Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

Happy Birth Day, Skytree!! Tallest structure in Japan!!

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:33:39 +0900

Hello, Everyone! Im Aya, a new trainee at Sakura hostel Asakusa!

Did you know May 22nd was 1 year anniversary day of Tokyo Skytree!

Have you ever been to there ? Its popular landmark in Tokyo!

The Sky tree full height is 634 meters l!! So Its became the tallest structure in Japan!!

Moreover, there is a big shopping mall called ''Sora machi'' around the sky tree!!

If you are looking for some Japanese souvenir, you can find one very easily!

If you are planning to go there, Please stay at Sakura hostel Asakusa!

You can see the Sky tree from Asakusa!! Also its just ５minutes to get there by train!!

In Japan, coins are your friends! / The Biggest Hostel in Tokyo, Sakura Hostel Asausa

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:38:58 +0900

Hello folks! This is Jonathan at Sakura Hostel Asakusa.

One of the things I find that travelers to Japan can have trouble with is the money, or more specifically, the coins. In my home country of the USA, coins are treated like nuisances at best, and in my experience it is very rare to see someone paying with them. As any traveler to Japan will find however, coins pile up quickly if you don't know what to do with them. In this blog, I'm going to provide a short introduction to the coins of Japan, while at the same time showing the limits of the iPhone 4S camera when taking pictures of small things at close range!

Here are our subjects today. To start, let's take a closer look at the big goldish coin to the far left, and then systematically work through to the right.

This is a 500 yen coin, which can be used at most any vending machine or kiosk that can automatically provide change. Simpler machines however (like the washing machines at Sakura Hostel Asakusa) do not accept this coin.

This is a 100 yen coin. It can be used in the hostel washing machine, vending machines, amusement centers, and more. It is the Swiss army knife of coins in Japan.

This is a 10 yen coin, which I present before the higher value 50 yen coin, because it is bigger, and tends to pile up faster. I often find that I have accumulated around 100 yen worth of 10 yen coins if I'm not paying attention to what's in my wallet. In machines that can automatically count money (vending machines, etc.) this coin can substitute for 50 or 100 yen coins.

This is a 50 yen coin, which is should be noted is one of two coins that have a hole in them. It's also the second smallest coin. The other cosmetic difference from a 5 yen coin is the color. This is the last of the coins that can be used in a vending machine.

That is worth mentioning again. Only the 500, 100, 10 and 50 yen coins can be used in vending machines.

And here it is, the first of the nuisance coins. There are to my knowledge NO machines in Japan in which the 5 yen can be used. You can use it in transactions at stores and businesses, but odds are you will be taking a few five yen coins back to your home country with you (if you are only staying in Japan a short time anyway). One interesting (fun?) fact is that the 5 yen coin is the only piece of currency in Japan that does not have any Arabic numerals on it. It is all in Japanese, reading 五円, which is to say 5 yen.

And finally, we have the smallest and least useful coin in all of Japan, the 1 yen. If you are in line at a store, and the person at the register is taking a long time to finish checking out, don't be angry. There's a good chance that they're just trying to dispose of all their 1 yen coins...

For questions about coins and more, there are always English speaking staff at the front desk at Sakura Hostel Asakusa!

I'm the New Guy / Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:00:00 +0900

Greetings! I'm Jonathan, the new trainee at Sakura Hostel Asakusa.

I have been studying Japanese for about 12 years, and living in Japan for over 7 years. Originally I'm from America. To start I was living farther south, in a very rural part of Japan (Gifu Prefecture) but moved to the Kanto area about 3 years ago.

I love all kinds of music. I took the above bad picture at a "Triceratops" concert. Triceratops is a Japanese rock band that even most Japanese people don't know, but I love them.

I'm a big coffee fan. I recommend you try the coffee at Freshness Burger!

As for sports, my first love is baseball (above: Yokohama's awful baseball team), but I also like just about every sport.

I used to work in Yokohama, so if you're thinking of visiting there, I might be able to give you some advice! So that's a little about me. If you are going to be staying at Sakura Hostel Asakusa, I'll be looking forward to meeting you at the front desk!

