Fireworks Festival

The Meteorological Agency officially announced today that rainy season (Tsuyu) is over in Tokyo area. So sunny summer has finally come !

From ancient times, we Japanese have a custom of watching fireworks to enjoy the cool summer breeze in the evening.  There are quite a lot of events in July and August around Tokyo, here are just a few… 

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July 21 (Mon)  19:20-20:20  Katsushika Noryo Fireworks Festival  @Keisei Kanamachi Line Shibamata station

Jul 23(Thr)  19:30-20:30  Fireworks in Adachi @JR, Tobu Isesaki Line, Tokyo Metro Hibiya or Chiyoda Line Kitasenju station

Jul 25(Sat)  19:30-20:30  Fireworks in Urayasu city  @JR Shinurayasu station or Tokyo Metro Tozai Line Urayasu station

Jul 25(Sat) 19:20-20:30  Tachikawa Matsuri Showa Memorial Park Firework Festival  @JR Tachikawa station

Jul 25(Sat) 19:00-20:30 Sumida River Fireworks Festival (English website) @Tokyo Metro Ginza Line or Toei Asakusa Line Asakusa station or JR Ryogoku station

Jul 25 (Sat) 19:00-  Konosu Fireworks Festival   @JR Takasaki Line Konosu station

Jul 30 (Thr) 19:30-20:20 Kamogawa city Fireworks Festival @ JR Sotobo Line Awa Kamogawa station

Jul 31 (Fri) 19:30- Shonan Hiratsuka Fireworks Festival @ JR Tokaido Line Hiratsuka station + Bus Suga port 

Aug 1 (Sat) 19:00-20:45 Itabashi Fireworks Festival @Toei Mita Line Takashimadaira or Nishidai or Hasune station

Aug 1(Sat) 19:15-20:30 Edogawa Fireworks Festival @Toei Shinjuku Line Shinozaki station

Aug 4 (Tue) 19:30-20:30 Koto Fireworks Festival (English) @Toei Tozai Line Minami Sunamachi station

Aug 6 (Thr) 19:30-20:30 Jingu Gaien Fireworks Festival @Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Hanzomon Line, Chiyoda Line, Toei Oedo Line  Omote Sando station or Gaienmae or Aoyama Ichome station

Aug 8 (Sat) 19:00-20:20 Tokyo Bay Great Fireworks Festival @Toei Oedo Line Kachidoki station

Aug 8 (Sat) 19:45-20:30 Okutama Fireworks Festival @JR Ome Line Okutama station

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Objection!

 

Yesterday I read an article on BBC.com saying that Tokyo is now the ‘most espensive expat city’ in the world. The reporter said in the article

>  that Tokyo’s top slot in the ranking would not surprise locals, who could find themselves paying $15 for a watermelon and $25 for a mango.

What !?  A mango costs U$25?  Impossible. Of course when people buy mangos at very expensive department stores where gifts are bought, they might cost that much, but a local Tokyoite like me buy fruits at a nearby supermarket. I had to do some market research last evening and found out it cost 680 yen (U$7) for a domestic mango and 298 yen (U$ 3) for a Mexican mango.

I know that some of the expats live in luxury apartments and shop at high end supermarkets…  maybe the BBC reporter is also having a good life in Tokyo ?!

 Tokyo Originally had and image of being “an expensive city” and togehter with the image of being “a very far place”. Tokyo has had few overseas visitors for a very long time. Finally the Japanese government is stepping up its campaign with “YOKOSO! Japan”. While the exchange rate does have a large impact as the article has mentioned, please remember that Tokyo (and Japan) is not necessarily expensive, there are many budget friendly way to travel. Visit Japan, you will know

Summer Evening Ride

 As I worte in my last entry, we are celebrating Tanabata (Star Festival) today.  At the same time  today is ‘Cool Earth Day’ in Japan, an initiative by the government to switch off unnecessary lights and to think about environmental issues such as global warming.   Some of the buildings, towers and signboards will be turning off the lights to save energy. This is a campaign which started last year when the Toyako G8 Summit was held in Hokkaido Japan.

This is a picture of the Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple before the tower light was turned off.

This summer, we are planning  a ‘Summer Special Ride’ besides our regular weekend tours.  With the Summer Morning Ride we will ride through Tsukiji and central Tokyo very early in the morning and in the Summer Evening Ride, we will be riding the water front area and along the canals. For more information, please take a look at our website ! 

Top page icon design – Tanabata Festival

Maybe not many people have noticed, but  there is a small graphic icon which represents seasonal events in Japan, at the top of  our website. 

I have put this  for July.

 

Tanabata festival is held on July 7th in Tokyo, but the original story comes from a Chinese folk story. For details, please go to wikipedia.

We celebrate Tanabata by writhing a wish on a colorful strips of paper called “Tanzaku(短冊）” and hang it on a bamboo branch. It is one of the exciting seasonal events in the year, especially for small kids.

 

Last Saturday during our tour, we visited a Niigata Prefecture pilot shop in Nihombashi. We all wrote our wishes on Tanzaku. <Above picture>  I wished for world peace, happiness for all  …. and a little something  for my private

Rainy season 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy season is called “Tsuyu (梅雨)” in Japanese. It literally means “Plum Rain” , the reason being  that the plum fruit ripens during this time of the year, and  we have a lot of  rain during these months.

The Meteorological Agency officially announces the beginning and end of Tsuyu every year, and here is this year’s  forecast by the Weather News Company (Japanese page) for the Tokyo area.

