First of all, today is November 3rd…the Japanese holiday 「文化の日」(“Culture Day”).
If you went to the 浅草 (Asakusa) area of Tokyo today, you would have seen the interesting 「東京時代祭り」(“Tokyo-Era Festival”).
I’ve been to that festival a couple of times before. Click here to see the photos and videos I took of it in 2008.
Anyways, I found out yesterday that the godfathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath will come to Japan in May 2013!
Ozzy Osbourne will bring his metal festival “OzzFest” to Japan for the first time!
Click here to visit the official OzzFest Japan website.
On Saturday, May 11th 2013, Slipknot will headline.
On Sunday, May 12th 2013, Black Sabbath will headline.
The venue will be the Makuhari Messe not far from Tokyo.
Yesterday my wife and I went to a festival that I had been wanting to see for years but never got a chance until this year.
We were a bit early for the festival so, since the festival was in 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo), we decided to go by the Tokyo Sky Tree tower and walk to Asakusa from there.
Tokyo Sky Tree behind 押上駅 (Oshiage Stn)
The Tokyo Sky Tree, currently under construction, now stands at 389 meters (it will be 634 meters tall when completed).
The Asahi Beer HQ is in Asakusa
Cruise boat
The Sensoji Temple in Asakusa was covered while it's being renovated.
Once we got to 浅草 (Asakusa), we went to watch the 江戸消防慰霊祭 (Edo Firefighters Memorial Ceremony).
This is the festival that I wanted to see yesterday.
It’s a ceremony to honor fallen firefighters. The ceremony involves the firefighters dressed as firefighters in Japan did centuries ago and doing stunts on bamboo ladders.
In ancient Japan, firefighters had to balance on such ladders while fighting fires and they would practice such stunts on the ladders in order to improve their strength and balance.
Modern firefighters in Japan still practice these stunts…for tradition and to improve their strength and balance.
Actually, last January I went to the 「東京消防出初式」 (“Tokyo Fire Departments New Year Drill“). That ceremony had many exciting shows including a similar ladder show. But it was still fun to watch again yesterday.
They use these hooks to steady the ladders.
After the ceremony was over we stopped by a store and I saw these vending machines. One looks like Ultraman…it sells, among other things, 「ウルトラコーラ」 (“Ultra Cola“).
The weather has been very nice these days in Tokyo.
And it’s forecast to continue like this…until Sunday.
The 天気予報 (weather forecast) says it’ll rain on Sunday, August 30th.
Weather forecast for Tokyo from August 26 - Sept 1
It says:
Wed, Aug 26: Sunny / partly cloudy (22-28°C) (20% chance of rain (COR))
Thur, Aug 27: Sunny / partly cloudy (23-29°C) (20% COR)
Fri, Aug 28: Mostly sunny (23-31°C) (10% COR)
Sat, Aug 29: Sunny / partly cloudy (25-31°C) (20% COR)
Sun, Aug 30: Scattered rain (24-29°C) (50% COR)
Mon, Aug 31: Cloudy (23-27°C) (40% COR)
Tues, Sept 1: Cloudy (22-27°C) (40% COR)
So, if you’re in Tokyo and plan to do some outdoor activities this weekend, doing them on Saturday rather than Sunday, if possible, would probably be a good idea.
If you’re looking for an idea for something to do this weekend in Tokyo…there’ll be the annual Brazilian Samba Fesival in 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo) on Saturday.
梅雨 (The rainy season) will be over soon in the Tokyo area and then the rest of summer will be filled with hot, humid, sunny days.
In Japan, 夏 (summer) means スイカ (watermelon), 祭 (festivals), 海 (the beach), 小鳥線香 (mosquito repellent coil)…
and 花火 (fireworks)!
宮島水中花火大会 in Hiroshima.
In the evenings of July and August (usually on the weekends), there are summer 花火大会 (fireworks shows) all over Japan.