Eating cheap at Sakura Hostel Asakusa [ Budget Advice ] Long Stay Discount ! Biggest Hostel in Tokyo

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:00:00 +0900

Every traveler has a budget and food is one thing you may enjoy spending money on or NOT! If not let me introduce you to a cheap bento box we have in Asakusa.

It's called Delica Paku Paku located right on top of the Asakusa (Tsukuba Express) station only 5 minutes on foot from Sakura Hostel Asakusa

You may be familiar with these styles of bento box's that cost double the price at the local convenience store and made in a factory somewhere far away.

But here everything is all freshly made in the kitchen right behind the counter and placed outside on a table for you to pick!

Open 24 hours this is the perfect place for any backpackers or budget travelers to indulge in some Japanese food while saving money.

Biggest Hostel in Tokyo

Sakura Hostel Asakusa

【EVENT】SANJYA FESTIVAL 2013!!We joined with our guest:D -International hostel in Tokyo-

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:49:06 +0900

Sanjya matsuri festival is finished yeaterday.

This festival is also known as Asakusa matsuri, and it is one of the biggest festival in Tokyo with a history of almost 700 years.

This festival is held every year in mid of May at Asakusa Shrine in Asakusa.

As most Japanese festival, participants carried the "Omikoshi(portable shrine)" around Asakusa area .

If you stay SAKURA HOSTEL ASAKUSA in these 2month,

you might met him .
Mr Martin is from UK and has travelled the world since August 2011.

He has been so many country (Mexico,Guatemala,Costarica,Ecuador,Peru,Bolivia,

Chile,Argentina,Thailand, New Zealand,Australia,India,Myanmar,Cambodia,Laos,Vietnam,Japan) .

He is very active, brimming with curiosity and joke-loving.

He loves Beer,,

and kids :D

We had a great time with him.

Mr Martin left our hostel this morning and heading to north Japan and China,

I hope his safety and great journey and come back one day :D

Ayumi Nukui

NEXT EVENT INFORMATION IS HERE

Big Group From South America [ Uruguay Introduction ] Sanja Matsuri Near Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:00:00 +0900

What a busy weekend it's has been at Sakura Hostel Asakusa, first we had all the attendees from all over Tokyo staying with us over the weekend for the Sanja Matsuri and today we will be greeting our lovely guests from Uruguay.

Recently we've had a few small groups come through from the same school in Uruguay but today's guests will be arriving all together and staying together <3

To celebrate we are holding a party at our hostel for Sakura House / Hotel guests! We will be eating all sorts of crazy food from Japan and Uruguay.

Please ask a staff member to find out more details about the events above and if you would like to sign up.

You can also make a booking as a group at any of our hotels, please have a look here. Our largest rooms at Sakura Hostel Asakusa are 8 bed room, perfect for school groups!

Biggest Hostel in Tokyo

Asakusa!

Sanja Matsuri [ Asakusa Guide ] Best and Biggest Hostel in Tokyo, Budget Travel Japan

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:00:00 +0900

Heya! Japan is warming up and with every passing day it feels like summer is getting closer. For today's blog let me introduce you to a crazy matsuri that's happening right next door to Sakura Hostel Asakusa.

Called the Sanja Masturi held every third weekend in May to honor the founders of the Sensoji Temple.

The festival is so big that it attracts over a million people!!!

Weighing over a ton, these individual portable shrines cost over 300,000US dollar to make and require roughly 40 people to carry around!!

Do you like tattoos? Well if you do this is the perfect place to see Japanese ink done right!

If you're staying at Sakura Hostel Asakusa over this weekend, you must check it out!

Biggest Hostel in Japan!

Near Tokyo Sky Tree, Next to Sensoji Temple.

African Festival at Yokohama!!! Biggest Hostel in Tokyo @ Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:35:23 +0900

Hi! It's Manuel!

I'm back to Sakura Hostel Asakusa.^^

This past weekend I was go to Yokohama,

Every year takes place on Yokohama the African Festival.

