The Tokyo Traveler

The Tokyo Koenji Awaodori Dance Festival is held annually on the last Saturday and Sunday of August and is one of the three largest festivals held in Tokyo each summer.  This year marks the 52nd year of the festival and events are scheduled for on Saturday, August 23rd and Sunday, August 24th from 6-9PM. So what is the Awaodori?  The Awaodori is a dance that originated on Shikoku Island in southern Japan’s Tokushima prefecture over 400 hundred years ago.  Some say that it started as a dance of celebration performed upon the completion of the the Tokushima Castle in 1587 …read more

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The Sanno Matsuri (Festival) will be held over Father’s Day weekend, June 13th – 15th, at the Hie Jinja Shrine in central Tokyo. The Hie Jinja Shrine is enshrines it’s namesake, the deity Oyamakui-no-kami, the god of Mount Hie in Shiga prefecture, more commonly known as Hie-no-kami. It was constructed in 1478 within the confines of the Imperial Palace and was moved to its present location in 1607. The shrine was destroyed by fire twice, once in 1659 and again in 1945, and was rebuilt in 1958.
The shrine is situated on a hill in Akasaka and is …read more

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If you can’t make the fire boat demonstration at the Tokyo Port Festival this Saturday then why not head over to the Asakusa Yayoi Matsuri (festival) on Sunday, May 25th. Or you could do both!
The Edo Shobo Kinen-kai (Edo Civilian Fire Fighters’ Association) will be hosting a demonstration of acrobatics on fire-ladders at 12 Noon at the Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa.
To get to the Senso-ji Temple (Asakusa Kannon Temple) take Tokyo Metro to Asakusa Station and follow the signs to the Kaminarimon Gate.
While you are there why not make a day of it and check out some of the …read more

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The number three in Japanense is “san” and the Sanja Matsuri is a festival that honors the three men who founded the Asakusa Shrine in Tokyo.  Two of the men were said to have found a Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) statuette caught in their fishing net around this time in the year 628.  A wealthy man heard about the discovery and used the opportunity to share a Buddhist sermon with the two men.  The two men were converted and devoted their life to teaching Buddhism.  The wealthy man consecrated the Kannon statuette in a small temple in what is now …read more

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The Japan Craft Beer Association is hosting the 11th annual Great Beer Festival. What will you find there? Why, beer, and lots of it!
For Y4,800 (Y4,300 in advance) you can sample 1.7 ounce portions of 120 different micro brewed beers in the Garden Hall at Yebisu Garden Place. Beers are separated into 76 beer styles in 12 categories so you are bound to find one that you like! You might even get to taste the next big beer as all beers showcased at the Great Beer Festival are required to be on sale currently or within …read more

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