Thanks to all the guests for joining and having a good time with us! It’s sunny and very hot day, typical summer weather in Japan. We welcomed 35 guests and we divided into 4 groups. The number of guest of each group is below 10, that is suitable number to get friendly with all people in a group. In a sunny day, it’s important and necessary to find shade, under a tree, beside a police box when we explain historical sites. Peak season of summer festival has come in Japan, and today is the day one of the biggest fireworks festivals is held near the Sumida river. Some guests well know this festival and they are planning to go there. In Edo period, people enjoyed this fireworks on a bridge or a boat, but it’s difficult for us to take a same way. Cost for a boat is expensive and police don’t allow us stopping on a bridge. And more, many people gather into closest area of fireworks, ex. Asakusa. That’s why I go to JR Minami-Senju station in Jo-ban line. This town is little bit far from the center of festival, but I can enjoy watching the fireworks from a space between building and house. Other festivals will be held in […]
Thank you very much for joining us from all over the world. On that day we welcomed 24 guests from Australia, Indonesia, Deutschland, Canada, Malaysia and Israel. Then we were divided into 2 groups. It was not too hot despite this time of the year. But it was hot enough to enjoy icecream at a resthouse in the East Garden, where the tour groups stopped in the middle of the course. The resthouse sells several kinds of icecream. Most recommended one is Macha icecream. Macha is strong flavoured green tea. It was originally used as powder of tea to mix with hot water. Macha tea is mainly used in tea ceremony. Tea ceremony is one of Japan’s traditional hobbies. People enjoy having sweets and Macha tea in a bowl. But this is formal occasion and certain manner is required for attendees. There are manner schools for that. Our guests tried that and enjoy the taste of it. U.S. President Obama used to taste that when he visited Japan before becoming the President of his nation. Communicating with guests is greatest aspect of the tour. One of the guides talked with Israeli guests about Japanese diplomat named Sugihara who saved Jewish refugees from Poland while he served as Vice-Counsul […]
Thank you for all the guests kindly joining our regular tour on 23rd of July. We had 35 guests from 13 countries and eleven volunteer guides attended the tour. So we were divided into 5 groups and enjoyed the tour. This morning every TV program says “At last in Japan the download of POKEMON GO started yesterday” and are explaining how to play it. We can see some people playing it in the Imperial Palace East Gardens. It is cloudy and humid. We are still in the rainy season, which lasts longer than the past years. But according to the weather report, Japan’s hot and humid summer is starting soon. Japan is surrounded by the sea and then has a lot of beautiful beaches. Also you can enjoy marine sports. And there are a lot of large luxurious pool facilities, which offer running water, waving water and water slides. You can enjoy all day long with shaved ice. Some events are only available in summer, including climbing Mt. Fuji and firework displays. On July 30th in the evening, Sumida river firework display is held and is broadcasted on TV. Also a lot of firework displays are held throughout the country during […]
Thank you to all wonderful guests for joining us on July 20. We separated into two groups with 8 people in each group. It was a sunny day, despite the weather forecasts which predicted overcast. The air felt thick. It’s no wonder that it is in the rainy season in Tokyo. It’s muggy and rainy every day and the weather is unpredictable. There are some good points of the rainy season, of course. Rain helps grow trees and plants, such as rice. And also, rain water is collected in water reservoirs, is processed, and is introduced to public water supply. Let me go off on a tangent and tell you the story about our tour. We start from Tokyo Station and go through one of the most important business districts in our country. Later we go into the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. The garden used to be the part of the Edo castle in the past. So, you can see some traditional Japanese structures there. In summer, we see dragonflies gliding around pine trees and we hear cicadas/locusts making sounds during our tour. It’s because there are so much green in the East Garden of the Imperial Palace, […]
Emperor wishing retirement, was one of the major headlines last week in Japan. The initial report was from the public broadcasting company NHK. It claimed that the Emperor has been expressing his intention to abdicate for several years now due to the heavy burden of his public duties. Then came a series of mixed reports, some in support and others in complete denial. Official sources including the Imperial Household Agency have provided no meaningful information as of yet. We are left to wonder what is really happening. My feeling toward the first news was “why not?”. The Emperor is very old now, aged 82. Many people of his age enjoy their retired life. After all his years of public service, he deserves a quiet life. Maybe enjoy some gardening at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. Even today, many features of the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace are of his design. My group observed the orchard of traditional Japanese fruits at the Honmaru area, then went on to see the long-finned carp in the Ninomaru gardens. These are just two of the Emperor’s ideas reflected in the design of the garden. It is quite interesting to imagine what the […]
