Thank you for joining our tour visiting the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace on November 10th. We welcomed 29 people from Hong Kong (7), U.S.A.(6), Australia (4), India (2), Malaysia (1), Russia (1), U.K.(1), Singapore (1), China (1), Pakistan (1) France (1), Romania (1) and Japan (1). We could enjoy clear blue autumn sky with comfortable temperature. This autumn is a bit warmer than usual, so it is a little bit earlier for us to enjoy autumn leaves. But some of them start to turn yellow and red. In Japan, November 15 is called “shichi-go-san”, literally “seven-five-three”. It is a festival to celebrate the growth of children. On November 15, or on weekends around that date, girls of seven, boys of five, or both of three are taken to a shrine by their parents to give thanks and pray for a divine blessing and pray for their future growth and happiness. Children are having a colorful oblong paper bag, in which Chitose Ame is given. Chitose Ame literally means “a thousand-year candy” and symbolizes healthy growth and longevity. (posted by N)
Thank you for choosing our tour in Asakusa on November 11. We welcomed 12 people from U.S.A., Australia New Zealand and Switzerland. The weather was sunny and very comfortable. It has become more and more like autumn. I hope all the guests enjoyed walking with us. It may be part of fun of travel for you to collect stamps when you visit temples or shrines. The red ink seal is called ‘Goshuin’ which is given to the worshipers at a temple or shrine. Goshuin is obtainable at Yougoudo Hall located in the west of the Main Hall of Sensoji Temple. Yougoudo provides two types of goshuin as shown above photo. You are able to choose either or both. Each stamp costs about 300 to 500 yen. But first, you need a stamp book(Goshuin cho). This is different from a tourist stamp which is offered in most tourist destinations. Stamp books are available at temples, shrines or stationery stores. It cost about 1,000 to 1,500 yen. The stamp book consists of an accordion structure of 20 to 30 papers with a hardcover. Goshuin used to be granted to the people who donated shakyo or a handwritten copy of the Buddhist […]
A GOOD DAY IN THE EAST GARDEN OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE Thank you for joining our tour visiting the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on November 6th. We welcomed 9 people from Germany, Argentina, Italy and Singapore. In this season, leaves of Tokyo area begin to color to yellow and red. Scenery of these colored trees matches modern buildings and remains of old castle (stone wall and moat etc) very well. We could enjoy these harmonized scenery in spite of unexpected rain (in the latter half of this tour) which is not as usual in Japanese autumn. Every time it is a great pleasure for us to welcome foreign guests, and guide this tour. This time especially our guests cheered us although we were sorry to have guided them in the rain in the latter half. We could spend joyful time having been with our gusts. We appreciate again, and hope all of our guests will have wonderful memories. (posted by Shino.)
Many thanks to people who participated in the tour. On that day we welcomed 17 guests from US, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Belgium, and Venezuela. We divided into 3 groups. It was a very mild day although slightly rained later in the morning. There was a special event on the Meiji Jingu Shrine that pleased our guests. Exhibition of the chrysanthemum. Beautiful chrysanthemum flowers shown on the corridor and inside the main pavilion square attracted so many visitors there. Each one was well-taken care of by planters who pride themselves with their artistic forming of the flowers. We call the flowers, Kiku. What is significant of the chrysanthemum is the flowers are Japan’s national flower. You might think cherry blossom is the one but it is only seen in spring. But chrysanthemum is what you see all year around. Chrysanthemum is used as emblem for the imperial family as you see on the top of Torii gate of the shrine. It is also known to be a symbol of Japanese aestheticism which was described in renowned classic cultural anthropology book titled “The Chrysanthemum and the sword” on which the author, Ruth Benedict described as “a nation with a popular cult of […]
Thank you for joining our tour visiting the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace on November 3rd. We welcomed 23 people from U.S.A., Canada, Philippines, UK, Italy and Australia. We could enjoy clear blue autumn sky with comfortable temperature. This autumn is a little bit warmer than usual and it should enable us to enjoy autumn yellow leaves longer. The day was a National Holiday named “Bunka-no-Hi”, which translates as “Culture Day” today. Originally, the day was the birthday of Emperor “Meiji”, Great-grandfather of current Emperor. The event on this “Culture Day” is to award this year’s “Order of Cultural Merit” by the Emperor. The ceremony was held at Imperial Palace inviting five recipients of this year, who contributed a lot to Japanese culture, probably during the time we were strolling around East Garden!! This ceremony has become the final one provided by current Emperor, because he will retire at the end of next April. Therefore, the ceremony should have been more impressive for the recipients than usual. Anyway, every time, it is a great pleasure for us to guide this tour, and enjoy conversation with guests including a lot of questions and answers. We really hope all of guests […]
