Yasukuni Shrine Honozumo (Ceremonial tournament held in the shrine’s precincts)

Do you know Sumo?  

Sumo is one of national sports in Japan, and has a history of 1400 years.     

Referring to the official brochure prepared by Japan Sumo Association, it is said that “the first Sumo matches were a form of ritual dedicated to the gods, with prayers for a bountiful harvest and were performed together with sacred dancing and dramas within the precincts of the shrine. Since then Sumo has been maintaining its religions protocol and formalities.  And Sumo has managed to survive with its formalized ritual and traditional etiquette intact making it unique among sports.”

If you are in Tokyo April 18th, and if you are interested in viewing Sumo, why not visiting Yasukuni Shrine, and experiencing Hono Zumo! 

The word “Hono” means, dedication to the gods, and Zumo is dullness of Sumo. 

The first Hono Zumo was held at 1869, comforting the Spirit of Yasukuni Shrine, at the enshrined festival.  Since then, this event has been held every year, without interruption.

In this event, you can have very rare opportunity to appreciate Sumo traditions, such as, comic Sumo performances, Sumo Jinku (Sumo Lively Song), Original dividing drums.  

You can see the tournaments given by 200 wrestlers, representing by Grand Champions (highest rank in sumo), Champions (second highest rank in sumo), and all rank will be lined up at this event. 

The Details;  

The dedication  :  Japan Sumo Association 

Date and Time  :  Monday, April 18th 2016  from 9am to 3pm 

Place           :  Sumo amphitheater , Yasukuni Shrine

Admission      :  Free

Program

1.Dohyo (sumo ring) festival     9:00am

2.Tournament starts            10:40am

Comic Sumo Performances,  Sumo Jinku,  Drumming, 

3.Worship                      1:30pm

4.Intermission and Tournament (Yokozuna and higher rank of wrestlers) 

2:00pm

5.End of tournament        3:00pm 

Capacity 

      6000 people, First come, First Served based

Useful information   

1 The main gate of Yasukuni Shrine is open at 6am. 

2. The Sumo ground Amphitheater entrance is open at 8:30am or little earlier, from Central entrance, or South Entrance.   

3. All explanation and announcements are in Japanese only.  

4. Due to “First come, First Served base” , early entry is strongly recommended. These couple of years, all seats are fully occupied by 12:00pm. Once 6000 seats are fully occupied, nobody is allowed to enter the Sumo amphitheater. .

5.  Once the intermission (2pm) , you are not allowed to leave the seat till the end of the event (3pm). 

6.  Nearest station to Yasukuni Shrine is either Kudanshita, or Ichigaya.  

This event is not held within Koto ward, where KEV is located, however, considering the value and richness of this Hono Zumo, KEV introduces this event. 

We hope you could have a chance to see this wonderful event, and enjoy Sumo wrestling.. 

Using this opportunity, we express our appreciation to Public Relations Section, Yasukuni Shrine for their approval and support with regard to Hono Zumo.

Please note that during most of April,  all Sumo wrestlers are on the tour around Japan. For the details, please access their home pages.

by Y. T.

Cherry blossom in 2016

From the end of March till early April, cherry trees in Japan burst into bloom. It is said that due to warm winter in this season, we can enjoy cherry blossom longer than the usual. Cherry blossom is the iconic flower of Japan. People love its elegant look consisted with subtle pink of five petals, those look like pink haze or cloud.

Among many varieties of cherry flowers, Somei-Yoshino is the most famous and commonly observed all over in Japan. Somei-yoshino blooms for a particularly short period and fall as soon as it opened. Not only its whitish elegant look, but also its fragile life dovetails Japanese aesthetic sensibility. Since ancient era, Japanese reflects their short and mortal lives to cherry blossoms’ fragile life.

This year, cherry blossom season has come again. Not only Japanese but also many foreign tourists seem enjoy cherry blossom that colors pink all over in Japan. 　by A.C 

Cherry blossom along each side of Meguro river

Would you like enjoying flower blooming season in Japan ?

If so, please join our free walking tours !

A joyful spring has come !

Hina dolls

It has already been in March. For Japanese, March is the joyful month in which we are relieved from dark & chilly winter and enjoy sunny, warm and flower blooming days.

The representative ceremony of spring is girls' festival or Momo no Sekku on 3rd March. Momo means a peach, Sekku is a ceremony. At Momo no Sekku, each household having daughter prays the girls’ happiness and joyful life. Momo no Sekku is also famous for dolls festival. As its name suggests, the highlight of this ceremony is the decoration of hina dolls in each household. 

The appearance of hina dolls is deeply influenced by fashion and lifestyle of imperial court around 1000 years ago. Hina dolls are consisted with a male doll and a female doll.A Male doll is called obina, a female one is called mebina. Obina and mebina are the married couple in aristocrat family. By displaying such gorgeous married couple, people wish eternal happiness and family prosperity of their daughters.

