Thank you very much for your participation in our tour at Asakusa and Ueno Park on January 28th. We welcomed 9 people from Austria, Taiwan, China and Philippines. The weather was cloudy and a little cold, but made us feel that spring would not be far away. As mentioned, various photos are posted. February 3rd is the annual event called a Setsubun festival throughout the country. Setsubun literally translates to the seasonal division and is the day before the start of new spring, just like New Year’s Eve in the traditional calendar. On the Setsubun day, the most commonly performed ritual is the throwing of beans. At home, families scatter beans with shouting ‘Demons out! Happiness in!’ By throwing beans, people ward off demons and draw in good fortune. After throwing beans, we eat the same number of beans as our age praying for good luck for the year. Also, people eat an entire long sushi roll called ehomaki in silence while facing the year’s lucky direction (east-northeast in 2024) to bring good fortune. A convenience store offers a delicious ehomaki. On that day, temples and shrines hold Setsubun festivals. Among them, the Sensoji’s event is historic and popular. It’s […]
Thank you for choosing our tour at Asakusa and Ueno Park on January 14. We welcomed 13 people from U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Philippines, Malasia and Japan. 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. By the way, when you visit shrines or temples, you may see the shape of heart on the metal fittings etc. of shrines or temples buildings. Heart shape is generally used as the symbol of heart, mind or spirit and so on. In addition, it is also known that the shape of the heart is used as a pattern called “INOME” since ancient times in Japan. For example, it is known that a heart shape was used for the sword guard in the 6th century. The heart shape has been used long before Japan came into contact with Western culture. “INOME” means boar’s eye. The eyes of the wild boar look like the shape of a heart. Literally “INOME” is named after the shape of boar’s eye. For example, as the picture shown below, you can see heart shape on the metal […]
Many thanks for joining our tours at Asakusa and Ueno Park on December 24, 2023. We welcomed 15 guests from the US, Portugal, India, Malaysia, and Turkey. It was a tremendous opportunity for us to meet wonderful guests from many countries and share interesting conversations. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached so that you can remember the fun times we had during the tour. <Asakusa> It was a really cold but typical Japanese winter, with a maximum temperature of around 10 degrees Celsius. There were reports on TV news of frozen road surfaces and a car slipping, but despite that, we enjoyed heartwarming conversations with our guests. This tour was the final one of Tokyo Free Walking Tour in 2023. While it’s common to enjoy turkey on Christmas Day in Western countries, it’s intriguing why there are long lines at KFC in Japan during Christmas. It’s rumored that sales on December 24 are 10 times higher than the yearly average. KFC, the American fried chicken chain, made its debut in Japan in 1970 and reportedly initiated its Christmas campaign. A foreign visitor, finding no turkey available on Christmas in Tokyo, remarked, “I’ll celebrate Christmas with Kentucky’s fried chicken […]
Many thanks for joining our tour in Asakusa on December 13th. We welcomed 19 people from Singapore, America, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, UK and Spain. The weather was great in our favor in the beginning of winter. The Nakamise Shopping Street was lively and bustling as usual. We hope you enjoyed the walking tour with us. As mentioned, group and snap photos are posted. As mentioned during the tour, Sensoji Temple houses the statues of the Goddess of Mercy and its replica at its main hall. The Goddess is a hidden statue but its replica is shown to the public only on December 13th when we had a tour. According to the Sensoji legend, the temple was established in the year of 628 when the Goddess was discovered in the river. As soon as the Buddha statue was found, it was decided that the statue must be kept hidden from the public and has never been revealed with an exception. The rule is still effective until today. Because people missed to visit the temple without an object, a worship replica was carved a high-ranking priest in the early Heian Period (794-1185). It’s not just a copy but represents the Goddess of […]
Thank you so much for joining our tours at Asakusa in the morning and Ueno Park in the afternoon on Dec 10th. We welcomed 31 guests from Australia, Singapore, the United States, China, Ireland, Argentina, Chile, Egypt and India. 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. (Asakusa AM Group A-1) (Asakusa AM Group A-2) (Asakusa AM Group B) (Ueno Park Group A) (Ueno Park Group B) (Asakusa PM) In December, the ginkgo tree, Tokyo’s symbol tree, turns beautiful colors. By the way, did you know that there are different names for the months in Japan? January is “Mutsuki”, February is “Kisaragi”, and May is “Satsuki”. The sisters who appear in the Ghibli animated film “My Neighbor Totoro” are Satsuki and Mei, and it turns out that they were both born in May. December is “Shiwasu”. “Shi” means a monk, and “Wasu” means running. It literally means the month when monks are busy. In the past, many families held memorial services in December, which kept the monks busy. Sensoji Temple seems to be busy all year round, but […]
