Many thanks to the guests who participated in the 2 tours of the day. In the morning we hosted 5 people from Belgium and France at Sensoji temple, Asakusa and then in the afternoon we hosted 7 people from Belgium, France, and USA at Ueno Park. The weather was not so good as it was cloudy all day and sometimes raining hard. But thanks to the weather, we were not showered with strong sunlight so the temperature wasn’t very high.
As promised photos taken during the tours are posted here to recall fun memories we shared together.
The area between Asakusa and Ueno, where we guided on that day are located on the east side and the old part of Tokyo, and known as commoners’ town like the East End of London. People who grow up there are called “Edo-kko (Edo-natives)”. Edo is the former name of Tokyo before it was renamed in the late 19th century.
Some houses around Sensoji temple shows traditional landscape from spot to spot.
Western side of the city was developed in modern period of Japan after Emperor was relocated from Kyoto. Our Meiji-Jingu Shrine and Harajuku tour is held in the western side of Tokyo. Comparing to this western area, you can really know the difference.
Edo-kkos have unique personalities such as being hectic and energetic compared to other areas of the city. Edo-kkos created some unique languages only used among them such as “Teyande”, “Berabo” which mean “What a heck!”. Some words Edo-kkos use have become common in Tokyo area like Kami-san, title that a married man addresses his wife in public.
Kami-san literally means Goddess or Higher-person. So if you hear a man addressing his wife as “My Kami-san”, he is more likely from Tokyo area, possibly an Edo-kko. Our male married guides use Kami-san when they address their wives.
Learning such things in the tour is the very feature of Tokyo Free Walking Tour. So why not join our tours to get in-depth knowledge of our life, not just description of the tour spots?
To our guest on July 16th – we’d love to hear your feedback!
We would appreciate it if you could leave your comments possibly with names of the guides you were with, on Tripadvisor or our Instagram/Facebook pages.
If you want more info about our tour, check out our website, Facebook, or “Tokyo Free Walking Tour” on Tripadvisor.
(Posted by Masa Y.)