Japanese apricot

March is also the flower blooming season. From march to May, various flowers will bloom to decorate town in pastel color. The most famous flower in March is Japanese apricot. It starts blooming early in February till end of March. Its faint pink color tells us that spring has come. After blooming Japanese apricot, the cherry blossom season starts around end of March.

Rice cakes rolled with cherry leaf

Not only flowers, but also some confectioneries remind us the spring. 
The pink colored rice cake looks like cherry. The sweet bean paste is stuffed in it. The cake is rolled with the cherry leaf in salt. We can enjoy the combination of sweet and salty taste by eating the rice cake and the cherry leaf together.

In March, we will enjoy coming spring by eye and palate.   by A.C


Would you like to visit flower blooming town in Japan ?
If so, please join our free walking tours !

Sad History of Fish Cemetery

Memorial of the tuna fish at Yumenoshima Park,

Koto-ku, Tokyo

Everybody seems to be excited about the famous Tokyo fish market coming to Koto city this year from Tsukiji. Only a few people know that there is also a fish cemetery in Tsukiji: Cemetery of contaminated tuna fish, which had to be disposed of after being exposed to radiation from a hydrogen bomb test in the 1950s.


The fishing boat called Fukuryu-maru was on the Pacific Ocean near the Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands, when the United States carried out the H-bomb test on May 1st, 1954.

All the 23 crew members aboard were exposed to deadly ash from the nuclear test and suffered severe burn. One of them died of acute radiation disease after six months. Many of the others have died because of cancers.

The ship was left disposed of at a landfill in Koto city. In 1976, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government built a museum of the ship, in order not to forget, or repeat, the tragedy of the Fukuryu-maru.

Daigo Fukuryu-maru at the
 memorial museum

The deadly H-bomb ash fell not only on the Fukuryu-maru, but also on many other fishing boats, their crew members and catches. The fish could not be sold. Some 485 tons of such fish were buried deep under the Tsukiji fish market.

A memorial to commemorate the fish was placed, but not in Tsukiji for some reasons, but in Koto city along with the Fukuryu-maru museum. People are still calling for the fish memorial to be placed at Tsukiji.

The museum have displays of the Fukuryu-maru's body, samples of the deadly ash, crew members' diaries and letters, documents about the suffering of the people of the Marshall Islands, and more.

Now it has renewed attention following recent world events.

The "deadly ash" collected
fromFukuryu-maru. 27
radioactiveelements were
detected.

 
One of the crew members, Misaki Yoshio, predicted in his note while he was in hospital: "As long as the Earth exists, and as long as humankind is there, greediness of humankind will last. And tears will be shed.”

Was he right?

High school students donated
thousands of paper cranes,
wishing for nuclear-free world.

 
No.5 Fukuryu-maru Exhibition Hall:
Yumenoshima 3-2, Koto-ku, Tokyo. 10 minutes walk from Shinkiba station of JR Keiyo Line or Yurakucho Line of Tokyo Metro(Y-24)
Open 9:30 am to 4:00 pm
Closed every Monday, or Tuesday when Monday falls on a holiday
Admission free
English leaflet and some English explanation available.

 by Seiko

Japanese Fable In and Out - deeply rooted in the Shintoism(*)?-

A)    Spare-some-for-me Canal

About 300 years ago, there was a canal in the desolate village (now Kameido 1-chome, Koto-ku).  The canal was surrounded by the dormant vegetation of shrubberies and reed, but a good place for fishing. 

The villagers often went to the canal to fish the crucians or grays for their evening meals.  When the villagers start pack-up with a big bag of fishes and big smile on their faces, a domineering voice came from the bottom of the canal; “Spare some fishes for me.”

Some greedy fishers who have ignored the plea ended up losing all the fishes or encountering a three-eyed hobgoblin or a huge tonsured monster on their way home and never got home. 

The villagers named the canal “spare-some-for-me canal”. – A legend handed down from the old times. 

A little piece of wood standing on the busy road side now tells us that there was a canal once there.

End (translated by K.K.)

B)    A Crane’s Gratitude

Once upon a time, there was a young man living deep in the snowy mountains.  He was poor and made his living by cutting firewood and selling it in a nearby village. 

One winter’s day, the young man heard an odd sound on his way home through the forest carrying his firewood.  He crept through the bushes toward the sound until he saw a crane with its leg was caught in a hunter’s trap.  “Don’t be scared,” said the young man softly and reached down and freed the crane from the trap.  The crane flew off into the air. 

That night, as the snow was falling thick and fast, the young man heard a knocking at his door.  On the doorstep stood a beautiful woman, dressed in white, with snowflakes in her long, black hair. 

“I’m lost.  Could I stay here for a night?” The woman said. 

“You can sleep in there,” the young man said gruffly, pointing to the other room.

The following morning, the woman said “I’ve made you something in thanks.” and showed him the most beautiful length of cloth he had ever seen in his life.  “You made that?” he asked in disbelief.  “I have my ways.  They are secret though.  Anyway, you should try selling it.” She said. 

