WALKING IN A LUSH GREEN FOREST RIGHT AT THE HEART OF TOKYO; HARAJUKU TOUR ON MAY 19TH

Today 10 guests from Canada, Spain, Philippines and USA joined our walking tour of Harajuku. The weather forecast said that we would have a cloudy day, turning into rain in the evening. But despite the forecast the weather has been nice, sunny and warm, since morning. I hope that all the guests enjoyed the tour.

At this time of the year the sunlight is already strong, and will get much stronger as summer approaches. But don’t worry. Lush green forest at Meiji-Shrine and many large zelkova trees lining the Omotesando Street will give us nice shades during the tour.

It was the last day of Sanja Festival at Asakusa today, so it must have been lively but very crowded there. Here, in spite of large number of visitors coming to Meiji Shrine as usual, we still were able to conduct a calm and informative tour for visitors.

There is a large Iris Garden in the precinct of Meiji Shrine. The garden was originally designed by Emperor Meiji for his consort Empress Shoken.

Since ancient times Japanese people continuously loved irises and created various kinds of breeds. The garden’s irises have started from 45 Edo-breeds. Now they have expanded to 150 breeds. They will be in full bloom from the end of May until Mid-June. You have to pay 500 yen to enter the garden, but still it’s worth to see the irises when it’s in full bloom.

http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/hanashobu/

(chino)