East Gardens of the Imperial Palace

Today we welcomed 7 guests from Finland, Australia and Canada. We all enjoyed the pleasant walk under the clear blue sky. Many guests mentioned that they would go see the Sumo tournament during their stay. So here is a quick introduction of Sumo. Sumo is Japanese style of wrestling and Japan's national sport. It goes back to ancient times as a performanceto entertain the Shinto gods. Therefore many pre-match rituals are involved. Here is the standard ritual: 1) Both wrestlers welcome each other ...

Happy New Year and thank you for joining our first tour of the year! It has been a relatively warm winter in Tokyo so far, so much that plum trees at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace are beginning to bloom - which we usually expect some time around early February. I went with a group of six with guests from Germany, Hong Kong and Vietnam. As my partner guide and I explained about historical sites of interest, our conversation wandered off to various topics from seniority systems in differ...