You can try to eat food of differents parts of Africa,

Really very spicy and delicious!

There were many people of Africa, and many musicals performances!

Near the Festival place there is a coffee shop that I think is very curious.

On the roof there is a elephant trunk.

Hope that you have a nice weekend!

See you soon!!

[Staff] Making Uruguayan Gyouza! [Friendship Party]

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:22:49 +0900

Today I made more than 100 of Gyouza with Ayumi :)

It's for SAKURA HOUSE & HOTEL Friendship Party on May 23.

But actually the fillings are different from Japanese Gyouza.

We made the Gyouza with these fillings!

Ham & Cheese!

That is because we'll welcome lots of Uruguayan guests to the party

and in South American countries people eat the snack like Gyouza.

The name of the food is Empanada and it's made with Ham & Cheese.

Once I made the small empanada (=Empanadita) with the past guest from Argentine.

At the party, the guests can enjoy this type of Gyouza & Japanese Gyouza :)

We are looking forward to the party !!

* Sorry, but this event is ONLY for SAKURA HOUSE & HOTEL'S GUESTS.

*こちらのイベントはサクラハウス契約者及びサクラホテル宿泊者の方のみ

ご参加が可能となっております。ご了承くださいませ。

Norway Guest Introduction!! [ Volume 1 ] Biggest Hostel in Tokyo @ Sakura Hostel Asakusa

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:00 +0900

For today's blog I'll be introducing you to our lovely guest from Norway Pia M Johansen, she's 24 and already a music composer! Travelling around Japan to be inspired by the beautiful landscape and deep culture of this land.

She has participated in many of our events which include the Yomodakai ( Cooking Event ), Kimono dress up event and Temaki sushi party.

Tonight was her last night at Sakura Hostel Asakusa so I asked her a few questions regarding her time in Japan.

What was your favorite thing about Japan!?

Everything from green tea to the people! they are so pretty and respectful and they take care of each other.

What did you like about your stay at Sakura Hostel Asakusa?

The staff are great and made me feel at home and they are open to crazy ideas and I like that.

What was your best experience in Japan?

Chatting with old Japanese ladies at the Sukiya Onsen in Aomori and eating Yaki Imo late at night.

Seeing the Kabuki and Sumo for the first time in my life took my breadth away.

In total she stayed with us for over a month and is heading back home today!

We look forward to having her stay with us in the near future.

No.1 Hostel in Tokyo

Biggest and Best Priced in Japan

[Event] SAKURA HOTELS & HOUSE Friendship Party [ May 23, 2013 ]

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:39:20 +0900

We, Sakura Hotel & Hostel welcome people from more than 100 countries every year.

And our sister company Sakura House also have the residents from all over the world.

Sakura Hostel Asakusa will hold the party for them to know each other!

[Date & Time] May 23 (Thu), 2013 6PM-8PM

[Location] SAKURA HOSTEL ASAKUSA's Lobby [MAP]

[Fee] 1,000 YEN (All you can Eat & Drink!)

This party will be organized to have an opportunity for Sakura House & Hotel guests

to meet new people and broaden the network.

Also we'll welcome a students' group from Uruguay to this party.

The ambassador of Uruguay will join the party as a special guest!

In the party, we'll serve these foods and drinks!

Gyouza (Japanese style & Uruguayan style), Temaki Sushi,

Youkan (small jelly of Japanese sweat beans),

Japanese beers, Wines, Pimms cocktail, Yerba Mate(Uruguayan popular tea) and so on :)

Let's make new network with other Sakura customers

and share fun time!

*This event is ONLY for SAKURA HOTELS' GUESTS

& SAKURA HOUSE'S RESIDENT.

こちらのイベントはサクラハウス契約者及び、

サクラホテル＆ホステル宿泊者のみ参加を受け付けております。

ご了承くださいませ。

-----------------------------------------------

International Guesthouse in Tokyo!

Dormitory - 2,940 YEN (1 night)

-----------------------------------------------

[staff] The last day of my work

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:00:00 +0900

Good day, readers. I'm Tomoyuki.

