Tour Report: East Garden of the Imperial Palace on 16 December 2023

Thank you very much for participating in the tour of the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. On that day we hosted 6 people from USA and Singapore in an unusual warm weather for this time of the year. December is a winter month but the temperature rose to 20 degree centigrade in the afternoon. Although we could view autumn scenes in the East Garden, anyone could go through the garden without wearing a jacket. It was like October.

As promised, group photos and snapshots are attached to remember the fun times we had.

It was a warm day but one of the guides went skiing in Iwate prefecture. So we’re already in the winter season. Even you feel warm in a day but that can not continue for days. So please always prepare clothes for winter when going outside.

This month December is called “Shiwasu” in Japan. It literally means “Monks running” because it is the most busiest time of the year to prepare for coming new year. Monks in the old days had to run around the towns to do their businesses. That is how the word “Shiwasu” was derived.

People become very busy to write new year greeting letters to friends and relatives, to clean up their residences not to leave dusts of the old year, and to decorate for the new year ceremonies.

You also have to buy new calendars as well as schedule memo notebooks to make your new plans in the coming year.

If you have a chance to come to Tokyo in the coming year, please book this tour on your new calendar or memo book checking our tour schedule calendar on this website.

We’d be happy to meet you!

We always strive to give high-quality tours. Your feedback is very important and useful
to us. If you have a moment, please consider posting comments about tours on TripAdvisor /Facebook, etc. Your remarks will certainly help us improve and continue developing our tours. Also, please tell your family and friends about us. Next time you’re in Tokyo, please come to another one of our tours. Once again thank you very much.
For more information about our tour, please visit our website at https://tfwt.jp/top/meiji-shrine-and-harajuku/, https://www.facebook.com/TokyoFWT or Tokyo Free Walking Tour at https://www.tripadvisor.jp/.

(Posted by Masa)