Fukugawa Edo Museum - 深川江戸博物館

October 25, 2007 - 6:36 pm by kaorichani in Culture, Others  

The other day I went to Fukugawa Edo Museum , as since the beginning , I really liked to see how “Old Tokyo” had been a long time ago. There are two important Edo Museums in Tokyo , Ryogoku Edo Hakubutsukan and the Fukugawa Edo Hakubutsukan , though Fukugawa is the tinier one. But nevertheless, [...]

Shibamata

August 4, 2007 - 10:16 pm by kiokitok in Travel  

Located in the northeast of Ueno, Shibamata still preserves the atmosphere of old Tokyo. Getting off the Keisei line at Shibamata station, you walk through Sando, a tiny street leading you to the major temple or shrine. A lot of old buildings, most of them from the 1950s, are preserved along the street. [...]

Sanya

July 28, 2007 - 5:58 pm by kiokitok in Others  

Sanya became popular among foreign tourists these days. There are a lot of cheap hotels with single rooms. However, it has been known as a synonym of slum with lots of working-class people hanging around.

History of Sanya is not so long. There were already people in poverty living here. However, the [...]

Hina Matsuri

March 3, 2007 - 8:00 pm by kiokitok in Culture  

Girls celebrate March 3. They arrange Hina Ningyo dolls in the living room, invite their friends and neighbors, and have some party. During the party, people wish the best of those girls.
In many different cultures, girls play with dolls. In Japan, Hina Matsuri was already celebrated in the 9th century. However, [...]

Chinese New Year at Yokohama Chinatown

February 18, 2007 - 12:00 am by kiokitok in Travel  

The Chinese are everywhere in the world. They often build Chinatown and make their living on their own. In 1858, Japan opend its door to other countries. Port of Yokohama was opened in the following year. Various countries created their settlements there. The Chinese too moved to Yokohama as the [...]

To Know Tokyo Is To Love Tokyo - Edo-Tokyo Museum

February 9, 2007 - 11:34 pm by kiokitok in Travel  

Hanging around Tokyo, you will be able to find out lots of historical sites and objects, especially from Tokugawa Shogunate. Yet, there are no other sites with all those collection of artifacts than Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is just a museum with a lot of artifacts. Thus, you may not be able to [...]

Setsubun

February 3, 2007 - 8:37 pm by kiokitok in Culture, Food  

The Japanese love to have seasonal celebrations. February 3 is known as Setsubun. Setsubun literally means the division of seasons. They used to celebrate every division of seasons. However, they now celebrate only February 3 as the change from winter to spring.
They had already celebrated Setsubun on February 3 before the [...]

Hiroshima

March 20, 2006 - 4:23 pm by Up and Down Japan in Travel  

Hiroshima. Entering the city by car, it seemed pretty much the same as any other big city in Japan. When Hiroshima-jo (Hiroshima Castle) came into view, we stopped to take a look. Like the handful of other castles we’ve seen on this trip, we didn’t enter it or even get close enough for a decent [...]