A Sketch of Riding SKY DUCK!!

Let me introduce the Tokyo Splash Tour by SKY DUCK. 

It’s a sightseeing tour in Sumida & Koto-Ku of Tokyo by amphibious bus. It means a bus cruises on a river as well as runs on road. 

I took the Tokyo Splash Tour on one summer day.

【Departure】

The tour starts from Tokyo Sky Tree and ends at the same place.  It’s a 100min. tour.  Before the departure every guest receives a Sky Duck fan. Isn’t it a nice present?

【Tour Route】

Sky Tree ⇒　Kameido-Tenjin Shrine ⇒ Kameido station ⇒　Old Nakagawa River  ⇒  (Cruise in the river and 15min. break) 　⇒　Nishi Ojima 　⇒　Kameido 　⇒　Tokyo Sky Tree

【During the tour】

A tour guide is on board and gives us some Information about the amphibious bus and Sumida & Koto-ku while touring, and entertain us by giving quizzes.

During the tour, guests just enjoy the scenery on board. We didn’t get off the bus for visiting sightseeing spots.

【River cruise】

After about 30min. driving, we reached Old-Nakagawa

River and our bus went into the river with a big splash!!

Wow!! This is the main attraction of the tour.

The SKY DUCK cruised about 30min. on the river. We found some black birds, great cormorants on riverside.

The speed of SKY DUCK is about 7 knots at most (12~13km/h) which is as fast as bicycle.

【Canoeing】

It’s so nice to see some people canoeing on the river. I know some junior & senior high schools in Edogawa & Koto-Ku have a canoe club. They are skilled enough to compete in national level sports meetings. School kids come to this river for training.  There are canoe clubs for citizens in Koto-ku which provide classes to learn canoeing.

【About Ms.Monica SERYU】     

An athlete of canoeing for the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics representing Japan, Ms.Monika SERYU sometimes practices canoeing on this river. She is a citizen of Koto-ku and has been drawing people’s attention because she is a good athlete to strive for a medal.

Let us keep watching her and cheer her up in Paralympics.

【About Old Nakagawa River】

This river is diverted from ARAKAWA River and enters

again the same river after 6.68km of flow. The river flow is controlled by the watergates

at both edns of the river, so that it’s ideal place for canoeing as there is no moving stream of water.      

We took 15 min. break at the service area on riverside after

landing again on the ground.

【Onagigawa River】

Onagigawa River starts from this point and runs toward the west. The river is flanked on either side by housing complexes.

 【On the way back】

I got some trivia on this area from the tour guide.

Have you heard of these?

1.  Nishi-Ojima is a competitive area for Japanese fried chicken (KARAAGE).  It is true that I found some fried chicken shops on both sides of the street.  It’s exciting to find different flavors of KARAAGE such as Curry Cheese, Tartar sauce, Spicy sauce beside regular soy sauce taste.

2. Kameido Pedestrian Bridge over the big intersection  of  KEIYO Highway.

The bridge was designed after the hexagonal pattern of tortoise’s shell, because tortoise is the symbol of the town Kameido. You wouldn’t be able to see this tortoise shape when you cross the bridge. You have to see it from the air or below the bridge, but actually it is shaped octagonal because the bridge had to form a corridor connecting 4 corners of intersection with stairways to climb up for people.   

3. Pavement of Kameido is composed of hexagonal blocks linked together which is also the shape of tortoise shell.

【Amphibious Vehicle】

The tour ended at the same point where we departed from near Tokyo Sky Tree.  I took a photo of the propeller and rudder under the bus body.  The bus is equipped with a big propeller, rudder and huge tires.

【Conclusion】

It was very enjoyable tour, particularly on hot summer day. However guiding is given only in Japanese. 

by HY

        

Yakata-bune

We have a lot of canals in Koto-ku. From Edo era they have been very important for our daily lives. People can move and carry various things very easily by boat through canals.

