Asakusa Diary - The Staff Blog

Guess how much this bento box is!

It is.....

2

5

0

Yen!!!

A bento box usually costs at least 500 yen.
(In case you don't know much about prices in Japan...
A set menu at McDonald's with a hamburger, French fries and a drink, is about 600 yen.)

But this place sells all the bento boxes for 250 yen.

"Paku Paku" is the name of this bento shop. It's only 5 minutes from the hostel.
The taste is "OK", nothing special. But the price is really special.

Yesterday, Apr 30, we were having nice world beers at Sakura Cafe @ Ikebukuro just like normal days.
I had Tsunami beer that is NO.1 Hawaiian beer. That beer is made of mineral water. Tastes awesome!
After couple bottles done, a ramen freak Daniel took us to Hakata Furyu ramen store.
This chain ramen noodle store gives you 2 free noodles, and costs only 500 yen.
You can choose 2 flavors, normal Tonkotsu (Pork soup) flavor and spicy miso flavor.
That's why Daniel goes 5 times a week even. lol

Then we saw many fire engines in front of Ikebukuro station.

There were so many people rubbernecking at the accident.　

According to the news, somebody sprayed tear gus to random people.
Those people who got spray were sent to a hospital.
This accident reminds me an act of domestic terrorism happening in 1995
named Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.
The cult group, AUM Shinrikyo released sarin gas on several lines of the Tokyo Subway.
Because of the attack, 12 people died and some 6000 were injured.

Good part is that nobody died by yesterday's incident.
Even though Japan is still considered as a safe country, we should be aware of dangerousness.

It's been a week since Yuri left the hostel. We had a farewell party for her last week at a cozy Korean restaurant in Asakusa.
It's very rare to get together and have dinner like we did last week.

We sure had a great time getting together outside of work.

We gave her dish sets as a wedding gift.

Last night, she sent us an email with a photo.

Look, she's already making use of our gift!　（＾o＾）/
The meal looks so good! I didn't know Yuri can cook.

Anyway, we are happy for her and hope that they have a great life together.
Come visit us anytime, Yuri, the staff and our guests are waiting for you☆☆

Thanks, Yuri, for the announcement.

Yes, I've just left Sakura Hostel Asakusa and moved to one of its sister hotels to work for them as their manager.

It's been 4 years since I met Yuri, Tomoe, Tsuyoshi and Naoto. They came and joined me while there was only an uncompleted building still under construction. The team got together to open the hostel. Other guys joined us later one by one.

Imagine how exciting it is to creat something new from scratch! That's been an incredibly precious experience and will have a profond influence on my future life.

This hostel is my home. I've been always feeling as if I were welcoming our guests to my own home. I don't know how much I can do at the new place, but I promise that I'll create another lovely "second home" to Tokyo-lovers.

Thank you, Yuri, Tomoe, Tsuyoshi, Naoto, Suga-san, Koyama-san, Egashira-san, and (sorry, can't write all your names) all the other people who've worked with me and all the guests who've stayed with us and brought me lots of fun and joy. Please keep helping this little girl challenge herself, please please♪

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I?
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

I love you guys all. Mata-ne!

I've just found an interesting post of Yuri's from the last January.

She listed the staff members' New Year's resolutions for 2009.
It's titled "What's your new year's resolution? vol.1"
.... By the way, she never wrote "vol. 2" just as usual :P

*******************************************************************

What's your new year's resolution? vol.1

Let me know you our's here.

Tomo: To be careful not to talk so much at the office and
to become a much better swimmer.
If you stop talking, I'm sure that you'll be getting stressful...

Yuri: Get a driver's licence by March.
Then I can take you wherever you want if you have enough courage;)

Jack: To have a baby boy☆
What kind of name will you give him?

Ebi: Be positive.
Please cheer me up when I feel down.

Yuta: Not to wake up late.
Get a BIG BIG alarm clock!!

Posted by: Yuri (2009/01/02 15:02)
********************************************************************

Guess who carried out his/her word??

Today, Mama Tomo explains how to reuse bread crust.

1. Chop up bread crust into small pieces

2. Microwave them for 2 min.

3. Fry them up with butter or olive oil (You can add salt if you want.)

4. Microwave them for another 2 min.

That's it!

Taste it. Is it crunchy enough? Then you are a good chef :)

My hand-made crouton comes with soup for breakfast every morning♪

Welcome to Sakura Hostel Asakusa and thank you for keep reading this weblog!!

We, sakura sisters, are always welcoming people from all over the world♪

Dressed in matching uniforms today★

Tomoe(left), Tomo(middle) and Yuri(right) with big smiles:D

And all were wearing different colors.
Which one do you like?

I like Tomoe's turquoise blue:)

Sakura Family↓↓

All of us have the other two colors.

(Kaminarimon Gate which you usually see)

(Kaminarimon Gate that I saw today)

Choose a WRONG example from below as a rare occasion on which the lantern of Kaminarimon Gate gets folded.

A. When a big typhoon is coming to hit the city
B. When a mikoshi (portable shrine) is coming to go through the gate
C. When Tsuyoshi is coming to go through the gate

We lost... :'-(
Bye bye our dream.

Chicago, our friend, we know how you feel..

Rio!! We look forward to your greatest Olympics in 2016!

It used to be a lot easier to buy a prepaid mobile phone in Japan.
As they now require some other registration cards than your passport, today it is not quite realistic for visitors to buy a phone in Japan.