The young man scrambled out of bed and bursting into the house of one of the merchants, “How much is this worth?” he said,

“Never seen anything like this before.”  “I’ll give you this much for it.” said the merchant.  The young man went weak at the knees.

After a month later, the young man said to the woman, “You know, we seem to have used up all the money.  Weave us another, would you, my dear?”

“If you want, but promise me one thing, you will never watch me weave.  You have to promise me that.” She said.  “Yes, yes I promise,” said the young man. 

The following morning, the woman gave him the cloth.  A few days later, he approached her again.  “I think we should sell as much of this stuff as we can now.  Weave us another one, would you?”

Over the next month, the woman wove many length of this magnificent cloth.  After a month spent weaving, she looked haggard, pale and sad, like a ghost, 

“I don’t think I can weave anymore,” she said.  Then the young man thought to himself, “Perhaps if I had a little look at what she’s doing in there, I could get some other people to weave the cloth.  Yes, I’ll have a look.”

The young man crept to the door, opened it slightly, and there he saw a crane sitting at the loom, plucking feathers from its body and weaving them into the beautiful cloth.  The crane had few feathers left and there was blood on its bare skin. 

“You promised…..” she said sadly.  “I am the crane that you saved.  I came here to thank you for what you did.  But now you have seen me in my real form, I must leave you.”  She disappeared into the snow, never to be seen again. 

End (texts extracted from the “Japanese Folk Tales” by The Japan Time)

(*)Shintoism is native religion of Japan, which is characterized by the worship of numerous gods, ancestors and natural phenomena.  According to Shinto principles, the gods exist in all natural objects. These gods are worshipped at Shinto shrines.　　by K.K.

If you are interested in Shintoism, please join our free walking tour !

Enjoy Contemporary Art at Sunny, Spacious Museum

The exterior of the museum

On a cold day, it’s a good idea to spend pleasant hours at a comfortable museum. 

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in Koto City is one of recommendable museums to visit. The modern and geometric design of the museum building beautifully matches the next-door Kiba Park.

The 140 meters long entrance hall is bright and filled with a relaxing atmosphere. 

The most comfortable chair in the world

Especially the colorful chairs put along the big glass windows seem to tempt you to sit on. Once sitting on, it’s too comfortable to get up from the chair. 

You may spend an entire day at the museum enjoying the fantastic facilities and exhibitions there. 

140 meters long entrance hall

The museum was opened in 1995 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The museum building was designed by Takahiko Yanagisawa, who has a reputation for designing public buildings. One of his major works is Tokyo Opera City, whose acoustics were highly praised by a world-famous cellist, Yo-Yo ma. 

Public Plaza

The wide genres of contemporary art exhibitions are held at the museum including paintings, sculptures, architectures, fashion and design. 

Sign on current exhibition

Current exhibitions are 《Tokyo Art Meeting Ⅵ ”TOKYO”  Sensing the Cultural Magma of the Metropolis》 and 《YOKO ONO: FROM MY WINDOW》 at the Exhibition Galleries, and 《MOT Collection》at the Collection Gallery (through February 14^th). The Museum possesses 4800 items of artworks created both in Japan and overseas, and about 100 pieces from the collection are exhibited at the Collection Gallery.

Atrium Project 《without records》 mot ver.2015

The exhibition rooms are spacious with a high ceiling, which allow large-scale works to display. You can enjoy works under the natural sunlight from the ceiling at some rooms equipped with the light control system to preserve the art pieces.

Atrium Project　taking from 3^rd floor

Anyone can access freely 100,000 art-related books at the Art Library. “Museum Shop NADiff contemporary” sells various kinds of its original items with stylish design. Having lunch or a coffee break at “Content restaurant” or “Café Hai” are also enjoyable.

The museum is #7 of 101 things to do in Koto City by TripAdvisor, and has two stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japon. For more information about the museum, please check http://www.mot-art-museum.jp/eng/    by N.T

Along the Sumida River

A lovely spring on the Sumida River, Going upstream and downstream, As the boatmen oar, the drops from the paddles scatter like cherry blossoms’.  This is the lyrics of the famous song ‘Flowers’ composed by Taki Rentaro. 

In Edo era, there was Ofunagura, a boathouse, along the Sumida River. The place was for the battleships owned by Tokugawa shognate. 

‘Atake-maru’ was moored there. As it was the largest but impractical, Tokugawa shogunate was obliged to demolish the ship in 1682. People in Edo called the area ‘Atake’.

  

 Atake is also seen on the woodblock print. The title is ‘Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake’. Since the famous impressionist Van Gogh reproduced it, it is known to the art lovers in the world. 

Atake area in Koto city is now called Shin-ohashi itchome. Though, the monument in the square says the area was Fukagawa Atake cho in Meiji era.  by K.K

Would you like to stroll alongside of Sumida river ? 

If so, please join our free walking tours!