If you go to a fireworks show in Japan,
– you should bring a picnic style food and drinks for yourself and your group…there’s no BBQ grilling done at fireworks shows in Japan,
– bring a plastic tarp sheet for your group to sit on…but, although many people do it, you’re not supposed to use the sheet to reserve a spot for yourself ahead of time,
– if you want to use 線香花火 (sparklers), don’t wave them around…it’s considered dangerous in Japan,
– you can wear 「ゆかた」 (summer kimono) or 「じんべい」 (Japanese traditional summer shorts / shirt outfit) if you want to,
– and Japanese people call out 「たまや！かぎや！」 (“Tamaya! Kagiya!“*) when the fireworks go up…you can yell that out too, if you want. (* Long ago, Tamaya and Kagiya were competing fireworks companies in Japan. Fireworks spectators began to call out their names to egg on their competition to make bigger and bigger displays. Today it remains popular to shout it out at fireworks shows.)
There are too many fireworks shows around Japan to list them all, even just in the Tokyo area there are too many to list.
But here’s a list of the main ones in the Tokyo area and the date of the summer 2009 shows (also you can click here to see a list of some of Tokyo’s Fireworks shows on my “Festivals in Tokyo“):
宮島水中花火大会 (Miyajima Suichu Fireworks Show) in 広島 (Hiroshima) – Friday, August 14
(It’s far from Tokyo…but this show gets special mention. The photo in this post above is of this fireworks show. (The rest of the shows on this list are in Tokyo.)).
調布市花火大会 (Choufu-shi Fireworks Show) – Saturday, July 18
葛飾納涼花火大会 (Katsushika Nouryou Fireworks Show) – Tuesday, July 21
足立の花火大会 (Adachi Fireworks Show) – Thursday, July 23
隅田川花火大会 (Sumida River Fireworks Show) – Saturday, July 25
飯田橋花火大会 (Iidabashi Fireworks Show) – Saturday, August 1
江戸川花火大会 (Edo River Fireworks Show) – Saturday, August 1
青梅市納涼花火大会 (Oumeshi Nouryou Fireworks Show) – Saturday, August 1
昭島市民くじら祭夢花火 (Akishima-Residents Whale-Festival Dream-Fireworks Show) – Saturday, August 1 – Sunday, August 2
江東花火大会 (Koutou Fireworks Show) – Tuesday, August 4
日刊スポーツ主催2009神宮外苑花火大会第30回記念大会 (30th Nikkan Sports Shusai Shrine Outer-Garden Fireworks Festival 2009) – Thursday, August 6
東京湾大花火祭 (Tokyo Bay Grand Fireworks Festival) – Saturday, August 8
八丈島納涼花火大会 (Hachijyoujima Nouryou Fireworks Show) – Tuesday, August 11
第五回せいせき多摩川花火大会 (5th Performance Tama River Fireworks Show) – Tuesday, August 11
世田川区たまがわ花火大会 (Setagawa-Ward Tama River Fireworks Show) – Saturday, August 22
If you want any more information about these or other 花火大会 (Fireworks shows) in Japan (such as how to get there, the times of the shows, etc), please feel free to post a comment (click here), or contact me with this E-mail form, and I’ll help you as much as I can:
浅草 (Asakusa) is one of the many parts of Tokyo that I like alot.
It’s a 下町 (traditional downtown area). Famous for the 雷門 (Lightning Gate), 浅草寺 (Sensouji Temple), and the numerous excellent 祭 (festivals) that are held there.
(Click here to read a post I wrote about 浅草 (Asakusa)).
Starting today, for the next few weeks, there will alot going on in 浅草 (Asakusa).
Today (March 18): 金竜の舞い (Golden Dragon Festival).
This is held every year on March 18. I have been to this festival a few times when the date fell on a weekend. I have to work today, so I can’t go this year…but, if you can make it—I recommend it. Click here to read about it on my Festivals In Tokyo page.
Sunday, March 22, 2009: Tokyo Marathon.
An annual international marathon with runners from all over the world racing through the streets of Tokyo.
The course brings them past the 雷門 (Lightning Gate) in 浅草 (Asakusa).
Late March – Early April: 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing).
This traditional event is done all over Japan. One popular location is near the 隅田川 (Sumida River) in 浅草 (Asakusa).
(Last year, I wrote a few posts about 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing). Click here to read one.)
Sunday, April 12, 2009: 白鷺の舞い (White Heron Dance).
A famous 浅草 (Asakusa) festival.
「白鷺の舞い」 (White Heron Dance)
Saturday, April 18, 2009: 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery).
An exciting ancient Japanese archery display that involves the archers shooting arrows at targets while riding a galloping horse.