We cannot guarantee that you can use your mobile phone from your country since we don't use GSM phone system in Japan.

We recommend you RENT one, not to buy one if you stay in Japan as a visitor for less than 3 months.

The rental fees vary, depending on the period of length, but it wouldn't be more expensive than 7,000 yen for a month.
We provide you with more information at the front desk.

Tomoe watched a gorgeous sunset one day.

The view of sunset that Tomoe saw from one of our rooms.

It was so beautiful that she told me to go out and see it, too.
As I am one of the laziest persons in the world, it took me time to raise myself up from the chair.
It's already gone when I went outside to see it...., too late :'-(

It was a sudden news.

The author of the nationally (and internationally) popular manga "Crayon Shin-chan" was found dead last week.
He went to climb a mountain and apparently fell off a cliff when he tried to take a photo.

Have you watched the manga? It's been one of the most popular manga in Japan since we were little kids.

Japan lost a great creator.

Wow, where did you guys get it??

You can hide yourselves behind it.

They bought it on Nakamise street in Asakusa (5 min. from the hostel).
I'm wondering how they took it home.

This is Asakusa at 1:00PM in the middle of Silver Week (the 5-day national holiday week in this September).

Asakusa is one of the most popular tourists' destinations in Japan.
A bunch of people come from all over the nation and world to Asakusa for sightseeing.
They look happy walking slowly and enjoying our neighborhood.

It would be great if we could have a narrow passage for me and Yuri to walk quickly to the hostel when in hurry...

Should we build our private tunnel, Yuri?

Naoto was excited one night when he arrived at the hostel for his night shift.

"It's tall! Did you see it?? It's tall!", he says.

He went to see"Tokyo Sky Tree" under construction.

We will have this "second Tokyo Tower" pretty close to our hostel in the year 2011.

They started building it a year ago.
It's now taller than 100 m. (Will be taller than 600 m when it's completed.)

I'm looking forward to seeing the beautiful tower behind Sumida River in two years.
Will we be able to see it from our hostel? What do you think, Naoto?

I saw Yuri drinking a can of chu-hai in the office today!!!!

Yuri says:

I'm allowed to drink. I'm not a minor.
Also, it is my honorable job to try this Suntory new product for our customers.

......

This new chu-hi (Acerola) received Yuri's OK, so will be in our vending machine soon.

Julia and Susann gave us this cute bear from Hamburg :)
He was so lovely that Yuri kidnapped him to her home right on the same day.

My short trip to Izu was pretty gentle and lovely.
There is a Japanese phrase, "Taifu Ikka", (台風一過: たいふういっか)
It means a pleasant weather that comes after a typhoon.
That was what I got in Izu.

The temperature was quite moderate and the sky was clear.
Beach-goers are already at work and school, which makes the beach a lot more quiet than the middle of summer.

Izu is a peninsula located in Shizuoka prefecture. It takes about 3 hours by train from Tokyo to get there.
It might not in your guidebook although it is one of the most popular resorts for people living in Tokyo.
South Izu area has many beautiful beaches such as Shirahama (白浜), Iritahama (入田浜) and Yumigahama (弓ヶ浜). Worth visiting if you have a chance :)

A typhoon is approaching Japan.

And, Tomo is approaching the typhoon...

I've been planning a short trip to the Izu peninsula for my three day off starting tomorrow.
Izu is famous as a place where typhoons come and hit a lot during summer.

Ooooohhhh, who's thrown this typhoon to Izu when I am going there?
Please pray for me. I've decided not to postpone this trip. I'm still going!!

We'll see what happens.

Can you run 42.195 km within 6 hours and 40 minutes?

If so, send an entry to TOKYO MARATHON 2010.
The entry started on August 1st and the number of applicants has already exceeded
the number of runners.
Lottery will be held to choose 32,000 lucky runners after the deadline of entry on August 31st.

Sorry if you are already an applicant and the number of competitors will be increased by this post. :p

Click the photo for more information.

Do you know what this mark means?

It is called "Wakaba" mark.
Newly licensed drivers are required to place this sticker on their car in order to attract enough attention from other drivers.

Yuri has recenly got a driver's license. Congrats, Yuri chan!!

Ok, now... who is brave enough to be the first one to get a ride from her?
Me? No no no, you go ahead :P

Because Jesus is not coming.

He comes with summer every year and stays with us for a month.
He must come. It's been always like that since our hostel opened.
But now, he has a little problem and decided to postpone his trip to Tokyo this year.

Ohhhhhh, noooooooo!!!

Come back to your home, Jesus-san. We miss you.

After I wrote "Tomo in Paris vol. 1", I never had a chance to come back to this weblog and came back home yesterday.

Japan Expo was really a huge event.

I met so many fun people there.

I traveled to Madrid and met Jesus, one of the Sakura's guests.

Finally, I reached Ibiza, my paradise.

I didn't have enough sleep in Ibiza as I only had 5 nights there, too short :(
5 parties on 5 nights and 5 beaches on 5 days. That was a crazy crazy time.

Fiesta de espuma (Foam party) at Club Amnesia was a "must go" if you have a plan to go to Ibiza.
You can feel your life threatened.