Dreams come true. Tokyo Free Walking Tour(TFWT) won a lottery to take part in the Imperial voluntary workforce from October 23 to 26. Finally, 18 guides of us could participate in this volunteer service. This workforce is run by the Imperial Household Agency and citizen aged from 15 to 75 years old are able to apply by groups. (only by groups, not by individuals) It has a high reputation for mostly two reasons and countless groups come from all over our Japan to take part in this workforce. (1) Their Majesties the Imperor and Impress sincerely makes time to meet people as far as they are available.(Even Their Magesties are quite busy, they continue their greetings.) (2) During the workforce term, to complete the work, you may be allowed to enter some restricted area which are usually not open to public. So as other groups, TFWT eagered to take part in the volunteer. The volunteer first started at 1947 by young volunteers to help cleaning up the devastated area burnt down by World War II in 1947. Since then, Emperor Hirohito(current Emperor Akihito’s father) and his consort, Empress Koujun started meeting people and the custom been taken until today. For this […]
Many thanks for joining our tour in Asakusa on October 28. We met 12 wonderful people from Australia, Finland, Philippine, Sweden and USA. In addition to the well-known a big red lantern of Kaminari-mon Gate, Senso-ji Temple has another massive ornament of the giant straw sandals hanging on Hozo-mon Gate on the way to the main hall. The enormous sandals are called “O-waraji”. “O-waraji” is one of the largest in Japan, 4.5m in length, 1.5m wide and weighing almost 500kg, made of rice straw ropes. The first pair of “O-waraji” was donated to Senso-ji Temple by the volunteering group in the Murayama City, Yamagata prefecture in 1941. Mr. Toshizo Matsuoka, who is a House of representatives from Murayama City, took an initiative in developing the enormous sandals to Senso-ji Temple. Having strong faith in Senso-ji Temple and contributing to the political solution of the snow damage of the city. Mr. Matsuoka offered sandals to Senso-ji Temple with thanks. However, they had been burned together with the temple, during the WW II air raids in 1945. After that, the second “O-waraji” was donated in 1964 again, and replaced roughly every 10 years since. Special rice seedlings are planted over a year […]
We conducted the tour to the East Gardens of Imperial Palace on October 27, 2018. The rain from the early morning brought humid air and high temperature, which made us a little sweaty, but the autumn sunshine after the rain reflected beautifully on the lawn and made the East Gardens more cheerful. On this occasion our guest came from Mexico, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Finland, Australia, Canada and USA. All these countries have many attractive viewing spots. I can’t help but thinking how Japan and Japanese can be looked from the people coming from such beautiful countries. I asked one of our guests what is the charms of Japan. The answer was “difference” from their home country. Yes, difference attracts many tourists. Then I wonder, what do the tourists think about the appearance of Tokyo station when I give them an explanation of it as a historic architecture? It is a magnificent construction but, at the same time, a complete imitation of the Victorian style. Whenever I explain about the Tokyo station to our guests, I slightly feel embarrassed. How could I explain it proudly to people who belong to the western culture? Victorian style is not our culture but […]
Thank you for joining our walking tour to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace on October 20. We welcomed five people from Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, and the USA. The tree leaves began to be colored. Many flowers are blooming. It was a nice weather to take a rest on the lawn. We really enjoyed walking through the gardens. (posted by Tank)
Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Harajuku area. On the 21st of October, with sunny and occasionally cloudy skies, we welcomed 8 guests, people from the U.S.A., Singapore, Canada, Australia, Belgium and Japan, to our walking tour. We started the 90-minute tour in front of the torii or shrine gate of the Meiji Shinto Shrine, and concluded it at the Omote Sando Avenue. Going through the torii, with brisk footsteps that sound like “zaku zaku”, we proceeded to the shrine’s main building which is nestled in the center of the evergreen forest. This sound, “zaku zaku” is an onomatopoeia giving life to the vibrations made by visitors stepping on the gravel that serves as pathways in the religious compound. Strolling on the grounds of the Meiji Shinto Shrine is one of the most extraordinary experiences that people can do to escape the highly urbanized area of Tokyo. When it comes to the historical background of the Meiji Shinto Shrine, our guides show the pictures of the Meiji Emperor. This is because this place is dedicated to commemorating the soul of the Emperor and Empress, who ascended to the throne around the 1900s. The spirit of the […]
