Many thanks to the guests who joined the tour of that day. On the tour, we hosted 11 guests from Singapore, Australia and Hungary in a half cloudy, hot and humid weather.
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 shared.
The feature of the tour is to experience tradition and new movement at the same time. The shrine is where you can view traditional sceneries,
whereas Harajuku town is the place you can view and experience a modern, avant-garde sceneries including a dog-cafe.
Omotesando next to Harajuku town is the main approach to the shrine where high fashion brand shops are lined up like Les Champ Elysees in Paris.
The street has been always a progressive area since the shrine was established in 1920. Back in a century ago, Japan’s first reinforce-concrete apartment building was established there and you can see the partial remainder of the apartment complex.
It is a big contrast but this is mutual with the spirit Meiji Emperor who was enshrined at the shrine had. Meiji Emperor contributed to Japan’s modernization greatly acquiring western lifestyle including wine He enjoyed.
He also became a model for modern Japanese men shortcutting his hair. In His living era, the 19th century, Japanese men normally had long hair with a pony-tail and shortcut hair was supposed to be a prisoner’s hairstyle. By His changing His hairstyle, all of Japanese men could follow suit.
It was a kick-off moment for Japan’s modernisation or westernization.
So the two sides of the tour are not separate things but share commonality that traditional and new foreign things can coexist. Why not join this tour to know tradition and modernism of Japan at the same time?
To those who have already participated in the tours of Tokyo Free Walking Tour,
Your feedback is important and helpful to us. If you enjoyed our tour, please consider
posting a review on our TripAdvisor/Facebook/Google etc. Your comments will help contribute
to higher-quality tours.
Once again, thank you for choosing Tokyo Free Walking Tour
during your precious time in Tokyo. In case you happen to be back in Tokyo, please
join another one of our tours
Posted by Masa Y.