(I have seen 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery) a number of times. Last year, I wrote a post about the 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery) at 浅草 (Asakusa). Click here to read it.)
There are plenty of other great festivals in 浅草 (Asakusa) throughout the year. But these are the ones that are coming up.
Have you ever been to any of these festivals in 浅草 (Asakusa) before? Will you attend this year? Did you already know about these events?
Click here to read a post I wrote last week about it.
On this holiday (the first day of Spring in the old Lunar calendar), people (usually children) throw soy beans at someone dressed as the 鬼 (demon) (usually the father) while shouting 「鬼は外！福は内！」 (“Bad luck out! Fortune in!”).
Setsubun demon masks.
Also, many temples and shrines have festivals on 節分 (Setsubun) that often include sumo wrestlers and other celebrities throwing beans at the crowd.
Tokyo’s 増上寺 (Zoujyouji Temple) is one of the most popular places at 節分 (Setsubun).
Setsubun 2009 at Zoujyouji
This year’s celebrities at 増上寺 (Zoujyouji Temple) included Chadha, the Indian singer of Japanese Enka music and Tamao Nakamura, an actress.
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Tomorrow, the world famous annual 札幌雪祭 (Sapporo Snow Festival) begins and goes for one week.
2009 札幌雪まつり
I went to this festival in 1992. It was great! I’d like to go again one day.
A highlight of the festival are the big, elaborate snow sculptures.
Click here to visit the 札幌雪祭 (Sapporo Snow Festival) website in 日本語…or click here to visit the English version.
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横浜中華街 (Yokohama Chinatown) is having various 春節 (Chinese New Year) events until February 28.
You should check it out if you have a chance…even though the best parts (lion dance, dragon dance, etc) were on January 26, the date of Chinese New Year this year…there are still parades are other things scheduled various days this month. Click here to visit the official横浜中華街 (Yokohama Chinatown) website’s 春節 (Chinese New Year) page. (Japanese only).
I wrote a post about Chinese New Year (click here to see it) and I mention in that post about the difference between the Chinese dragon dance and the Japanese one.
At New Years time, both China and Japan also have lion dances…but, just like the Chinese and Japanese dragons are quite different, so are the Chinese and Japanese lions.
The Chinese one:
Chinese Lion dance
The Japanese one looks and moves quite different. In Japan, it’s called 「獅子舞」 (Shishimai):
Have you ever seen 浮世絵 (ukiyoe)?
It’s a traditional style of Japanese “painting“. Instead of using a brush, the picture is carved into woodblocks which are used like a printing press to make the picture.
But the whole picture isn’t carved into one block…different parts of the picture are carved into different blocks. So the picture is printed in layers.
It must have been alot of work!
I have seen a number of 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) exhibits at museums over the years.
As with many people, my favorite artists are 北斎 (Hokusai) and 広重 (Hiroshige).
One of the most famous (if not the most famous) 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) works is 神奈川沖波裏 (“The Great Wave Off Of Kanagawa“) by 北斎 (Hokusai):
I like that picture alot, too. But my personal favorites are the 妖怪 (monsters):
浮世絵 (ukiyoe) subjects aren’t usually 妖怪 (monsters) though. Common themes of 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) are 相撲 (sumo), 歌舞伎 (kabuki), 芸者 (geisha) and 自然 (nature).
Anyways, this month, the 江戸東京博物館 (Edo-Tokyo Museum) in Tokyo is having a couple of special exhibits.
One is the 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) collection from The Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston of America, and the other is a 「浅草今昔」 (“Asakusa: Then And Now“) exhibit.
I went to see them yesterday. It was pretty crowded in the museum because it was a Saturday, but it was enjoyable. As I said, I like 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) and I also like 下町 (traditional downtown areas of Japan) like 浅草 (Asakusa).
The 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) in the exhibit from the Boston Museum were items that were from three American’s personal collections.
It was interesting to see the types of art that Americans like to collect compared to the types of 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) that a Japanese person might choose.
Americans seem to like the very colorful, almost flashy pieces…but Japanese tastes tend to be more simple. I’ve lived in Japan for awhile now…I guess my style is more Japanese now.
It’s just an observation. Not to say one culture is better than another…just interesting to compare.
