Thank you for choosing our tour at Asakusa on Sept.18,2024. We welcomed 11 guests from Canada, Germany and USA. 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.
The week of before and after three days both the spring equinox and autumnal equinox is called “Higan”. This year autumn Higan will from Sept.19th to 25th and 23rd is public holyday. “Higan” is related to Japanese Buddhist, families visit the graves of relatives and hold memorial services for their ancestors. They clean their family grave, offer flowers and light incense. It is believed that those doing so well be rewarded with happiness in the afterlife and shows respect to their ancestor. Many people are going to the public cemetery like Aoyama or many temples in Tokyo, so these area may crowd. There used to be a Japanese saying that “no heat or cold remains after Higan” which recognizes the equinoxes as boundaries between seasons. But recently due to the world climate change the heat temperature is keeping after equinox so autumn season is shorter than shorter. In this time some Japanese sweet called “Ohagi” is sold at sweet shops in streets. “Ohagi” is a type of Japanese rice ball coated with sweet red beans paste. This sweet red bean paste is made from Azuki beans. Azuki beans is belived it can keep off evil, so Japanese likes to eat Ohagi during Higan week. If you find “Ohagi” please try as something special in this seanson.
Once again, thank you so much for joining us on our tour. We always make efforts to improve our tours and highly appreciate your feedback on our TripAdvisor/Facebook etc. Your comments motivate us to continue our volunteer activities. Please tell your family and friends about how you enjoyed our tour. Next time you’re in Tokyo, please join another one of our tours of East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, Meiji Shrine/Harajuku and Ueno Park. We looking forward to seeing you again. Enjoy your travel!
posted by KT