Thank you for choosing Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Asakusa and Ueno Park on December 17th. We welcomed ８people from America, Canada and UK. Some of our guests kindly joined both tours. We hope you had a time to took a glance at the colorful Hagoita-Ichi Fair during the tour in Asakusa. The following photos were taken during the tours for your memory.
From December 17th to 19th, the annual Hagoita-Ichi Fair (battledore festival) is taking place to wrap up the year at the Sensoji Temple precincts.
Hagoita is a beautifully ornamented wooden paddle and painted usually with lacquer or silk collages. In the old days, hogoita was used for a popular game called hanetsuki similar to badminton. It’s now mostly for the New Year’s decoration or the good luck charm. Hagoita Fair has about a 360-year history and the Asakusa festival is one of the oldest fairs continuing from the Edo period.
Hagoita features portraits of celebrities from sport, entertainment and politics. People select one with the painted characters that they patronize. This year, the movie ‘Kokuho’ (national treasure) was a huge success. It’s a human drama depicting the turbulent life of the man who dedicated his life to the art of Kabuki. Kabuki actors are the main attractions this year.The market opens from 9am until around 7pm during the period. Please stop by for a bit.
Japan’s largest ceiling painting is finally on display at Kaeiji Temple in Ueno. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of Kaneiji Temple’s founding in 2025, the long-awaited painting, which is 6 meters in height and 12 meters in width, has been opened to the public starting on December 1st.
Kaneiji was a family temple of the Tokugawa clan which ruled Japan for 265 years throughout the Edo period. Created by Yuji Tezuka, a professor emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts and a master of Japanese painting, it uses a technique rare in the history of Japanese art: painting directly onto the old wood of the main hall, which is nearly 400 years old. For an admission fee of 500 yen (free for high school students and younger), you can enter the inner sanctuary and gaze up at the two impressive dragons of the ceiling paintings directly below. Admission time: 10:00-16:00 (last admission at 15:40. The temple closes at 16:00) Photography is prohibited. Kaneiji Temple is located behind Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park. Enjoy the massive dragon ceiling painting.
Again, many thanks for selecting Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Asakusa and Ueno Park. We look forward to seeing you on many other occasions in the future. The end of 2025 is approaching, with only two weeks left. May your new year be filled with happiness and good luck in the coming year,
(Yoshi)