Thank you for all the guests who attended the Tokyo Free Walking Tour on July 9th. Even though it was raining hard because of the typhoon, still we had the regular tour as usual. During the two-hour walk, the guides were very responsive to the inquiry of the guest because most of them were very attentive and curious at the same time. Actually, some of the guests learned Japanese histories and knew about famous locations in Tokyo beforehand through social medias or guide books. Some guests were interested in pine trees, which are well maintained in this East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. Commonly, these trees are matching up so well with castle building and these majestic sights can easily catch the visitors’ attention. In Japan, the words “pine”, “bamboo” and “plum” are occasionally used to describe ranks of dishes’ quality when you place an order at a restaurant. The “pine” means the highest rank. The “bamboo” follows and “plum” is the lowest in rank. For instance, someone would say “Please give me a pine of Gyūdon.” This means the highest quality of Gyūdon – is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion […]
Thank you very much for joining our tour! Although it was an extremely hot and humid day today, we had apx.60 guests thankfully. We separated into 5 groups with about 10~15 people in each group, which was relatively big compared to recent tendency. According to weather forecast, the temperature was over 35 degrees in Tokyo for the first time this year, which is officially called ‘extremely hot day’. The breeze blowing through ‘Matsu-no-O-Roka’ felt so comfortable instead. Mostly we stayed in the shade to avoid heat and drink as much water as possible to prevent from getting heat attack. At the resting place in the middle of the tour, we always take 10 minute break. There, almost everyone rushed to get ice cream or something cold to drink. When the climate is mild and comfortable, we sit on the turf of the castle sites and talk about a bit of Japanese history etc., but today actually nobody was on the turf because of the strong sunlight. We sat under the tree and discussed the life of Edo Period in our group. It is getting even hotter from now on, but our tour is on whatever the weather is! We are […]
Thank you for joining our tour on June 25th, Saturday. We welcomed 30 guests in four groups from USA, Australia, U.K. Sweden, Belgium, Russia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and Japan. We were worried about weather in the morning but no rain. It was cloudy sky and it feels good when wind blows. Thanks to all the guests for joining and having a good time with us. I visited Kumamoto castle earlier this month. A powerful 7 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japanese island of Kyushu on April 14th and April 16th. Kumamoto castle was badly damaged including 13 important cultural assets. The castle was built in 1607 by Kiyomasa Kato. Even though main castle tower was reconstructed in 1960, many of the stone walls are originals from the 17th century. The estimation of repair cost will be 35 billion yen. However, over 400-year old original stone walls are survived from the strong earthquake! Stone walls were damaged only partially. Today, I was looking at the stone walls of Edo castle at the East garden which also built over 400-year old, I thought legacy technologies were amazing. ===== We have a regular tour every Saturday and have weekday/Sunday tours irregularly. Please […]
We welcomed 13 guests from France, Argentina, Sngapore, U.K., U.S.A. Some guests couldn’t find Tokyo Marunouchi Exit easily but we could start our tour after 10:00am. We divided the guests into 3 groups. It was raining weakly, and the green leaves and some flowers looked clearly. Especially many mushrooms in the Honmaru laon area were small and so cute. It’s a rainy season in Japan and also a season of “Sansai” or edible wild plants. My brother who lives in Yamagata prefecture (northeast part of Japan) got “Hosodake” a kind of edible wild plants in his near mountain, and sent me some of them. “Hosodake” hunting isn’t a easy job, because “Hosodake” is usually grow up in a hurd place. I cooked “Hosodake” as a miso soup. It was so tasty. I hope guests to Japan enjoy the season event of our nation. TFWT’s regular walking tour is held on Saturdays 13:00-15:00. If you are in Tokyo on the day, why not come and join us? Please check the tour calendar on our website. Also please visit facebook and Tripadvisor.(Posted by Keiko.N)
Thank you for joining us. On that day we welcomed around 40 guests from USA, Israel, Nederland, U.K. Deutschland, Ostrreich, Ireland, Mexico, Sweden, Poland, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and China. We divided into 6 groups. It was really hot day. The temperature rose to 32 centigrade. The sky was clear and the sunshine showered us directly. So some of the guests brought parasols borrowed from the hotel as well as some of the guides did. These days parasol, which we call Higasa has become very common. Some parasols can be used as umbrella in a rain as well and some have cooling function in it. Even men use that. We highly advise guests to bring ones together with water and hand-fans to blow the air. Japan’s summer is not just hot but very humid. That is the main reason that pre-modern time buildings are mostly made of timbers. Timbers can absorb moist in the air. Inside a stone building, without proper air-conditioning, walls are covered with moist which makes residents very uncomfortable. But wooden buildings could easily catch fire. That is why castle buildings are gone and the premise turned flat green turf. Only architectual remains in the East Garden are stone bases and a stone celler. The […]
