February 11, 2018

Find Spring Coming in Kameido Tenjin Shrine with Plum Blossoms


February is the coldest season and especially this year we have very cold winter.  
However, the blooming plum blossoms are a sign that it is almost spring.  Kameido Tenjin Shrine in Koto city is famous for its beautiful plum blossoms and a few trees have started blooming.  In its premises there are more than 300 red and white plum trees.  

Blooming seems to be a bit delayed this year.  They are expected to reach their peak in terms of blooming after mid-February. Plum blossom festival has already taken place there until March the 4th.  It will be crowded with people and many stalls will open.  
Feb 7, 2018

This shrine was dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, a very talented scholar, poet and politician in the 9th century and he became a god of learning.  He is the first person from the non-imperial families who was enshrined as god.  

It was established in 1662, when a wooden statue of Michizane from his favorite plum tree of Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka was installed.  He liked plum blossoms and wrote about them in his many waka poems. There is a statue of him when he was at the age of 5 with his poem praising of the blossoms.
“What beautiful red plum blossoms they are. I would like to adorn my face with them.” (trial translation)

Why don’t you visit there to feel spring!

(by Tomoko)

February 3, 2018

Do you know “Bouldering”?


It’s a sports that attracts a lot of attention as a new event of Tokyo Olympics of 2020.
Bouldering is a kind of wall climbing.
Without any sporting goods, nor rope, you climb the wall.
We have a place where we could enjoy this sports without reservation in Koto ward.

“Fish and Bird (www.fish-bird.co.jp)” is a studio where even beginner can enjoy bouldering with help of the stuff.
After having rented the shoes (300 yen) and chalk(not to slip 200 yen), you can try this sports.
At the first time, we pay 1500 yen as a registration fee.
And for 3 hours, the fee is 1500 yen.

Today, I visited there. The wall looks very steep. I think it’s impossible to climb it. But they say for beginner, lady, and child, there are some ways to do, and they will tell us how to climb it.
So, next time, I will put on a sportswear, and try to bouldering.

(by Michiko)

January 6, 2018

Happy New Year 2018!


New Year is called “oshougatsu” in Japanese, and it indicates the time period especially from January 1st to 7th. Most Japanese rest during the first three days of the New Year. Most companies, offices, shops, and schools are closed.
It is said that “oshogatsu” was originally a festival to welcome Toshigami, a Shinto god, and to pray for a rich harvest for the year.
Now it is an event to celebrate the year.

Traditionally many Japanese people worship the sunrise on New Year’s Day (called “hatsuhinode”), and pay the first visit (“hatsumoude”) during these three days to a Shinto shrine or temple to pray for health and happiness of their families.

kadomatsu
There are varieties of New Year’s decorations.
For example, a pair of “kadomatsu” are placed in front of the gates or entrances of houses, hotels, shops, etc. It consists of three kinds of auspicious plants, namely, pine tree branches, three bamboo poles with different length, and plum small branches. Particularly pine is regarded as a symbol of longevity.

shimekazari
Entrances of houses and shops are also decorated with  “shimekazari” made of “shimenawa”, sacred Shinto rope of rice straw decorated with auspicious objects such as bitter oranges, fern leaves, lobsters, etc. They are symbolic of prosperity, longevity, and good fortune. 

By the way, there are traditional dishes for the New Year in Japan.
Have you ever tried “zoni” or “osechi-ryori”?  If not, why not taste them? Zoni is a special soup boiled with rice cakes (“mochi”), vegetables, mushrooms, and other ingredients such as chicken or seafood. The shape of mochi and the kind of ingredients differ from district to district.

osechi-ryori
What about “osechi-ryori”? It is also a special dish prepared and served for the New Year. Varieties of specially prepared foods are   artistically arranged in a set of three- or four-tiered lacquer boxes. Osechi-ryori includes kazunoko (herring roe), kuromame (cooked black beans), ebi (lobsters), kurikinton (chestnuts), kamaboko (steamed fish paste), freeze-dried tofu, cooked vegetables such as carrot, mushroom, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, radish, etc.

Thus oshogatsu is one of the best opportunities to learn a traditional event in Japan. Why don’t you visit a shrine and a temple or try those special dishes during New Year’s Days? Maybe next year 2019?  You can refresh yourself! Best wishes!

(by Kazuo)

December 27, 2017

Visiting Seven Gods of Good Fortune(Shicchifukujin)

Visiting Seven Gods became very popular around middle Edo era.

People visited shrines and temples of seven gods especially in the beginning of the year wishing for a good luck.

Nowadays this trend still continues and many people visit shrines and temples.
You can find “Seven gods visiting tour” everywhere in Japan.
Koto city has two popular course: Fukagawa and Kameido.
Let me explain a little bit about Fukagawa course today.

List of temples and divine favors are as follows:


Name of Shrine or Temple Location Name of God Divine favors (goriyaku)
Fukagawa Shinmeiguu 2 minutes from Morishita ST Juroujin God of long life
Fukagawa Inarijinja 3 minutes from Kiyosumi Shirakawa ST Hotei God of good fortune
Ryuukoin 6 minutes from Kiyosumi Shirakawa ST Bishamonten God of War, Success
Enshuin 6 minutes from Kiyosumi Shirakawa ST Daikokuten God of good crops
Shingyoji 5 minutes from Monzennakacho ST Fukurokuju God of happiness, wealth, and long life
Fuyuki Bentendo 10 minutes from Monzennakacho ST Benzaiten Goddes of art and wisdom
Tomioka Hachimangu 3 minutes from Monzennakacho ST Ebisu God of business

Although I showed the distance from the nearby subway station, you can easily walk all seven in about 2 hours. Good things to walk all the way are that you may find many interesting spots on the way. There are fine restaurants and coffee shops. If you feel tired, you can take a rest and enjoy fine food.  Also there are several historical spots to know a history of Fukagawa area.