Thank you very much to all the guests who participated in the 3 tours on the day. We hosted one Singaporean gentleman on the morning tour and 9 guests from Mexico, UK, Singapore and Italy on the afternoon tour in Asakusa. On the Ueno Park tour in the afternoon, we hosted a family of 4 from Australia. It was really a cold day with light rains, the highest temperature of the day was below 10 centigrade, which was like the middle of winter. 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. Morning Tour in Asakusa Afternoon Tour in Asakusa Ueno Park tour The temperature is lowering day by day and we are entering winter season. People turn on heaters at home and wear coats outside. Winter is a cold season. But winter can be a fun season depending on how you deal with. You can enjoy fashion such as kimono and a cashmere coat like the one a guide wore on the Ueno Park tour. You can enjoy hot pot food or sake for meals. As for trips, […]
We were delighted to have you join us at our tour in Asakusa on November 15th. There were as many as 21 people from UK, Germany, France, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Canada, US and Australia. It was cloudy and a little cold, but not too bad. I hope you enjoyed walking with us. You may have seen children wearing cute dresses for Shichi-Go-San event. November 15th is traditionally the day for Shichi-Go-San celebration. Group photos and snap shots are posted. As reported on November 3yd, Shichi-Go-San(7-5-3) is an important celebration for children of 3(San)-year-old boys and girls, 5(Go)-year-old boys and 7(Shichi)-year-old girls for growing up and wishing for their future blessings. Children wore cute clothing with candy bags. They looked happy and promising. Why for the age of 3, 5 and 7? The infant death rates were high during the Edo period. Children’s growth was a social problem. These ages were a turning point in a child’s growth. Children of three years start to understand what someone says, children of five years start to use their wisdom and the baby teeth of children of seven years will be replaced by adult teeth. Also, it is believed that the odd numbers have […]
Thank you very much to all the guests who participated in 4 tours on that day. It was a cloudy day with light rain from time to time. The temperature dropped significantly from a few days ago marked the record high for month of November. We felt like being in winter skipping autumn. According to the traditional calendar, since 8 of November, we’ve entered the beginning of winter season. 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. On the first tour of the day, we hosted 5 people from New Zealand, Netherland and the USA at Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, morning time. On the second tour at the same place in the afternoon, we hosted 3 people from UK and Australia. On the third tour at Ueno Park, we hosted a gentleman from France in the afternoon. Lastly, back in Asakusa, we hosted a lady from Italy in the evening. That day’s issue of Tokyo’s local newspaper reported that this year over 13 million foreigners visited Japan from January to October. Before the pandemic outbreak, in 2019, over […]
Asakusa is one of the oldest towns represented by Sensoji Temple in Tokyo and maintains the Edo (former name of Tokyo) atmosphere. In the evening, temple buildings and five-story pagoda etc. are beautifully illuminated. On the other hand, Ueno Park is the center of art in Tokyo with nature, museums and a zoo. These spots are rich in culture and history. Four tours are scheduled on November 12 in Asakusa and Ueno. Both places are close to each other(the third stop by Tokyo Metro Ginza Line) and you can easily combine the two tours. Schedule of November 12:10:00-11:30 Asakusa morning tour Enjoy a panoramic view of Asakusa from the roof top of the Tourist Information Center. Walk through the gates to the main hall of Sensoji Temple and Asakusa Shrine. Amazed by the massive red lanterns, guardian gods and big waraji sandals. Challenge an omikuji fortunetelling paper. You may be able to see children wearing cute costumes on the Shichi-Go-San celebration at Asakusa Shrine if you are lucky. Lunch break 13:00-14:30 Asakusa afternoon tourThe same as the morning tour 13:30-15:30 Ueno Park tourExplore 18 historical sights on a 2-hour walking tour. They are museums, shrines, temples, pagodas and bronze statues […]
Thank you so much for joining our tours at Asakusa in the morning and Ueno Park in the afternoon on Oct 22nd. We welcomed 29 guests in total from USA, Australia, UK, Ireland, Hungary, Spain, Germany and Poland. 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. (Asakusa Morning Group A) (Asakusa Morning Group B) (Asakusa Afternoon) Sensoji Temple is crowded with tourists from the morning, and our morning and afternoon tours took us slowly through the crowds of Nakamise shipping street. However, in the evening, the crowds gradually eased and the temple grounds were lit up, giving us a different look at Asakusa than usual. (Asakusa Twilight Group A) (Asakusa Twilight Group B) This year marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Ueno Park, so events were being held on this day as well, and there were more threads than usual, making it more lively. We took a walk through the refreshing Ueno Park, feeling the hustle and bustle. (Ueno Park Group A) (Ueno Park Group B) We always strive to give high-quality tours. Your feedback is […]
