Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour.
On that day, May 10, we had two times of tour-10 A.M and 1 P.M.
We welcomed totally around 14 guests from the different corners of the world; Germany, U.S.A., Canada, Italy, Australia, Bulgaria and Mexico.
Finally, the month of March has come. In Japan, March is the month in which students bid farewell to their universities during graduation, and for working people to move to new workplaces, or retire.
April, on the other hand, is when companies welcome new workers among their divisions, and for schools to welcome back old and new students alike.
These weeks now provide a semester break for students so that they can travel around, earn money or prepare for a new school year.
Under theses seasonal atmosphere, we met 14 people in Asakusa of Tokyo.
As usual, after greeting everyone and introducing ourselves, we made our regular tour in the historical location for 90 minutes.
Our tour started at the red painted gate, called Thunder Gate, which served as an ice-breaking topic.
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- Thunder Gate
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- Asakusa Shinto Shrine
A lot of people gathered in front of this Buddhist gate to take their memorable photos with the gate as their background.
The image of this Buddhist gate is wildly used on the cover of the Japanese guide books.
In addition, the printed images are also seen on the packages of Japanese souvenirs.
That is because Asakusa has been one of the must-to-see spots in Tokyo.
After proceeding to the busy shopping street, Nakamise Street, we concluded our tour at Asakusa Shinto Shrine.
This religious building is well-located as well for us to discuss Japanese Shintoism, its related rituals and building structure.
Aside from that, this spot is a good content to talk about what Shintoism and Buddhism are, because both religious establishments share the same compound.
Well, we would like to let you know about a one of the annual events in Asakusa.
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The 18th of March, Monday, is a specific day when we can witness the “Kinryunomai”, or golden dragon dance, which will be held in the Sensoji Temple’s compound.
Together with lotus flowers on pillars, which are associated with Buddha, a golden papier-mache dragon controlled by graceful dancers will be dancing while being paraded.
The golden dragon, which is 18 meters long, and is weighing 88 kilograms, is skillfully maneuvered by 8 people.
These numbers and measurements are connected to the 18th day of the month of March, which serves as the day for the Buddhist festival.
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- Kinryunomai
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- Sensoji main hall
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- Kinryunomai
The parade will start from the main hall of the Sensoji Buddhist Temple, and will proceed to Nakamise street, the passageway towards the Buddhist establishment.
This distinctive festival has been celebrated annually since 1958, the year when the renovation of the Sensoji Temple’s main hall was completed, and the event is in honor of that milestone in the Buddhist building.
This religious event serves like a commencement to the upcoming annual celebrations that will be held in the temple from May until August. These traditional events definitely will make the temple come alive.
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In this month, we are planning to make Ueno Park tour as follows:
Date&Time Mar.21 1p.m.
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- The meeting place
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- JR Ueno Station Park Exit
Hopefully, this will give you another excitement as well as Asakusa do.
Please come and join us.
(By Arac)