One good information is that from Jan 1 to 15, you can purchase a special signature board for seven gods and can collect a unique red seal of god at each temple or shrine.

And when you collect all of seven red seals, your good fortunes will be promised.(I believe)

If you are interested, get a signature board, collect seals and catch the good fortues of the year.

(by Hiroyasu)

December 26, 2017

Development of tourism destinations in the east of Tokyo

Taito City, Sumida City and Koto City conducted a “trial tour” on December 9 and 10. Three cities worked together to aim for promotion of tourism businesses and development of attractive sightseeing courses in the east of Tokyo.

Six participants, two from China and four from the U.S., joined this trial tour which included the following main tourist spots.

  • Taito City: Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Kaneiji Temple and Ameyoko shopping street in Ueno
  •  Sumida City: Watching morning practice at a Sumo stable, The Sumida Hokusai Museum
  • Koto City: Kiyosumi Gardens, Fukagawa Edo Museum

One of KEV members showed the participants around Fukagawa Edo Museum.

In the near future, opinions and suggestions from the participants will be used to revitalize tourism resources in the east of Tokyo.

(by Masao)

December 6, 2017

TIARA KOTO, My Love

Old Koto Public Hall

Koto City is at the end of autum season.
This BLOG introduces a cultural facility of Koto City, TIARA KOTO.

Koto Public Hall was built as a multi-purpose hall in1965 at the east side of Koto City. It was one of major halls comparing with Hibiya Public Hall or Honjyo Public Hall at that time.

New Koto Public Hall (TIARA KOTO)
Over times, in December 1994, a new Koto Public Hall took over the old hall. It was reconstructed with 5 stories high and two stories in the base. The new hall was nicknamed TIARA KOTO for the outlook of the building like a tiara.

It has a big hall with 1,230 seats, a small hall with 140 seats, a rehearsal room and 5 practicing rooms. The big hall provides audience with high level sound resulting from a specific work cutting off the noises outside.

Coming up programs at TIARA KOTO
The hall has special art partnerships with Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo City Ballet. So, you can enjoy wide range of programs such as classical orchestra concerts, pops music, ballet, and dramas.

The hall promotes orchestration and ballet for the next young generations, as well.
We, Koto City resident can also enjoy one-coin concert in the daytime without any
reservations. The on-coin concert could be a rehearsal of classical concert program.

Ray Charles Concert Pamphlet
(Courtesy of Koto Cultural Community Foundation)
On December 18th , 1994, I happened to be one of audiences in the opening concert of TIARA KOTO, where an American great star, Ray Charles played. It was amazing and really exiting. Among his many hit songs, “Ellie, My Love” was special. It was played by Ray waving his body dynamically in front of the piano. It is unforgettable concert to me.

This song was composed by a Japanese song writer and singer, Keisuke Kuwata in 1979 and is performed by several musicians. Ray recorded it in 1989.

Why don’t you enjoy the ballad song on YouTube and visit TIARA KOTO.

(by Ben)

November 1, 2017

Mums are in Season



The winter is approaching and you may have started planning a trip to go see the colored autumn leaves.  It is also the best season to enjoy the chrysanthemum in full bloom.  

As you may have noticed, the family crest of the Imperial family is the chrysanthemum.  It is the symbolic flower of Japan along with the cherry blossom.  Originally, chrysanthemum was imported from China for medicinal purposes.  The Japanese people enjoyed the beautiful flowers, and they began growing chrysanthemum for ornamental purposes.  According to the book published in the 17th century, there were already over 200 kinds of chrysanthemums grown in Japan.  Today, we have much wider variety of chrysanthemums in sizes, shapes and colors.  


In Japan, chrysanthemum has been traditionally recognized as the flowers offered to Buddha and the deceased.  It is often placed on the Buddhist altar and the graves.  Chrysanthemum was used for such offering because its scent was believed to remove evil spirits and the flowers were long-lasting.  The bouquets of chrysanthemums are always available at any flower shops and even supermarkets, and they are usually inexpensive.  Although other kinds of flowers are used as offerings today, I advise you to give it a second thought to give a bouquet of chrysanthemums to your girlfriend or your sick friend in order to avoid any confusion and misunderstanding.  


From October to November, many chrysanthemum festivals are held all over Japan and we enjoy the competitive exhibitions of the beautiful chrysanthemums as well as the figures and dolls made of chrysanthemums.  In Koto city, Chrysanthemum Festival is held at Kameido Tenjin Shrine from October 22 to November 23 this year.  I would recommend you to visit there because this is the only place you can see the chrysanthemum figure of Tokyo Skytree.  At Kameido Tenjin Shrine, the chrysanthemums will be in full bloom around mid-November.  

Would you like to know more about the Japanese culture?  Please join our tour.  https://kev.jp/
(by Kumiko)