I wonder if I can recover myself to go back to my real life although my kind colleagues gave me one day off before I start to work

I arrived in Paris two days ago, and visited 5 travel agencies and JNTO (Japan Tourism Organization) office.
So exausted to walk around the city that I don't know very well. But had fun. Paris is beautiful and people are very kind to travelers.

After that, I went to Louvre Museum. Just to have a grance of the most famouse things such as Nika, Mona Lisa, etc.

And Today is the first day of Japan Expo. I'll wear Yukata dress and leave my hotel soon to go to the Expo.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

!!!YURI-CHAN!!!

I took this picture yesterday. Do you know who this is!?

He is our prime minister "now."
This "now" is a point because they change frequently....

I went to see a political gathering of LDP (the current ruling party of Japan) yesterday.
Well, it's not really from my political interest, but for a better business relationships with the community, and such and such.

Prime Minister, Taro Aso, was there among many famous politicians.
Some of my colleagues successfully had shake hands with him! Me? Nop :(

I would like to see President Obama next time :)

France and Spain next month!!

Do you know JAPAN EXPO in Paris?

This is the biggest event of Japanese entertainment in Europe.
I'm visiting this event half as a visitor and half as an exhibitor.

Is anybody planning to go there? Meet me in the booth of "Kira Kira Japon."

Ok, so, this is a business trip until the Expo finishes on July 5th.
After that, I'll be in Spain on vacation :) Yeah!!!
I'm still planning the trip. Yuri recommended Cuenca. (She's never been there but was impressed by a TV programm.)

Mmm, where else?
This time, I don't want "city" so much because I'm living in this busy capital of our country.
Your opinions wanted!

!!!New Caledonia!!!

Yuri went to the island with her mom and wil spend a couple of days there.
New Caledonia.... we call it "the island nearest to the heaven" in Japanese.
Obviousely, it is not about the physical distance but about the beauty of the paradise.

Let's wait for her to come back and tell us how beautiful it was... wait for a week.

Design Festa finished on last Sunday.

What was new this time was;
Sakura Group (Sakura House, Hotel & Hostel) had a small sitting area where our guests could rest and chat with other Sakura guests.

Jack (our hostel's staff member) took care of this place and welcomed our guests with some free drinks.

This sitting area was popular as it was sometimes hard to find a place to take a rest in this big event hall with a huge crowd of people.

The webmaster of Sakura Group (he is the one who created our hostel's website) was there, too.
Mr. Aoyama & his little son, so cuuuuuuute♪ ↓　↓　↓　↓

You guys all know that the main writer of this weblog is Yuri.
She has been writing on here for three years.

Among her 600 posts, do you know which one has received the most comments?

This is the one. ---->"I love elephants!!!"

I've been wondering why for a long time, but today I found the answer.
Go to Google Images
Google "elephants" on there.
Look at the 4th pic on it.

That's what Yuri posted.

Ah huh, that's why!

What are you doing, Ebi-chan??

He's trying Tim Tam, Australian biscuit coated with chocolate.

Our guest, Chris, brought us some and taught us how the local people eat it in his country.

1. Prepare a warm drink like coffee and a Tim Tam.
2. Bite both ends off the Tim Tam and use it as a straw for your drink.
3. Eat your Tim Tam up quickly before it melts and falls apart.

You cannot avoid automatically bending down your head like Ebi-chan does on the photo.

Thanks, Chris.
Why did they name it Tim Tam, by the way? It sounds a little cute.

One of our night staff members, Hiro, is an actor during the daytime. Did you know?

Hiro at dawn, sleepy after the night shift.
↓↓↓

Last week, he appeared on a TV drama and played a role!
Hiro acting as a criminal guy on a drama.
↓↓↓

TV drama "Hancho." It's a police drama.

You should get his autograph now before he becomes a big star!

One famous Sumo wrestler, Tamakasuga, will hold his retirement ceremony on May 30th at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

Sakura Group (Sakura House & Hotel) will go see the ceremony together.
It's not only a retirement ceremony but also a series of exciting Sumo competitions.
After watching the sport, we are planning to go to a Chanko (Sumo wrestler's meal) restaurant.

Date: Saturday, May 30th
Meeting Time: 11AM
Place: Ryogoku Sumo Stadium

Tickets are sold at the hostel.
Sumo Event & Chanko (meal): 5,000 yen
Only Sumo Event (no meal): 3,000 yen

Ask us for more at the reception:)

You won't see Tomoe for a week because she is in.....

in....

HAWAII?♪♪♪

She went to attend her friend's wedding and is enjoying her holidays in Hawaii. Nice!
Let's see how much she will be tanned when she's back.

Tomoe, don't forget to buy some Downy from there besides some sweets for Yuri.
See you in a week!

May Grand Sumo Tounament will start on this Sunday.
It will be at Ryogoku Sumo Stadium in Tokyo. It takes only 15 min. by train from our hostel, or you can even walk.

Have you seen sumo before?
I haven't. Well I want to.

There are many kinds of tickets still available.
Unfortunately, you cannot buy tickets if you are overseas.
But you still have chances to buy one after you arrived in Japan.
See here for more details or ask us at the reception when you arrive at the hostel.

I've found our latest guestbook completely worn out on the table. It's almost broken...
I believe that it's the 5th or 6th one since we had our first guestbook.
It's always fun for us to read what our guests left on this book.

Ebi-chan is trying to fix it.

Doesn't know how.

