Thank you so much for joining our tours at Asakusa in the morning and Ueno Park in the afternoon on Oct 8th. We welcomed 21 guests in total from USA, Canada, Philippines, Germany, Poland, Peru, Italy, Croatia and Brazil. 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. (Ueno Park) (Asakusa AM Group A) (Asakusa PM Group B) (Asakusa PM Group A) (Asakusa PM Group B) During our tours, we not only provide explanations, but also receive many questions from our guests. One of the guests this time asked me about “Sports Day” on October 9th. Sports Day is a national holiday established in 1966 as a day to commemorate the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. It is a national holiday to enjoy sports, cultivate a spirit of respect for others, and pray for the realization of a healthy and vibrant society. Until 1999, it was October 10th, but since 2000 it has been the second Monday of October. October 10th was chosen because it has many sunny days, but this year it looks like it will […]
We appreciate your participation in our tours in Asakusa and Ueno Park on September 24. 27 guests kindly joined our tours from Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Israel, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Egypt and Canada. Also, we are grateful that some of the guests participated in two tours in a row. It was nice weather and comfortable as if autumn has finally come. Nakamise Street was packed with people as usual and there was a local lively event in Ueno Park. The evening twilight tour showed you an illuminated townscape of Asakusa. As promised the group and snap photos are posted. WWⅡdevastated the Asakusa area and almost all of Sensoji Temple buildings were destroyed. On the other hand, the present Ueno Park was the site of a civil war in the late 1800s. Most historical buildings were burned to ashes in both areas. However, some buildings which were constructed during the Edo period (1603-1868) still exist today.They are Asakusa Shrine, Nitenmon gate and Denpoin Temple in Asakusa which have miraculously survived WWⅡair raids. Asakusa Shrine (built in 1649) enshrines the three fishermen who discovered a Buddhist statue of the Goddess of Mercy about 1,400 years ago. The shrine building is just a […]
Thank you very much for participating in the Asakusa Morning / Evening Tour and Ueno Park Tour held on Sep 10th. Two days have passed since the Typhoon attacked the Kanto area, a shiny and hot day came back. We welcomed the total number of 22 Guests for Asakusa and Ueno Park tours from USA, England, Philippines, Canada, Poland, Netherland, Germany, India and Spain. We really hope all of you had enjoyed the time with us on the day. We posted snapshots of Asakusa Tours followed by Ueno Park Tour below. We hope you will be able to remember our tours with these photos!! Asakusa AM Group A Asakusa AM Group B Asakusa PM Group A Asakusa PM Group B Asakusa PM Group C In Ueno Park, even on hot and humid days, leaves of large trees with the age of up to 150 years, provided us with comfortable sunshades here and there. Ueno Park Group A Ueno Park Group B The day’s special feature was that we TFWT held an Asakusa evening tour for the first time. This new Asakusa evening tour could be joined after joining the Ueno tour. Therefore, in addition to […]
A twilight tour will be held on September 10 at 5pm. The Sensoji Temple is Tokyo ‘s oldest temple and one of the most visited temples in Japan. It’s packed with people during the day, but it’s not crowded and much quieter in the evening. By avoiding the congestion, we can enjoy seeing beautiful colors of twilight and sunset (expected at 5:56pm). Then the buildings, five-story pagoda and statues impressively shine when illuminated by light. Although the main hall of the Sensoji Temple will be closed at 6pm, you can draw omikuji (a paper fortune) and pray just outside the building if you wish. The first stop is the Culture Tourist Information Center which was designed by Kengo Kuma, one of the most popular architects in Japan. Enjoy looking at the Tokyo Sky Tree, Kaminarimon gate, Nakamise Shopping Street, Hozomon gate, five-story pagoda and the main hall from its rooftop (8th floor). The buildings amazingly emerge with lighting. Having a panoramic view from above is indeed a great fun. The Nakamise Shopping Street is a street gallery. Although the shops on a 250-meter passage will close around 5pm, you will be impressed by the wonderful paintings of Asakusa’s history and […]
Many thanks for joining us on our tours at Asakusa in the morning and Ueno Park in the afternoon on August 27th. We welcomed 44 guests from the USA, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Australia, India, Indonesia, Denmark, Estonia, Singapore, and Croatia. It was a tremendous opportunity for us to meet wonderful guests from many countries and share interesting conversations. Also, it was really nice seeing some of you on both tours. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached so that you can remember the fun times we had during the tour. Occasional rain was predicted, but we could avoid it. It was extremely humid, so staying hydrated was crucial. Some guests even bought shaved ice and soft-serve ice cream during our tour. <Asakusa-AM> <Asakusa-PM> <Ueno Park> In Japan, summer vacation for most students usually ends in late August. Common summer assignments for elementary students consist of doing projects on their own, writing book reports, and creating illustrated diaries. Students often take on “independent research,” often in the field of science, where they can pick their own topics. A “book report” involves writing an essay about a book given by the teacher. An “illustrated diary” is when you use words and […]