Today is a sad day for me, it's........................, my last working day at Sakura Hostel Asakusa.

I came this hostel almost 2 years ago, when a very big earthquake occurred.

I feel sad to leave this hostel and my great co-workers.

When I came here, I was just a trainee and couldn't any questions from the guests, but I can do thanks to my seniors.

The reason I applied for this job was that I wanted to communicate with a lot of guests all over the world.

As my wish above, I could achieve it.

Surrounded by nice and great guests and staff, it was a really enjoyable work.

Hanami party

Nabe (hot pot) party

Sumida river fireworks

I joined many seasonal events here and made many friends with other guests.

That was a great fascination of this hostel.

After leaving this hostel, I will go to Australia and experience farm stay, or work at a lodge.

If you come to Australia, you may see me.

Finally I do appreciate my great co-workers for everything these 2 years.

Naoto, Tomo, Kyoko, Johrel

Hiro

Kento, Manuel and Ayumi

Thank you so much for work with me !! You are all great !!

I had great times indeed with you

I hope to see you again someday. Until the day, bye bye :-)

Come and see us at a great hostel in Asakusa

【World cuisine】DOLMA is a wonderful dish from Turkey !! -international hotel in tokyo -

Sun, 12 May 2013 16:14:04 +0900

Mr　Hairi who is a friend of our guest Mr Cetin taught me how to cook Turkish dish.

HAYRI is a professional chef of 22 years career and cooked wonderful cuisine us with big smile.

The name of the cuisine is Dolma.

Dolma means wrapping n Turkish.

Put a ingredients in the various vegetable.

The way of the cooking is simple but very interesting.

Hollowing out a inside of vegetable...

He is a friend of Mr Hayri.

Putting ingredients into vegetable..

Simmer about 30 minutes.

Decorating with sauce and spices..and done!

Today I saw many guys cooking their dishes.

They fed me :D

It was like a Potluck Party and had fun!

If you know your countries dish recipe, please let me know and let's cook together!

I cooked DOLMA at home for mothers day :D

[Event] Monthly Shodo Workshop [ May 12, 2013 ]

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:30:00 +0900

Our popular monthly event, SHODO WORKSHOP will be held on May 12 (SUN)!

You can experience Japanese Calligraphy for FREE :)

Why don't you join us?

As usual we'll invite the volunteer staff from PEACE

and they'll teach how to write the participant's name in Kanji by the Japanese Calligraphy Style!

For seeing the photos of the last time, go to this link!

【Date】 May 12 (Sunday) 6PM

【Place】 SAKURA HOSTEL ASAKUSA's lobby

【Fee】 FREE!

* This event is ONLY for SAKURA HOUSE'S RESIDENTS or SAKURA HOTEL & HOSTEL'S CUSTOMERS.

Let's learn Japanese Calligraphy together <3

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Long Stay Discount is available all the year!

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Fun Day at Sakura Hostel Asakusa! [ Budget Accommodation ] Close to Sensoji Temple & Tokyo Sky Tree

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:41:46 +0900

First hot hot day of the year, walking through Asakusa to work today reminded me of my first day at Sakura Hostel Asakusa!

If you've stayed at our hostel recently you would know that I've been mostly on night shifts, but today I'm finally doing a day shift!

Started the day off with Tom's dessert and a cup of tea, refreshing like a coffee in the morning but Japanese style XD

This is what it looked like if you didn't see the previous blog!

The finished product! How good does it look?

Next thing I know our staff Ayumi was cooking up a storm with our guest from Turkey. He brought some friends over to show us how to cook some tradtional dishes from his home country.

Our new guests from Canada, enjoying the fresh produce from the supermarket. Eating it Japanese style RAW!! They were loving it!!

First time trying out some raw Octopus! Epic moment caught on film, he liked the texture but not sure if his a fan XD

The lobby smelt like raw fish, turkish food and Korean bbq made by our guest Andrew from Canada.

Sexy Food Photo Of The Day

First bite reaction caught on camera.

International Hostel in Tokyo