You can write whatever you like on it. But take a good care of it for the future readers, please:)

The result of the last month was.....

(drumroll)

No. 1 FRANCE!
Lots of French travelers filled our hostel in April.
We can now count in French (up to 10...) Good students, aren't we?

I was surprised to hear this music from a TV commercial.

This is a TV commercial of QP Mayonnaise (our local brand of mayonnaise).
It is very rare to hear Mexican music from TV hear. I wonder who sings this.

Another version.

Look at the calendars of April and May.

Every year, from the end of April to the beginning of May, we have a special period of holidays.

April 29th is the Day of Showa (the birthday of our late Emperor).
May 3rd is Constitution Day.
May 4th is Greenery Day (I don't know what Greeney means...)
May 5th is Children's Day

We have these four national holidyas within a week during this period, which we call "Golden Week."

This year, because Constitution Day falls on Sunday, we get May 6th off, as well.

Look at the calendars very well.
If you successfully get April 27th, 28th, 30th and May 1st off, you will get a vacation of 12 days!
Wow! Wow!

If you are even better at negotiating with your boss and get May 7th and 8th off, your vacation would be 16 days!!! That is a real "Golden Week."

But this could happen only if you are woking for a company which doesn't work on Saturdays and Sundays. Never happens to us because.... we are Sakura Hostel♪

Do you have this kind of special holiday weeks in your countries, too??

What are they doing so seriously?

Seems like they're playing a game...

... seems like Tsuyoshi lost.

Hey guys, you have to go back to work.

Moshi moshi, Jimmy speaking♪　　
　　　　　　　　　　　

Before, we had a chaos in the office.

Who made this chaos?

Of course, Naoto did.　　↓↓↓
　　

This morning, Tsuyoshi completed his masterpiece on the wall.

It is very kind and has guidelines for Naoto to know where everything should be put back.

Koban (交番) is a small building with uniformed police officers.
They keep watching the community, give people directions and react to the emergencies
that happen in the community.
It shares the same idea with "police box."

You can find one in front of Kaminarimon Gate in Asakusa.
The police officers of this koban always look pretty busy
with many visitors including Japanese and foreigners.

Don't hesitate to ask them for directions when you got lost.
They don't smile a lot and are very kind.
We heard that there is an officer who speaks Thai in this koban.

Do you remember the names of our sakura (cherry) trees??

We named them "Satsuki" and "May" when they were planted two years ago.
I don't remember which is which, though.

They are in full bloom now but are still baby trees♪

In most areas of Tokyo, you are not allowed to smoke on the street.

If you ignore this kind of signs on the street and still smoke, you might get fined 1,000 to 20,000 yen, depending on the administering ward.

On the other hand, there is no punishment for drinking alcohol on the street.
You don't have to hide your bottles in a bag here. Different countries have different rules.

Potato chips sold at the reception.
There are five flavors.

Entry no. 1 "mild salt" Tomoe's favorite♪
　
Entry no. 2 "chicken and onion" Naoto's recommendation!

Entry no. 3 "seaweed" Japanese taste!

Entry no. 4 "BBQ" Ebichan chooses this.

Entry no. 5 "Corn chips with salsa sauce" Yuri's favorite☆

What flavor do you like?

When I was traveling in Germany, I found "paplika" flavor everywhere in the country.
It was so good that I miss it a lot, but we don't find it in Japan, unfortunately.

One day I came here to work, I found some guns on the table.
Everytime guests leave something, it's gonna be our toys for a while.

Especially, Naoto...

The last night's game (Japan VS Australia soccer game) ended in a draw (scoreless).
Last night, all the Australian guests went to the stadium and the hostel was empty at night only with Tsuyoshi watching the game on TV by himself. He is a big fan of soccer.

Hope both of us will go to the World Cup and be line for the championship.

I found a kangaroo at the hostel this morning.
↓↓↓↓

Hi Kangaroo!

Australian football suporters have filled the hostel.

They are ready for the tonight's game.

World Cup Qualifying Japan VS Australia!!

Who do you think will win?

Guam!!
It's her winter vacation now and I think she is leaving today...right?
Unfortunately, she doesn't have a camera with her...
but she'll let you know how her trip is.

I hope she would have a great time and be relaxed♪
Don't worry about us, I'll watch Naoto not to goof off:P
I'm waiting for your souvenir!

Hmmm...where should I go on my winter vacation next month.

What is this line for??

This photo was taken after 11:00PM on January 2nd.

This is a line of people of "hatsumode" (the New Year's visit to shrines/temples) waiting to pray at the Sensoji Temple.

For the first three days of each year, we see this long line of people in front of Sensoji Temple.
During the daytime, the line is more than 200m up until Kaminarimon Gate.

Hatsumode is still such an important custom for Japanese people even in this modern time. Why don't you join the line and try the custom with these people?

In November, there was a very important Karate competition held in Tokyo.

Some Karate teams stayed with us at Sakura Hostel, too.
One from South Africa, one from Ukraine and one from Slovenia.

Do you play any martial arts?

The manager of our sister hotel, Sakura Hotel Jimbocho, (his name is Hajime san), plays Aikido.

What about you?

If you are interested in Japanese culture, Oseibo is one of the things that you should know about.

My Japanese-English discionary translates Oseibo to "year-end gift."
Does it make sense to you? I hope it does.