Thank you for joining the tours of that day. On that day, at Asakusa, we hosted 9 guests from Singapore, Czech Republic, USA, Brazil, and India in the morning, and 5 guest from Singapore and Spain in the afternoon, and at Ueno Park, we hosted 5 guests from Sweden and Belgium including a very adorable child. 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. It was very hot so we endured the scorching weather during the tour. When you visit Japan summertime, don’t forget to go out with a hat and something to drink with you. The two tour locations we hosted on that day are connected by the subway (underground) route which was Japan’s first subway route opened in 1927. We mainly describe the spots in the tours as Japanese traditional objects such as temples, shrines, prayer, and fortune telling but Asakusa and Ueno are the very places innovation took place. In Asakusa, you can view the world tallest independent televising tower, Sky Tree whose height is 634 meters. But Asakusa had Japan’s tallest tower building until […]
Thank you very much for participating in the Asakusa Morning/Afternoon Tour and Ueno Park Tour held on July 9th!! Good thing was it did not rain even in the Tsuyu season, but a hot and humid day made us feel that summer was just around the corner. We welcomed 25 Guests for Asakusa; USA, Spain, UK, Mexico, France and New Zealand. Thank you for choosing our tour. And we really appreciate that three guests from France and New Zealand joined both the Asakusa and Ueno Park tour! We really hope all of you had enjoyed the time with us on the day. As we posted photos of Asakusa Tours and Ueno Park Tours followed by a special event in Asakusa below, we hope you will be able to remember our tours!! Asakusa AM Group A Asakusa AM Group B Asakusa AM Group C Asakusa PM Group A Asakusa PM Group B In Ueno Park, leaves of large trees have gradually come to show a deep green color. I hope guests could find comfortable sunshades of leaves in the Park. Ueno Park Group A Ueno Park Group B As mentioned precisely in the previous blog, the day of this tour July 9th and […]
July 9 and 10 is a festival for the goddess of mercy of the Sensoji Temple. The Hozuki Market will be opened at the temple grounds on both days.There was a tradition to visit temples and shrines continuously for 1,000 days to fulfil wishes during the Heian period (794-1185). As time went by, however, visiting for 1,000 days became difficult. Then, people set a specific date to visit so that they could receive 1,000 days’ worth of good luck. This tradition was enhanced to an incredible 46,000 days during the Edo period (1603-1868) .46,000 days is equal to about 126 years. 126 years represents the lifespan of people. Visitors will receive more than enough blessings for their entire life if they visit the temple on either of the two days. This belief is not connected with the Buddhist scripture. This practice was originally done on July 10, but so many people rushed to the Sensoji Temple to get blessings and some came on the previous day. As a result, this tradition spans two days of July 9 and 10.Soon after the new tradition was introduced, the Hozuki Market was opened for those visitors on these two days. Hozuki is a […]
Many thanks for joining our tour in Asakusa on June 25. We welcomed 30 people from UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Portugal, America, Singapore, Australia and Japan. It was hot but sunny weather in the middle of the rainy season. I hope you enjoyed the tour with us and treasure these memories. As promised, the pictures we took are posted. Walking in the Sensoji grounds in the evening is great fun. The temple is always very crowded in the daytime, but at night, it’s much less crowded and easier to walk around. Also, you may feel a cool breeze around this time of the year. The buildings, statues and lanterns are all beautifully lit up until 11p.m. and the city night lights attract more tourists. You may pray and make a wish if you like even after the main hall is closed. Go up to the 8th floor of the Culture Information Center and enjoy a panoramic view of Asakusa until the Center closes at 10p.m. You can see Japan’s tallest structure, the Tokyo Sky Tree, and other buildings from the rooftop. On the other side, the Sensoji temple buildings stand out with their bright lights. The Kaminarimon gate is […]
Thank you for joying our tours at Asakusa and Ueno Park. Despite the rainy morning, we were able to host enthusiastic guests from the Netherlands, the United States, Spain, Czech, Brazil, Australia and the Philippines. Now the rainy season is on, but Sunday’s precipitation was tolerable betraying the weather forecast. Good for everybody. And the guides were pleased to be drenched instead with a rain of inspiring questions from the eager guests, none of which we hope had been drained in vain but been shared and discussed among the participants making our tours more informative and interactive. Thank you for sharing experience with us. As we have announced, we posted the photos taken during the tours to help you recall the fun time we had together. Please tell your friends about TFWT, Toyo Free Walking Tour. We also expect to see you again soon as repeating guests. Till then. Your feedback is very important for upgrading our tour contents. We’d very much appreciate it if you would leave comments on Facebook or Tripadvisor. Don’t be sad. Today was a bad luck day, it promises a better day tomorrow. Ueno Park tour photos below. Posted by ‘Dragon’
