We look forward to seeing you in Asakusa and/or Ueno Park on February 5.
(Yoshi)