Usually, you send gifts to those who have important (mostly business) relationships with you. For examle, you send a box of beer to your business partners, boss, teachers or someone who you want to thank a lot.

Do you have such kind of custom in your country?

Tsukiji Fish Market is one of the most popular tourist atractions in Tokyo at the moment.

Every morning, we see many of our guests wake up before 6:00AM and go to the fish market to see the Tuna auctions. The auctions are really exciting to see, we believe.
But please remember that there are some rules and etiquettes you must observe.

No flash.
No touching fish.
No talking/shouting loud.
No entering/walking in prohibited areas.
Such and such....

Let's be careful about the etiquette to keep a good relationship with people working at the market.

We heard a good news from Thailand yesterday.

As many of you might know, the major airports in Bangkok were closed for a while because of some sort of political demonstration.

Due to this problem, we received quite a few booking cancellations from Thai people and those who were supposed to transit in Bangkok on their way to Tokyo. That was a sad moment for me to feel how unstable the tourist industry is.

The airport is now opened and starting to operate as usual. We are hearing a good news from Thai guests who finally managed to arrange the flights to come to Tokyo. We are glad to welcome you guys. Have a great stay in Tokyo☆

?????, ??? ????? ???? ?? ??????.

??? ??? ?????? 11?5, 6? ??? ??? ??? ???, ??? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ? ?????.

?????? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?????
?????!! ??? ??? ???? ??????~

I visited the Lake Kawaguchi (Kawaguchiko) last weekend with one of my best friends from Sakura House☆

Can you see the beautiful mountain behind us? (I know there is too much backlight and it is hard to see it...)
It is Mt. Fuji, and my only purpose of visiting the lake was to see the mountain.

When our guests ask us for a good place to see Mt. Fuji, we usually recommend Kawaguchiko. One reason is the easy acess from Tokyo. There is a highway bus from Shinjuku going direcly to the lake, which only takes 1h 50min. Why don't you go there for a day trip?

There are many nice restaurants of houtou around the lake.

Houtou is one of the most popular local dishes of the area. It is miso-based soup with udon noodles and lots of vegetables. I tried this restaurant and loved it! We walked 20 min. to the restaurant because we didn't have a car, tired... but it was worth doing that!

Look at this evidence photo.

These two drawers are Naoto's.
They never close to the end because they are too full.

All of us except for Naoto have only one drawer for each. Only he has two because his first drawer was too full and he needed another one.

Look at the evidence photo No. 2.

This is our time clock with Naoto's card still in it. He always leaves his card there after he punched it, and the next person has to take it out and put it back to his place.

Super untidy guy Naoto and his super patient friends.

Recently, I bought a new TV for a good price.

Well, let's watch some TV dramas on it (because I haven't bought a DVD player yet...)

What are TV dramas like in your countries?

In Japan, a TV drama is usually a series of 10 to 12 episodes
and appears on the TV for 3 months (one episode per week).
If you want to watch this drama, you have to sit in front of the TV
at 9:00PM on every Monday, for example.
One episode is one hour including CMs. "Including CMs" is important.
The actual story in an episode is only about 40+ minutes
and all the rest is commercial messages.

(Popular titles from this year and last year)

You will see the same story novelized and filmized if it is successfull
as a TV drama, and vice versa.
When you have such a popular actor, you will see him
in two different TV dramas at the same time.
He plays a simple elementary school teacher on Saturdays
and a poor farther with 3 kids on Tuesdays, like him ↓↓↓　

Wow, how busy he is.

Yusuke Kamiji (We see him on TV everyday this year.)

Quiz for those who have visited our hostel before.

What is new on this photo?

The answer is.....

The new noren curtain (^-^)b

Me and Tomoe found this noren curtain on our way back home
one day in Asakusa and bought it for the hostel.
What is painted on it is the old view of Sensoji Temple of Asakusa.

We have a pagoda on the left side of the Sensoji temple now.

But before everything was burnt down during the war, they had the pagoda
on the other side of the temple.
We heard this story from a gentleman who sold the curtain to us.
You can see the pagoda with its old position on old paintings like ukiyoe.
Our new curtain is one of them.

Let's start cooking♪

Two girls from Sakura house already chopped vegetables and now, we were wrapping↑↑
As we had more than 10 guests, we made about 250 damplings!!

This is only small part of them and ready to cook!

Oops...I forgot to take pictures before eating:(
It was so good, anyway;)

By the way, I made some sweet gyoza which had chocolate&banana in it.
Everyone asked me to stop to cook but once they tasted, they loved it:)

Tomo is holding a dumpling party tonight.
I think she is in preparation right now and I'm going there soon with Naoto to help her.
I like normal dumpling but I wanna make some sweet ones
such as chocolate&banana though Tomo doesn't like it.

Cheese&avocado also sounds good!
Hmmm...I can't wait!

He's back!!

I heard that Tsuyoshi and Naoto found our old bicycle
around Hanayashiki amusement park(one minute walking).
We have no idea why he was there...but anyway, it's good to see him again.
Now, we have two bicycles here!

She still doesn't know where she left him...

Unfortunately, they are ours but you can rent a bicycle at Tsukuba Express Asakusa station
for 200 yen/day.

We often go shopping and always buy in large amount.
So, a bicycle is necessary for us but one day, Tomo left our old one in front of the restaurant:P
She went there by bike and after she got full, she forgot about a bike aｎd came back on foot.
To be surprised, she didn't realized for a couple of days!!

