Please be noticed that regarding the predicted impact of Typhoon Hagibis on this weekend, our tour of Oct.12th (Sat.) to East Gardens of the Inperial Palace is going to be canceled. In case that the coming Oct.13th(Sun.) Asakusa tour /Ueno Park tour needs irregular operation, we will post an updated schedule on Saturday (the day before the tourdate) at this corner. Thank you for your understanding and we would continue to put our best effort in order to protect the health of our guests and guides. 【Addtional Information】 According to the Imperial House Hold Agency, the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace will be closed on Saturday. 12 Oct.(wholeday), in the morning(from 9 a.m. to noon) of Sunday.13 Oct., in the morning(from 9 a.m. to noon) of Monday. 14 Oct. http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/eindex.html
Thank you for joining our tour to Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on Oct. 6th. We welcomed 30 guests in total from Canada, Israel, USA, Australia, Philippines, Spain, UK, Italy and Germany. We really appreciate that some guests participated following East Gardens of the Imperial Palace the previous day. We made 4 groups to have mutual communication between guests and guides. It was rainy and a little chilly, 27℃ (81℉). We needed temporary suspending our tour under a roof to avoid strong rains, but all guest was cooperative and patient. We could not operate tours without their warm cooperation and understanding. Thank you very much! A lot of dolls were displayed in the corridor as we entered the main hall of Meiji Shrine during the rain. This day was the annual Meiji Shrine Doll Thanksgiving Day. There is a custom in Japan that believes that dolls have souls and values them. So many people feel reluctant to just throw away old and broken dolls as garbage. Meiji Jingu shrines holds every autumn this event as a festival of gratitude and farewell for such dolls. It is believed that Japanese people had animistic spirits in the symbiosis with nature since ancient times. […]
Thank you for joining one of TFWT tours visiting the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace on October 5th. We welcomed 23 guests from USA(8), Israel(7), UK(2), Mexico(2), Philippine(2), Germany(1), Spain(1). The day was extraordinary hot day even in October with the temperature over 30 deg C. However, sun light becomes softer and humid comes to be milder than mid summer. Some guests could fortunately encounter rainbow under bright sunlight at Wada-kura fountain park on the tour route. Now, in the East Garden of Imperial Palace, several constructions are on going. As has been announced by previous post, the main one is the construction of “Daijo-kyu” in the wide open space locating at the center of East Garden. The same one was prepared at the timing of enthronement of former Emperor 31 year ago, but the construction site was entirely hidden at that time. On the other hand, these are observable up to this tour day, fortunately. It is said that this follows the idea of “tradition should be more open and close to public”, but the exact plan how it will be handled until the day, Nov.14th and 15th, is not officially announced until […]
Thank you for joining our TOKYO free walking tour heading to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on September 28. We welcomed over 20 guests from Singapore,USA,UK,Poland,France,India,Australia,Germany,Spain,&c making 3 groups, and enjoyed the tour and the conversation each other. Some guests come Japan to enjoy RUGBY WORLD CUP JAPAN 2019, others said by coincidence! During the tour, we took the group photo in front of the RUGBY WORLD CUP monument on the GYOKO-street. One guest asked me if she can watch SUMO wrestling, we can see regular SUMO tournament every two months, and sometimes have one day SUMO tournament as the regional tour. Since regular SUMO tournament finished last week and she had only two weeks, i said this time might be difficult to watch it. But she said only one game would be enough just only watching it, therefore i recommend she might be able to watch the training at East TOKYO area and look for it on the internet. Hope she enjoy SUMO training! After the tour, RUGBY WORLD CUP had the game between our JAPAN versus one of winner candidate Irish. I heard we can watch at the public area(please see tour report Sep/18) though, […]
We were delighted to welcome 35 guests from Bangladesh, Indonesia, USA, Pakistan, Germany and Australia in 3 tours of that day. 30 guests in Asakusa AM and PM tours and 5 guests in Ueno Park tour. The weather of the day was very fine in the morning but it started to rain in the afternoon. Usually Sunday tours get fewer number of guests than this. This time is different due to Rugby World Cup Japan. Asakusa AM and PM tours Ueno Park Tour Japan hosts Rugby World Cup this autumn and will host Olympics next year. More than a century ago no one could imagine how Japan would become so international that it would host such big international events . The man who was the model of the statue in Ueno Park which is the last spot of the tour, could not, either. That is the statue of SAIGO Takamori, who was a samurai in Satsuma domain (currently Kagoshima prefecture) and later became a military official in late 19th century. SAIGO was a model character for a samurai named Katsumoto in Hollywood film”The Last Samurai” (2003) in which Tom Cruise starred. As depicted in the film he was regarded as once contributor […]
