Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Asakusa.
On the day of our two-guided tours on July 22, we welcomed 31 guests.
Guests came from different regions of the world, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, India, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and U.S.A.
The growing momentum of the scorching heat brought about by the summer season continues to prevail all over Japan.
Some areas in the western side of Japan even experienced the temperature of around 40 degree Celsius.
At Asakusa in Tokyo, the temperature reached 35degree Celsius in the morning and intensified around the time that we started our afternoon tour.
Despite the extreme summertime heat, we were lucky and happy to meet 31 energetic participants who joined our tour.
We went through the Kaminarimon Gate or the Thunder Gate of the Sensoji Buddhist Temple and made way to the Nakamise Shopping Street. All of the participants were eager to explore Asakusa, however, by the time we concluded our tour at the Asakusa Shinto Shrine, most of the guests seemed exhausted, mainly because of the unbearable temperature.
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- (Data from Japan Meteorological Agency)
(Data from Japan Meteorological Agency)
As we have recommended in our previous blog posts, strolling around Asakusa during the nighttime might interest you if you are not fond of going outdoors during the daytime on summer days. Aside from a cooler temperature, you can also explore the district in a different atmosphere at night.
Firework festivals are also outstanding fixtures of the summer nights in Japan.
The Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival or Sumidagawa Hanabi Taikai in Japanese, is one of the most notable fireworks festivals in Tokyo.
It is an event held annually, held every last Saturday of July, over the Sumida River near Asakusa in Tokyo.
This extravagant event is held to commemorate the Edo period and to convey the atmosphere during those days, when people used to enjoy watching firework near the river.
Initially, this firework event was launched in 1732 to mourn for the lives of the people who have died of famine due to the desperate and critical economic crisis in those days.
At the same time, this event had a crucial role to comfort and encourage the families of the stricken people and it coincided with the re-opening of the Sumida River.
Hanabi or Fireworks are often associated with beauty and fragility because of the short but majestic time it burns in the sky.
For instance, immediately, after we see fireworks launch and explode into the sky, they are instantly gone moments after, leaving behind its loud sound and smoke, before fading away into the dark.
(2018 Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival will be held at 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM on Saturday, July 28)
(By Arac)