Naoto went to Akihabara to get a new bike today↓↓
It's cute♪

Tomo, please don't forget about this cute bike anymore;)

One of our guests asked me an interesting question.

"I just want to try how a shinkansen ride is. What is the nearest destination from Tokyo by shinkansen?"

Shinkansen is translated as "bullet train" because it runs fast like a bullet.
I don't know how fast a bullet is, but a shinkansen bullet train sometimes runs at 300 km/r.

The nearest shinkansen destination from Tokyo is probably Shin-yokohama, but it is too close for them to run at 300 km/r... Maybe you should go somewhere like Nagoya and come back to Tokyo if you want to experience their speed.

Last year, I rode shinkansen for the first time in a few years, but I felt asleep just a few minutes after the train left Tokyo. And then the next moment, I was in Kyoto. I will try not to sleep next time.

It's my turn to take a summer vacation!

I'm going to Mexico in the end of this month for the first time in 4 years. Soooo excited!
I have a friend in Mexico City, where I will arrive and spend probably the first few days. I haven't decided yet where I should go after that. Guadalajara, where I spent a lot of time 4 years ago, is an option because I can see more friends there.

And, maybe, to the beach. Can anybody recommend a good beach? I want to go to a quiet, kind of hidden and local beach.

We have two vending machines inside the hostel.
The left one is for alcohol and the right one is for non-alcohol drinks.

↓↓↓In the alcoholic one, the drinks on the top two columns are beer.
(From left to right) Premium MALTS, MALTS and low-malt beer (happo-shu).

The ones on the bottom are chu-hi (shochu-based bevarage).

They are all from SUNTORY.

Try some Japanese beer while in Japan. The legal age of drinking here is 20, by the way.

Such a controversial system of cigarette vending machines has been recently started throughout Japan.

You might have seen many cigarette vending machines on the steet in Japan. We still have them.

But, if the machine says something in Japanese to you next time you try to buy cigarettes from a machine, it is saying "show me your TASPO."

You need your own TASPO card to verify your age when you buy a box of cigarettes from a machine. The goal of the system is to prevent underage smoking, but many people doubt if it will make any difference.

Our oni-chan (Tsuyoshi) smokes but hasn't applied for a TASPO card yet. He has to go to a store to buy cigarrets now altough he used to buy them from the nearest vending machines on the street. I hope it will make him smoke less or quit it.

I don't eat sweats like Yuri does.

I like salty, crunchy and oily snacks. I KNOW IT IS NOT HEALTHY. I KNOW, Mom...
But I can't stop it.

This is my favorite. Cacahuates japoneses from Mexico!
My friend, Jose, sent me loads of bags of cacahuates japoneses from Mexico.
They are peanuts wrapped in cracker, not salty nor oily, but I still like them.

Cacahuates japoneses with Premium Malts. The best combined snack after work!

Do you like Hayao Miyazaki? He is the movie director who made many popular animation films such as "My neighbor Totoro", "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind" and "Luputa: Castle in the Sky."

His brandnew film "Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff)" is now in the theater.
The title tune of the movie is so impressive that it sticks in your head. These days, me and Naoto often sing it to ourselves while working.

Listen to it↓↓↓　You can never get the song out of your head.

Jusus, one of the long stayers from Spain, has an experience to be on a Japanese TV program. Last time he stayed with us, he was on a TV show.

This year, he came on a perfect timing, and again, was interviewed by TV crew who came from NHK, the Japanese most important TV station. He might become a TV star in Japan ☆

Yuri is taking a day off today. Do you know what she is doing secretly today?

She is practicing to wear yukata by herself.

Yukata is a kind of kimono (Japanese traditional dresses), and is worn a lot in summer. Especially when we go to summer festivals, it is common to be dressed in yukata.

But the problem is that it is not very easy to wear one by yourself, and that you need a lot of time and practice like this. Usually, mothers and grandmothers teach their daughters how to wear one just like Yuri's mom is doing today.

There will be a fireworks festival in Asakusa on this Saturday. Yuri, Tomoe and I will be dressed in yukata and are practicing hard now. We will take lots of photos and put some here.

How much do you pay to fly from your country to Japan?

I'm thinking of going somewhere abroad this summer and checking the flight fares online.
Yuri is doing the same thing for her vacation.
What we agree is about the sky-high fuel surcharges that
we would have to pay besides the flight fares.
You have to pay extra US$300 for the fuel surcharge
when you pay US$400 to fly from Japan to North America, for example.
It would be almost double.

Are you still flying abroad? I think I am. Are you?

Ebi-chan came back from Thailand last week.
He traveled to Bali in Indonesia and Thailand for 10 days in total,
and came back with his face suntanned and refreshed.

This is one of the souvenirs that he brought us. It's a tapestry with cute elephants.

It is a common understanding that Japanese employees cannot take a long vacation.
But! Sakura Hostel wants to be an exception because we all like traveling.
10 days is not long at all for Europeans, I guess, though.

Koji went to Hokkaido by motorbike in June.
Tsuyoshi is currently driving all around Japan with his new GPS.
Tomoe is also on her vacation and is somewhere in Japan.
It will be my turn next :)

These are also something sweets from Thailand↑↑

Our oni-chan (Tsuyoshi) is a booze king. How booze king is he?