Inside the museum, there are places that it’s indicated that it’s OK to take a photo…but the 浮世絵 (ukiyoe) and 浅草今昔 (Asakusa: Then And Now) areas were marked 「撮影禁止」, which means “No Photography Allowed”, so I couldn’t take any photos of those exhibits.
But there was a traditional Japanese dance show at the museum that I was able to take a few videos of.
I took eight short video of this group, and uploaded them to My YouTube Page. They’re pretty good, click here to visit my YouTube page and you can see all of my videos.
Here’s one video of them:
After the museum, we walked to 浅草 (Asakusa), and visited a Japanese Garden there.
There was a man at the Japanese garden playing a 三味線 (Shamisen) which is a traditional Japanese instrument.
I took this video of him:
Last Monday was 文化の日 (Culture Day). (You can read a very short FAQ that I wrote about Culture Day if you click here).
On 文化の日 (Culture Day), the Emperor awards medals to people who have contributed to Japanese society that year. My wife’s grandfather was a volunteer firefighter in Tokyo for over 50 years when he was young. On his 50th year with the Tokyo Volunteer Fire Department, he received a medal from the Emperor on 文化の日 (Cuture Day).
There are also many festivals in Japan on 文化の日 (Culture Day)…東京時代祭 (Tokyo Era Festival), 流鏑馬 (Horseback Archery), etc.
We went to the 東京時代祭 (Tokyo Era Festival). This festival is every year on 文化の日 (Culture Day) at 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo).
This is a fun festival with the main part being a large parade of people in costumes representing different eras in Tokyo’s history.
There’s Samurai, Geisha, traditional Japanese dancers, U.S. Commodore Perry and his crew and many more.
Here are some of the many photos and videos that I took (if you wanna see all of the videos I took, they’re on My YouTube Page. Click here):
This sign says 「東京時代祭」 (Tokyo Era Festival):
The 天狗 (Tengu):
歌舞伎 (Kabuki):
神輿 (Portable Shrine):
Common people, including children, brought huge stones across the country to 東京 (Tokyo) (called 江戸 (Edo) back then) to build the Edo Castle:
Japanese firefighters:
七福神 (Seven gods of fortune):
芸者 (Geisha):
This group represents Commodore Perry and his crew of the U.S. Navy who, with his fleet of black ships, forced Japan to open up and trade with the West:
At the end of the parade, they carried this sign to promote Japan’s campaign to host the 2016 Olympics. It said 「日本だから、できる。 あたらしいオリンピック！」 (“We’re Japan, so we can do it. A new Olympics!”):
The 東京ドーム (Tokyo Dome) area (including the amusement park and 小石川後楽園 (Koishikawa-kourakuen Japanese Gardens)). There happened to be a cosplay event on the day I took these photos:
This is probably the most famous 下町 (Shitamachi) area of Tokyo. (下町 (Shitamachi) is “Downtown” and 山の手 (Yamanote) is “Uptown“. Read this post about a less-touristy Shitamachi area we like…and a brief explanation of the term.)
浅草 (Asakusa) is an area popular with foreign visitors. All Tokyo guidebooks recommend a visit. Yesterday we saw and heard many people there speaking 中国語 (Chinese), 韓国語 (Korean), フランス語 (French), 英語 (English), etc.
The most popular place for visitors to go in 浅草 (Asakusa) is 浅草寺 (Sensou-ji Temple). (Looking at the 漢字 (kanji characters) for the temple’s name, it might appear that it’s name is “Asakusa-tera Temple”. It’s not, though…but there is a shrine nearby called 浅草神社 (Asakusa Shrine). Anyways.)
Here’s a picture of the gate at the entrance to 浅草寺 (Sensou-ji Temple) grounds:
This gate is called 雷門 (Lightning Gate), and that’s what the paper lantern at the gate says. The lantern is flanked by 風神 (The God of Wind) and 雷神 (The God of Lightning).
So, here are five short videos of the area that I uploaded to YouTube:
浅草 (Asakusa) is more lively during one of the numerous festivals that are held in the area. I go to most of the festivals in this area (and other parts of Tokyo, too)…Click here to read a post and see videos of one of the recent festivals I went to in 浅草 (Asakusa)).
I've seen KISS at the legendary 日本武道館 (Nippon-Budokan) a few times!
(BTW, because of the time difference, "March 2… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…3 days ago
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