Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

Party time!! Come join us and get free drink!!
start: 5pm
place: hostel lounge

You know,we have four distinct seasons in Japan.And before Summer, we have the rainy season.And it's coming soon in a few days.
Do you hate rain?
You can enjoy multihued hydrangeas here and there.
Even if you don't have any plan to go out because of rain,don't worryYes,we have some DVD and PS2:-)

the paper lantern at our entrance.

Sanja matsuri,it's the biggest of Tokyo's traditional "Three Grand Festivals",
held by the Asakusa Shrine,the huge parade draws over one million people into the streets.
It's gonna be a fantastic weekend from May.18 through 20 with lively traditional mikoshi (portable shrine) processions through the streets of Asakusa,.
Asakusa people are looking forward to this exciting event every year and enjoy it with plenty of drinking, dancing, music and so on.
Don't miss it!!!

You know,we have several annual music festivals in spring and summer.
These two as follows are the biggest festivals in Japan.
One of them is Fuji Rock festival.Jul.27-29
The Chemical Brothers,IGGY & THE STOOGES,KULA SHAKER,SPACE COWBOY,Joss Stone,ASH,
Takky Ishino and more
http://www.smash-uk.com/frf07/about_frf.html

And the other one is Summer Sonic.Tokyo:Aug.11 Osaka:Aug.12
It's held in Tokyo(actually Chiba prefecture.) and Osaka as well.Many famous artists come from all over the world every year.
Black Eyed Peas,ARCTIC MONKEYS ,THE OFFSPRING,KASABIAN,Gwen Stefani,SUM41,TRAVIS,SUGAR RAY and more
http://www.summersonic.com/07/english/index.html

These are small portion of those.
Actually the season of music fes has already come.
My favorites are the events at the Enoshima Samuel Cocking Garden.The entrace fee is only 200yen.Great location and restful events.
FREEDOM SUNSET May.26 I gotta go!! ; )
http://isg-21.com/fs/index.html
http://www.cityfujisawa.ne.jp/kankou/english/point/sumel.html

Let's get out of here!!!!

You can enjoy ski&snowboard in Japan,you know?
Especially,Hokkaido,Niigata and Nagano are well known in east Japan between Japanese.
I love the ski resort in Hokkaido.They have great hot spring as well!And food are wonderful,too!!
Also the quality of snow is fantastic!!It's like Canadian snow.
Even though you don't like ski or snowborad, It's of value to visit there.

KIRORO in Hokkaido
http://www.kiroro.co.jp/english/

NISEKO in Hokkaido
http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/index.html

HAKUBA HAPPO-ONE in Nagano
http://www.hakuba-happo.or.jp/

It’s a costume procession which recalls Tokyo's history and culture from the Heian era to the Meiji era.
This parade leaves the square behind Sensoji Temple at 1:30pm, proceeds along the main street, and ends in Tawaramachi at 4pm.

On the same day, we are having an event, “Japanese traditional entertainment night Vol.2”.
6:00pm- Japanese Tea Ceremony
7:30pm- Noh performance (traditional dance-drama)
Why don’t you join us after seeing the parade?
It must be unforgettable day in Japan for you!!

Yes...Finally I am showing up here.
The participating in Japanese festival is one of my interests.
Oeshiki is a Buddhist festival commemorating the anniversary of Saint Nichiren's death. It is celebrated at many places in Japan, however, the one held in Ikegami Honmonji is the most prestigious as Saint Nichiren passed away at this temple. The event has been handed down through generations for 720 years along with the long-standing history and tradition.
Highlight is the parade of “mando” which takes place in the night of October 12. About 3,000 people will carry sacred lanterns decorated with artificial cherry blossoms along the route of 2 kilometers. Some 350,000 prayers and spectators visit the site till midnight every year.
I played a drum in this parade.It was soooo exciting.
I'm really looking forward to next year's one.
Ciao!!