On this Year’s Spring Equinox, March 21st, a Japanese National Holiday, let’s escape the toxic concrete city to walk & explore peaceful Ichikawa, “The Garden City” & enjoy a friendly Hanami picnic! 🌸 (Chiba-prefecture is one of Japan’s under-appreciated treasures!) 🏞 We’ll stroll beside the wide Edogawa river in fragrant springtime & hike to the heights of Konodai, where the ruins of old Satomi Castle sleep beneath tall trees & mossy stones! 🏯 I visited the park recently & saw fat flower buds forming on the cherry trees. Sakura will bloom early, so let’s enjoy the new blossoms before crowds descend on the parks! 🌄🐇🌿 Enjoy hiking through fresh woods & nature areas to a shimmering *hyotan-shaped pond full of […]
Celebrate the Hinamatsuri (雛祭り) Girl’s Day Festival with a pleasant walk around big, beautiful & historic Nakayama Hokkekyo-ji temple on Sunday, February 26th! 🌸🍑👨👩👦👦 OUR TOUR: Located in Funabashi, not far from Tokyo, old Hokkekyo-ji temple has one of the finest displays of Ohina dolls in the Kanto area! 🔆 We’ll walk up along the “sando”, (sacred road) to the temple, past many traditional Japanese-sweets, gift, flower shops, vendors of crackers & other traditional goodies we may visit and perhaps buy. (Great stuff!) 💐🍬🍙 This historic 900-year old temple complex with many gorgeous buildings is set in a beautiful valley filled with plum, cherry, peach & other flowering trees such as early blooming Sakura! The sky may be very blue, […]
JAPANIZERS! Join us on Sunday, February 12th for a special, SECRETS of UENO PARK tour, featuring an introduction to sprawling “Ueno Onshi-koen”, Japan’s first National Park, which was founded on the hill in 1888! 🌄 Ueno has many great museums, temple, shrines, monuments, statues, a wonderful island temple area in the middle of Shinobazu Pond, huge, beautiful trees & various artifacts & structures from great Kan’ei-ji Temple which once occupied much of the plateau until being destroyed during the Battle of Ueno (上野戦争, Ueno Sensō a battle of the Boshin War), on July 4, 1868, which was fought between the Shogitai (loyal samurai/ supporters of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu) & the Imperial Meiji Army. 🏹 At this time of the year, […]
Admission Free!! Japanese bamboo flute Shakuhachi Concert The Regular Concert of Minato Ward Japanese Music Study Group This is a concert where you can enjoy Japanese music through various schools of shakuhachi music. ◎This venue will not be crowded, so you don’t have to worry about new coronavirus infection. ・Date：on 9 Feb. 2023 From 18:00（Doors open at 17:45） ・Veneu：Akasaka Civic Hall（in 3F Akasaka Community Plaza,4-18-13,Akasaka Minato-ku,Tokyo） ・Access：10 minute walk from Exit A of Akaska-mitsuke Station on Ginza line or Marunouchi line ・Admission fee：free（Please RSVP. All seats are free. You can enter after the start time.） The Minato-district Japanese Music Study Group has players who belong to the various groups, such as the Fuke-meian, the Kinko, the Tozan and each school.The […]
Admission Free!! Japanese bamboo flute Shakuhachi ConcertThis is a concert where you can enjoy Japanese music through various schools of shakuhachi music. ・Date：on 22 Jan 2020 From 18:00（Doors open at 17:45）・Veneu：Akasaka Civic Hall（in 3F Akasaka Community Plaza,4-18-13,Akasaka Minato-ku,Tokyo）・Access：10 minute walk from Exit A of Akaska-mitsuke Station on Ginza line or Marunouchi line・Admission fee：free（Please RSVP. All seats are free. You can enter after the start time.） The Minato-district Japanese Music Study Group has players who belong to the various groups, such as the Fuke-meian, the Kinko, the Tozan and each school.The length of the shakuhachi also ranges from 30cm to 100cm.The form of shakuhachi pipe also ranges from unpainted ungrounded pipes to contemporary fine-tuned ones.Pieces from the classical komuso shakuhachi to […]
Join our Special New Year’s Yanaka to Ueno Seven Lucky Gods Pilgrimage #2! (Our January 8th tour is nearly full, so please join this one!) Why not start the year by visiting Seven Lucky Gods, collect special visitor stamps, put it in a frame & hang on your wall for a Happy-Go-Lucky year 2020? (An explanation about Seven Lucky Gods “Fuku-jin” is written below) You’ll pay 1000 yen for a special Washi paper scroll at Tokakuji. Each stamp will cost 200 yen per temple or shrine so by visiting 7 places you should expect to pay 2400 yen in total. (See attached photo below) If you are regular Goshuin collector, it cost 300 yen per Goshuin as usual. @}:^) NOTE: […]
Join our Special New Year’s Yanaka Seven Lucky Gods Pilgrimage! Why not start the year by visiting Seven Lucky Gods, collect special visitor stamps, put it in a frame & hang on your wall for a Happy-Go-Lucky year 2020? (An explanation about Seven Lucky Gods “Fuku-jin” is written below) You’ll pay 1000 yen for a special Washi paper scroll at Tokakuji. Each stamp will cost 200 yen per temple or shrine so by visiting 7 places you should expect to pay 2400 yen in total. (See attached photo below) If you are regular Goshuin collector, it cost 300 yen per Goshuin as usual. @}:^) NOTE: On January 8th, our exclusive walking tour, limited to 8 people will be guided by […]