Many thanks to 24 guests who participated in this tour from USA, UK, Scotland, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Chile, Bangladesh, South Africa, Italy, Ireland, Argentina, Cambodia, Pakistan, Germany, and Spain. We divided into 4 groups. It was a cloudy early autumn day so we did not feel hot in the tour. Autumn is known to be season for sports in Japan because of mild climate. On previous day Rugby World Cup tournament began in Japan. Thanks to that event, we met some Rugby fans who were planning to view the games. So we can expect many more Rugby fans in our tours this coming 40 days of the tournament period. We are excited about that. Foreign Rugby fans should enjoy energetic muscular athletes’ hard movements in the games. Big guys tackling each other is what you’re eager to see in Rugby. These are so powerful scenes. However, there is a woman who tackled a male dominance of Japan society. She is a sushi chef in Akihabara, Tokyo. She manages a sushi bar, Nadeshiko-sushi. Traditionally women are not allowed to work in this industry. But she tackled and became a professional sushi chef who even traveled around the world to introduce greatness of […]
Thank you for joining our tour to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on September 18. We welcomed 10 guests from Canada, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, and USA. We enjoyed our walking tour and great conversation very much. Our tour starts from Tokyo station. Very fortunately, we happened to see procession of horse-drawn carriages at the Ceremony of the Presentation of Credentials at Tokyo station. During the Ceremony of the Presentation of Credentials, ceremonial horse-drawn carriages welcome newly appointed ambassadors to Japan and convey them from the Tokyo Station to the Imperial Palace South Porch. We welcomed two new ambassadors from Netherlands and Slovenia. During the tour, we encountered rain, but we still enjoyed our walking tour and great conversation. One of our guests asked us about the place they can see IKEBANA. During our tour, we didn’t have a good clue. Now we’ve got some information. IKEBANA EXHIBITION is held at Meguro, the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo from September 20th to November 13th, 2019. Ikebana is one of the traditional Japanese art in which flowers and plants are specially arranged for appreciation. It has been practiced for more than 600 years, and there are so many styles […]
Please be advised of the recent situations that may affect our tour. The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is being prepared for a once-in-a-reign Ceremony in November by the new Emperor. Some areas of the Gardens are closed down to erect a special ceremonial complex built just for this occasion. As the Ceremony nears and the construction progresses, these close-downs may necessitate us to modify or cancel our East Gardens tour. We will keep you posted on the developments. Please also refer to our terms and conditions. Thank you for your understanding!
Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour at Meiji Shrine and Harajuku on September 15th. We had guests from various countries such as Australia, US, India, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Singapore, Pakistan, and Germany. As always, we shared good atmosphere in a quiet forest and historical objects in Meiji Shrine. At this time of year, we have a lot of Typoon, but fortunately the weather was good, and temperature was just comfortable. This good condition is also good for a bride and groom who just started their new life from Meiji Shrine. Congratulations to the young couple! Just one block away from busy TAKESHITA street, there is a small facility called Ota Memorial Museum of Art, which has specialty in UKIYOE wood block print. It is amazing that such a quiet and pretty museum showing traditional Japanese art is located in the center of pop culture. The museum holds themed exhibition from time to time. You can obtain good knowledge of UKIYOE from a special angle in such exhibitions. This week’s exhibition is all about Utagawa Toyokuni who had his work in late 18th to early 19th century. If you are interested in UKIYOE, it’s surely worth while spending […]
Thanks to all the guests for joining the tour and having a good time with us on 14th September! We welcomed 34 guests and divided into 2 groups. Our group welcomed 18 guests and another group welcomed 16 guests. It’s larger than usual because it’s fine day for walking. Guests enjoyed the tour and talking with other guests in same group. Guests also enjoyed simple wearing Kimono at the tour end. Guests give us lots of questions during the tour, but most interesting question today was about Metro train. A guest wants to buy one day ticket for his sightseeing in Tokyo. Tokyo Metro offers reasonable one day ticket pass. However problem is that there are two metro train companies in Tokyo, Tokyo Metro and Toei Metro, and the reasonable ticket is available for Tokyo Metro only. He gave me a question how to know the Metro entrance which his ticket is available for? I couldn’t answer it immediately but I got the answer with help of other guides. Tokyo Metro’s mark is like character “M”, and Toei Metro’s mark is a ginkgo leaf. (Gingko tree is the represent tree of Tokyo Metropolitan.) Metro companies also sell other type of […]