Some of us use Yakata-bune. Yakata-bune is a kind of Japanese roofed pleasure boat with zashiki (tatami room) for use in parties and enjoying food on a boat. A big Yakata-bune has a capacity of more than 100 passengers. A small one has about 10 passengers.

People hold parties with their family members, friends and coworkers in Yakata-bune. And they can enjoy the cruise of Tokyo bay. They can experience the different sights and sceneries from the boats. They have a good time with Yakata-bune..

There are two splendid events which many people like to do in particular seasons in Tokyo. One is to see cherry blossoms in spring, the other is to see fireworks in summer. Many people enjoy them especially form Yakata-bune. On those days we can see a lot of Yakata-bune on the rivers and canals in Tokyo. We can hear very happy voices from them. But it is very difficult to reserve the boats on such special days.

After Edo era the water quality of Tokyo got worse and worse. The water became dirty and smelled. People could not use Yakata-bune. But nowadays it has improved a lot. So Yakatabune became greater in number and continue to the present.

There are some agencies of Yakata-bune in Koto-ku. We call them Funayado. Please try to get on Yakata-bune and et some cool experience.

By H. H.

Must-have summer sweets

When you want to eat something cold and sweet on a sweltering summer day in Japan, just look for the flag in front of restaurants, sweet parlors  and stalls. The red kanji character is "ice" in English.

You can have "Kakigori" or shaved ice there.

A bowl of shaved ice is served with variety of flavored syrups such as strawberry, lemon, melon, condensed milk and sometimes assorted toppings such as red bean paste, rice dumplings and ice cream.

Especially green tea flavor is very Japanese.

This type of Kakigori is called "Uji-Kintoki" which uses green tea syrup and topping red bean paste. Uji is a famous green tea production area and Kintoki is a kind of red bean.

Recently, popular Kakigori shops create their own unique flavors and toppings in order to attract many customers. For example, the one in this picture depicts the sunrise on the top of  Mount Fuji with red bean paste, strawberry syrup and condensed milk.

And this flavor is Houji-cha (roasted tea) syrup with some rice dumplings, tea jellies, ice cream, red bean paste and a wafer cake filled with red bean paste.

Why don't you try it after our tour ?

by KM

Introduction of Higashi-Ojima

Have you ever been to ‘Higashi-Ojima’?  Most of answers might be ‘No’.

So, I would like to introduce some aspects of Higashi-Ojima. Higashi-Ojima is the name of the station of Shinjuku Line, one of Tokyo Subway.

Higashi-ojima station is the most eastern station in Koto city. Even it is a subway station, its platform is located over Kyu-Nakagawa river. Also on the platform of Higashi-Ojima station, there is the boundary between Koto-city and Edogawa-city.

These are very unique features of this station.

Because of these features, Higashi-Ojima station was selected one of the 100 stations in Kanto area, in the year 2,000. 

When you go out from the Ojima-exit of Higashi-Ojima station, you can find the small statue of the blue dragon in the station square.

This is one of Four Divine Animals in Koto-city. Blue dragon, or Seiryu is said to control and take care of safety for East.

As for ‘Four Divine Animals in Koto city’, please refer the article below.

(https://koto-guide.blogspot.jp/2015/10/four-divine-animals-in-koto-city.html)

After 2 or 3 minutes walking from the station, you arrive at an attractive museum, Nakagawa Funabansho Museum. 

In the Edo period (17^th -19^th century), there used to be Nakagawa Bansho, or Nakagawa Waterway Office whose function was to check waterway-bound trades. This museum was built nearby the place of Nakagawa Bansho, and it is featured ‘Transportation by water’. On the 3^rd floor of the museum, there is a replica of Nakagawa Waterway Office.

In front of the museum, Kyu-Nakagawa Kawa-no-Eki, or the station of Old-Nakagawa river has been developed.

Walking near the river is very comfortable, and with good luck, you might have chance to take the pictures of the bus when it is splashing into the river.

If you have some interest in Higashi-Ojima, please try to come to see this town. It takes within 30 minutes from Ginza, Shinjuku, and Asakusa by subway. by Y.H