Quite recently the state of emergency has been extended for two weeks till late March in the greater Tokyo area. Late March... it will be almost the beginning of the season "Somei Yoshino Sakura", the most popular cherry blossom in Japan. We will introduce you the beauty of Sakura in Japan through Tokyo Now in April. This issue is focused on "one day in early spring at Asakusa" when I enjoyed a stroll from Kuramae to Asakusa in Tokyo. Asakusa is still far less crowded. For example, the observato...

KIRIN BEER Happy winter!! From the Jan.8, and for the 2nd time, the Greater Tokyo area and 10 prefectures are under the state of emergency again.Therefore, we have much more spare time at home now. The biggest entertainment for me is to watch "KIRIN GA KURU", 2020, NHK period drama, It is the 59th NHK long-run drama. Especially samurai dramas are popular among them. "KIRIN GA KURU" means "KIRIN, the Messenger of Good Luck would finally come to our place". It would come to us as an identity to le...

Year 2021 begins. How did you spend your holidays? Last year was one of the troubling years in history. The pandemic changed our lifestyle drastically. Our activity was suspended since then. We cannot meet any more guests from abroad. This year, we are hoping things turn out better and to meet wonderful people again. To wish for betterment of the world we usually visit shrines or temples on new year's holidays to pray, but in this season much less people went to these places due to public warnin...

Diamond Mt. Fuji observing from Mt. Takao, Tokyo on the day of winter solstice and the great conjunction of Jupitar and Saturn. This holiday season is unlike any other past one. Throughout the season, and as we move into a new and hopefully better year, We wish you moments of peace and happiness amid the difficulties caused by the pandemic. Let us summarize our activities of the year 2020. Considering the situation of COVID-19 infection, we have suspended our regular tours since end of March. Bu...

There are still nice gardens. As previous report, there are many “Kaiyushiki” (circuit style) gardens in Tokyo. I would like to introduce 2 gardens and 1 park in the northern area in Tokyo. “Rikugien gardens”,” Kyu-Furukawa Gardens” and “Askayama Park”. Rikugien Gardens is another garden which was donated by the Iwasaki family. It was originally built by a “Daimyo” (feudal load) in 1702, and purchased by Yataro Iwasaki, a founder of Mitsubishi conglomerate, in 1868. After that it was donated to ...

Now that the scorching summer heat is over, how do you spend your autumn holidays? Monday and Tuesday of this week were national holidays, so we had a four-day long weekend. As travel restrictions were eased recently, some ventured out to remote areas as far as Okinawa or Hokkaido. But most people seem to have preferred spending their holidays at places not far from home. Tokyo has many chisan-kaiyushiki gardens, that is, the gardens designed to stroll around a pond and hills with trees and rock...

Have you ever been to Tokyo? If “yes”, I guess you visited “Harajuku” as it is one of the most popular area not only for tourist but residence in Japan. Two most popular tourist site in Harajuku, or even in Tokyo, are Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine and Harajuku town itself. Uniqueness of Harajuku is that serene spiritual greenery spot and cool fashionable district locate both side of the lovely JR Harajuku station building. Famous for its triangular roof and a weathercock placed on the roof, the olde...

We are in the middle of very hot summer season. This season is called "Obon." This season is for most workers, summer holiday period. Many people go back home to meet their family members and visit graves of their ancestors. However, since the novel coronavirus pandemic occurred, the form of the customs changed. People are advised not to travel around. At the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, one of our regular tour course, on 15 August, ceremony of burning lanterns called "Toro" was held in the backya...

We had unusually long rainy season this year. But it finally ended. Now that the hot summer is here in Tokyo area, we see summer flowers blooming everywhere. Speaking of summer flowers to grow at your house, what flower do you come up with first? In Japan, asagao (morning glory) has been the most popular flower to grow since Edo period (1600-1867). The first asagao boom sprang up in the first half of 19th century. In the town of Edo (Tokyo was called Edo then) many asagao growers appeared. As pe...

Greeting from Tokyo! Following to the on-site members only tour on Saturday at East Gardens of the Imperial Palace route, Meiji Shrine & Harajuku route tour was held on Sunday. Meiji Shrine & Harajuku tour Route : First half: Meiji Jingu shrine Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine. Shinto is an indigenous religion in Japan. Meiji Jingu attracts largest number of visitors every New Year’s to wish good fortune of the year. Urban oasis full of nature in the middle of such a big city Tokyo. Appreciated as...