This is my glass↓

This is his↓

Do you know what country this is at No. 10 from last month?
It's Finland!

If you are wondering why Finland is ranked here, the reason is....

these long stayers from Finland.
(From right to left) Janne, Miika, another Janne and Jonne have been staying with us for such a long time. Three of them are leaving tomorrow and going back home. So sad ;(

Come back anytime, guys. Your home is always here ♪

Who loves summer? I do!

Fireworks festivals, going to beach, barbecue, cold beer...
Only fun things come to my mind when I hear "summer. "

Yet, one thing is..., it's hot in Tokyo, hot like being baked on a pan (T-T)
The high temperature in Tokyo yesterday was more than 30 ℃.
And humid, humid like in a sauna...

Oops, I'm not trying to discourage you guys from coming to Tokyo in Summer.
It's still fun! Look at this big smile on Tsuyoshi's face.

On 29th was Tomo's birthday!!
★☆Happy, happy birthday☆★
She is our big boss here and always busy like this...↓↓

Oops! It might be her lunch time:P
She is always busy like this↓↓

Just for your information, she loves something crispy&salty, Mexico,
Chage&Aska(Japanese singers), and nice looking guys;)
Just for your information.

Happy birthday, Yuri chan!!
Guess how old she is this year!? She might look like a high school girl but she is not!

Today's Yuri chan

Working hard...

Just for your information, she loves chocolate, ice cream, elephants, Masatoshi Fukuyama (Japanese pop singer) and purple. Just for your information.

This morning, I felt a big earthquake when I was at the front desk. It wasn't big enough to seriously damage anything in Tokyo. But, as some of you might know, there have been some people dead, missing or injured because of this earthquake in Miyagi, the area where the focus was.

We received a phone call from a parent of one of our guests staying at the hostel now.
Please don't worry. Tokyo is ok. We are far from the center of the earthquake. We are just deeply sorry for the loss. Hope that next week we won't hear negative news like those of this week.

Night manager, Manager and..... Booze King.
We seldom see three of us behind the counter at the same time ☆

Countries most visited from in May 2008 are....

As Yuri expected, Finland did a close match and came to the number 8!

This month... I guess US will keep the number 1.

South Korea from tomorrow!

Of course, she has not packed yet:P
Is anyone who could help her?

She will stay at a hostel for backpackers in Soul by herself.
I hope she'll have a great time there:)
Please don't forget about souvenir for us★
I prefer Yuzu tea and Korean sea weed!

Sanja Matsuri Festival just started today.
Tomorrow around noon, mikoshi (portable shrines) parades will start at Sensoji Temple, and they carry mikoshi all over Asakusa.

What is "Japanese food" for you??

If you only know sushi and tempura, you should try "ramen" next.
It's a bowl of noodles served in meat/fish-based broth with toppings such as an egg, seaweed, green onions, etc. It's one of the most popular Japanese dishes and is eaten more regularly by Japanese locals than sushi and tempura are. A bowl of ramen is usually cheap like 500 yen to 800 yen. Since it has a wide regional variety, it would be a good idea to try different ramen bowls in different cities while you are traveling in Japan.

There are some good ramen restaurants around our hostel. Our recommendation is URIMBO, located 5 min walk from the hostel. They served Hataka (an erea in southen Japan)-type ramen which is famous for a milky pork born based broth with thin noodles. This type is called tonkotsu, a favorite of mine.
URIMBO ramen

Try some ramen when you come to Japan. I'm sure you'll like it!

Last weekend, a legendary band, X JAPAN performed a live concert for the first time in ten years. Its 150,000 tickets got sold out in a blink of an eye, the news told us. I saw lots of X JAPAN fans with flashy make-up and bright hair in many places on Sunday on their way home after the live finished. Naoto was a lucky guy as usual and got a ticket from one of our guests. I haven't seen him after the live but believe he enjoyed it.

Is any of you a big fan of them?

Have you seen these guys before?
They work for our sister company, Sakura House, which runs monthly guesthouses all over Tokyo.
They belong to its maintenance team and travel from a house to another
by wagon everyday to brush up the quality of the houses, fix something broken,
supply household goods, etc.

You might have seen the guy on the left (Satoshi) somewhere on this blog
because he used to work for our hostel.
They dropped by the hostel the other day and I took their pic.

Satoshi and Mocchie, the guys we can turn to whenever we have a problem :)
Drop by here anytime and have a coffee break☆
Pretty girls (?) will make you feel relaxed ;)

Look at these beautiful flowers. They are cherry blossoms, the soul of Japanese. I feel happy to be Japanese every spring when I see the flowers all over the city. My mom says that she is counting how many more times she can see cherry blossoms in the rest of her life. (Well, she is not that old, though...)

Cherry blossoms are at the peak now in Tokyo. This weekend is the best timing to have cherry blossom viewing parties (hanami party).

Heeeeey! Who decided to do our hanami party NEXT weekend?? Yuri, was it you??

Anybody remembers him? He is one of our repeat Japanese customers.

Ko-san drop by the hostel yesterday to give Tomoe (Today is Tomoe's birthday☆) birthday presents. Look at this cute pink cake! Ko-san picked it for her because it is the color of "sakura."

Sorry, Yuri-chan. We ate it up while you were off :P We are keeping the wine unopened, though.

Sakura Group designed its original railway map of Tokyo in English. It includes both subways and JR lines on the same sheet for your convenience. (You might have an experience of having difficulty finding a JR map in English.)

