The East Garden of the Imperial Palace Tour on July 22, 2023; Summer Break

Thank you for choosing our tour at the East Garden of the Imperial Palace on July 22, 2023. We welcomed 9 guests from USA, UK, and Belgium. I hope all of you enjoyed and shared interesting conversations with us during the tour. As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had. Most schools in Japan have summer vacation for about 40 days from the end of July to the end of August. We travel to the sea and mountains. When I was a student, I looked forward to summer vacation. We, Tokyo Free Walking Tour, will also take a summer vacation. By the way, do you know Obon? Obon is an important annual event to honor ancestors. The Obon period is generally four days from August 13th to 16th every year. It is believed that the spirits of ancestors return to this world. We visit family graves, clean gravestones, and lay flowers. Since most people go home, the Shinkansen, airplanes, highways, everything is very congested. Guests traveling to Japan during this period should plan well in advance.

Tokyo’s summer tradition, “The Sumida River Fireworks Festival”, which had been canceled due to the influence of the coronavirus since 2020, will be held this summer for the first time in four years. 20,000 fireworks are planned. The date is July 29th. More than 950,000 spectators gather each time. The origin of the fireworks display is “The Ryogoku Kawabiraki Fireworks” held in 1733 during the Edo period. It began in the era of the 8th shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, to pray for the victims of the Great Famine and epidemics that spread in Edo and to remove the disaster. In 1978, the name was changed to “The Sumida River Fireworks Festival”.

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(Posted by Yutaka)