1. Forecast for 2009                 From   Jun. 8           to   Jul. 16
2. Last year                                       May 29                Jul. 19
3. Average year                                   Jun. 8                  Jul. 20

 [ It will rain gently and softly and the temperature will be lower than average  in June. Early July will be hot and humid, a bit of a break from the rain and towards the end, it is expected to rain rather heavily. ]

Construction site of the new Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower, built in 1958 is 333m tall and it is still the tallest self-supporting steel structure in the world.  It was originally built for TV and radio broadcasting purposes but because we have many more high rise buildings in Tokyo now, the current tower is not high enough to cover all the broadcasting area.  The city is planning a new Tokyo Tower, the “Tokyo Sky Tree”.

 

Last week, I went to the construction site of the Tokyo Sky Tree to see how it is progressing. Of course on my bike!  I couldn’t tell how much progress had been made but it sure is going forward!  At the moment, it’s about 20m high, almost as high as a ten floor apartment.  When the tower is completed in 2011, it will be 610m.

 Riding around this area on my bike, I could still feel the atmosphere of the “old and small downtown Tokyo”.  Maybe there will be drastic changes in this part of town in the coming years.   

Long Ride Event @Japan in 2009

While we are operators of a city bike tour, a fun ride with many stops in between, lots of chatting, a bit of walking, lunch and rest…if you are a more serious cyclist, here are a few things to you might want to try! 

Click here for a larger image. (MS Excel file will open)

 This year, I want to try my first ever hill climb but maybe in the autumn…summer might be too hot :p

The May Grand Sumo Tournament @Tokyo

Photo by Antoine

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you know, Sumo is Japan’s  national sport and a type of  martial arts, but it originally was a religious ritual of Shinto (Japan’s indigenous religion). The story can be traced back to ancient times and the ritual was used to tell the harvest would be rich or poor, by seeking the divine intention of the Gods.

In the 16th century, it became an entertainment sport and during the Edo period many people enjoyed watching Sumo at shrines and temples, and this is the origin of current professional Sumo.

 Photo by M. Abe (TGCT)

(He is wearing a mask! To protect himself from the swine flu!?)

 

 

 

There are six Grand Sumo tournaments (Hon Basho) each year, three of them are held in Ryogoku, at the Sumo Hall (Ryogoku Kokugikan) in Tokyo. They are called Tokyo Basho and have tournaments in January, May and September every year. This year’s May Grand Sumo Tournament (Tokyo Basho) started on May 10th and will end on the 24th.

Everyday the wrestling match (bout) starts in the early morning for lower rank wrestlers and  continues until late afternoon for higher rank wrestlers’. During this period, many Sumo wrestlers can be seen around the Sumo Hall and you will know right away who the low rank wrestlers are and who are high. The high rank wrestlers are walking together with their assistants and the lower rank wrestlers are walking by themselves carrying their own belongings. You might also be able to tell the difference from their Kimono (traditional Japanese clothing) – those wearing simple cotton Kimono are lower in rank, and those wearing luxury silk Kimono in beautiful colour are of course higher in rank!  

The general admission tickets are available at 8:00 AM at the Sumo hall main gate at 2,100yen. With this ticket, you can stay for the whole day ! Maybe worth a try!?

We have a bike tour riding through Ryogoku area every Sunday. Please check here!

Wagashi – Japanese sweets

Wagashi, which means Japanese sweets is usually made of  starch syrup  (or sugar), rice, wheat and (pasted red) bean – relatively few kinds of ingredients.  It is often served with green tea, so it is sweet but free of oil and fat, and unlike western confectioneries, fruits are not normally used for wagashi.

The taste is of course very important for wagashi, but the appearance is also very much emphasized. Sometimes it is regarded even as art work. 

Although the ingredients of wagashi are the same all year around, you can actually feel the season from the appearance and the taste.  The above photo is  Sakura Mochi, which literally means  ” Cherry Rice Cake” - a rice cake filled with pasted red bean and wrapped with a pickled cherry leaf. It is available from mid February until early April, during the season of  Girl’s day (Hinamatsuri – March 3rd) and the cherry blossoms . Usually wagashi is sold a bit ahead of the actual season. So if you go to Watashi shops right now, you’ll find another kind of wagashi.

Tuna auction @Tsukiji fish market

 
On our bike tour – Tokyo Bay Ride on Saturdays - we visit the Tsukiji Fish Market every time. But because we usually arrive at around 11:30AM, the market is just closing down. (But don’t worry you can still feel excitement there)  Today, Masa, Haruna and I visited Tsukiji to see the tuna auction. We have never been to the auction, as we tend to think we can visit whenever we want, and so we have missed the chance for a very long time. What a shame it was not visit the fish market!! 

We arrived at Tsukiji at 5:00 in the morning, and as this of course  was too early for the train service, we instead rode our bicycle. The visitors area is open between 5:00 – 6:15, but when we arrived, many people including overseas visitors were already there! Although it was very in the early morning, but everyone looked excited to see tons of enormous tunas lying around, and so we were.

The auction is split into two parts, first  at 5:30 and the second at 6:00. Before the auction started, an intermediate wholesaler checked the meat quality around the tuna’s tail. The trader rang the bell, and announced  the start of the auction, then shouted in high-spirited voice the auction number, the current highest price, and the bidder’s name at the end of each bid. Everything was so speedy, it was impossible to understand what they were saying perfectly, even for the Japanese.

We watched the auction breathlessly. We now we know why Tsukiji is so popular amongst overseas tourists and marked as a must see spot in Tokyo!