Meiji Shrine and Harajuku

Today, we welcomed 10 guests from UK, Russia, Canada, and Australia. Everyone enjoyed the peaceful scenery of the Meiji Shrine before diving into the mayhem of Harajuku Takeshita street. Second half of this tour is about Harajuku. Takeshita street is a 400 meter long street starting from the JR Harajuku Station. It is particularly well known as a trendy shopping street lined with alternative colorful clothing stores, costumes,colorful fun food shops such as crepes, candies, and ice cream for tre...

Many thanks for joinig our tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on May 6. We had seven guests from America,Australia,Spain and Chile. Some of the guestshad participated in our tour at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace on the previous day which we appreciate very much. We all enjoyed walking at the quiet Shrine and bustling Harajuku. Meiji Shrine looks like a natural forest but actually it was artificially designed. When the forest was created 100 years ago, the area was merely a wasteland bel...

On that day, April 15, we were honored to welcome 13 guests to our walking tour. These people came from different corners of the world, including U.S.A., Australia, Brazil, Singapore and Israel. Springtime, has finally reached its peak, so most of the cherry blossoms have reached the height of their blossoming. Therefore, we can no longer see any blossoming in certain parts of Tokyo. However, in a sacred place called the Meiji Jingu, a relaxing evergreen forest can fascinate and impress us inste...

Thank you for joining our Meiji Shrine and Harajuku Tour on April 8. We were so happy to have met all 13 guests from U.S.A.,Australia,Brazil and Taiwan.The guests were devided into 3 groups and a few guides for each group. It was lovely day for walking tour and we enjoyed fresh air in the Shrine. The last half of the tour is walking around HARAJYUKU shopping district. This area is very busy and fantastic.We walk through TAKESITA-DORI(TAKESITA street) one of most famous street in Tokyo. It is ver...

Under the perfect warm weather, we welcomed 35 guests!! They are from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Singapore and US. The guests were separated into five groups so that eleven tour guides could have closer communication with each guest in small groups. We got together in front of the Ichino Torii Gate located right across the tiny bridge over JR Harajuku station, and began the tour on time, 10 am. After learning about how to go through "torii," i...

Thank you for joining our tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on March 18. We had 22 guests from America, Canada, Italy, Sweden, India and Malaysia. I hope all of you enjoyed our walking tour in lovely Spring weather. Meiji Shrine is known for the most popular shrine with over three million visitors during the new year days. The shrineis dedicated to the souls of Emperior Meiji and Empress Shoken. The Shrine has unique omikuji. Omikuji is ramdomly drawn fortune-telling papers. However, Meiji shrin...

Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Harajuku area. On that day, March 4, we were honored to welcome 14 guests to our walking tour. Those people came from different corners of the world, including Israel, Canada, U.S.A, Argentina, Spain and Sweden. We were greeted by an amazingly warmer temperature than the previous days. There was a breakthrough in the cool temperature and the weather seemed to have finally improved. Our tour started in front of a Tori or a Shinto Shrine gate. I...

Thank you very much for joining our regular tour on February 4. We welcomed guests from Taiwan and the US. We hope all enjoyed walking with us. Anyways, did anyone eat "Eho-maki", the thick sushi rolls on February 3rd, the Setsubun day ? You might find them sold at supermarkets or convenience stores at that time. Eho literally means the good luck direction, and Eho-maki is believed to bring good fortune if eaten while facing the year's eho. While you eat Eho-maki, you must be silent, look in the...

Many thanks for joining our tour to Meiji Shrine and Harajuku area on January 21. The weather was unusually mild and comfortable in the middle of winter. We welcomed eight guests from America,Australia,Israel,Canada and Thailand. I hope you enjoyed walking with us. On our tour route there is lovely Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Harajuku. It is located at the quiet place between Takeshita Street and Omotesanso street.This museum is one of the most outstanding museums specializing in Ukiyo-e woodb...

Thank you for joining our first Meiji Shrine and Harajukutour of the year! This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, or the transition of political power from the Tokugawa Shogunate to the Meiji Constitutional Monarchy. The Shoguns hadvirtually closed down the country for over 250 years, until in the year1868 when the Emperor took over and eventuallyopened the county to learn modern technology and culture from western powers.I, among many other people, find this transition ...