You can get it for free at any branch of Sakura Hotel Group including our hostel.

Could you let us know what else would help you if we had it at our hostel?

2-24-2 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0032

This is the address of Sakura Hostel Asakusa.

Many people ask us how we find a place with its address. Don't try to do the western style. There is no street name in our addressing system. Let me explain with our address as an example.

When written in Japanese, the order is reversed like this.
〒111-0032 Tokyo, Taito-ku, Asakusa, 2-24-2

〒 signify a postal code.
Tokyo is the name of our prefecture.
Taito-ku is a ward in Tokyo.
Asakusa is a town in Taito-ku.
The first number "2" indicates a district in Asakusa.
The second number "24" is a block in the number "2" district of Asakusa.
The final number "2" is the house/building number that our hostel has got.

Did you get it? Well, I should have simply led you to Wikipedia for a more professional explanation.

But, we strongly recommend you JUST ASK LOCALS ON THE STREET when you are looking for a place. It will waste your time walking around and around with an address in you hand because address signs on the steet are written in Japanese anyways...

To find our hostel, please see the detailed direction with pictures on our website. >>Access map

Have you every seen a mammoth?

YES, I HAVE!!

Last year, a female baby mammonth was discovered in a permafrost in Russia. It died more than 30,000 years ago and had been there in the frozen ground until discovered by accident. It was named Lyuba (means "Love" in Russian) and transferred to Japan for further studying. More about Lyuba.

We can see her at in a special display at Marunouchi building near Tokyo station until February 3rd. When I saw her yesterday in the thick glass case, I thought she was smiling. But the person next to me said that she looked sad. I wonder how she's feeling to be seen by tons of people everyday after dragged out of the long peaceful sleep.

I believe that many of you still remember Hiromi, who worked with us till last summer. Yesterday, I went to the cafe where she is currently working as an event coordinator.

It is a stylish cafe designed with the concept of ecology. >>Otemachi Cafe It is located so close to the Imperial Palace that you might be able to drop by to see her someday. She's doing really well just as she always was. :)

Jose (the guy on the far right) is the first mexican person who I met in my life. We've known each other for 5 years and half since we met in San Francisco while studying at a university there. I visited him in Mexico later, and that was how I met the country that I would love most. I learned "hospitality" from Mexican people, who were always friendly and helpful to this strange Japanese girl. A lot of things and people inspired me to start this hostel, but among them, meeting Mexico was the biggest influence for it.

I'm telling you, Jose, without having met you I wouldn't be working here now and I wouldn't have this great opportunity to meet more and more new people every day. Thank you for visiting my hostel with your friends. That will be my most unforgettable time that I spent while working here. I'll see you soon in Mexico, or maybe here. Hasta entonces!

Did you guys arrive home safely? Your vase (we've found out that he is accually the god of fire) had been empty and looked sad after you left. But he's finally got beautiful flowers in it. Looks nicer. A mexican god of fire will protect the hostel.

Hope to see you guys again soon. Saludos de Sakura Hostel!

Guess waht these bags are? They are called fuku bukuro, which literally means "bags of happiness" or "lucky bags." Most stores celebrate New Years by selling sealed bags of items inside at one flat price, such as 5,000 yen or 10,000 yen. There are varios kinds of items and stores, but the most popular ones are those of ladies' clothes.

The bags are sealed, so you don't know what are inside. But our common understanding is that there will be more than we pay. If you pay 10,000 yen, the bag should have items of 50,000 yen or more. If not, people will not come back to the store. But sometimes, this is a good opportunity for some stores to sell out unsold goods.

I bought one of these bags today, and the result was... ok.. not so bad, but not so good. Mmm...

Do you guys have this in your countries? We do this only from January 1st to 2nd or 3rd. I wonder if it's worldwide or only here.

Ok, ok, don't blame us for Tokyo's not having 24hrs public transportation. On this special day, most JR lines and subways will run all night. They come less frequently than usual, but come every 20-30 minutes, not that bad.

This, I believe, is originally meant to serve those who go to shrines and temples to do the New Year's visits (hatsumode), but is also good for our guests who go nightclubbing for countdown parties on the New Year's Eve. You can come back to the hostel or jump from a party to another by subway, avoiding taking a taxi.

Sakura staff is not the only one who will work all night on the day...

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office (Japanese website only)

The government office in west Shinjuku has observation rooms on the 45th floor (202m), which are open until 23:00 on most days.
This place is not as famouse as Tokyo Tower as an observation platform to view the whole panorama of Tokyo, but is usually most recommended by Sakura staff.

Reason 1: Admission free!!
Reason 2: It's even higher than the main observatory of Tokyo Tower.
Reason 3: Not that famous yet, which means that not so many tourists yet.

During the winter season when we have a clear sky, you might be able to see Mt. Fuji from there. And, of couse, the night view is something that you shouldn't miss while in Tokyo.

The photos I took with my camera were disappointing... So these are photos by somebody else.
Ah, I should go to Akihabara to buy a better camera...

Nobody is in the lounge!!

A rare chance!!

Let's do a thorough cleaning~~~
Tsuyoshi gets chairs and tables out of the way.
Yuri vacuums.
Naoto cleans lint screens.

Do you remember our grand project of collecting "hello" from many languages?
When did we start? Maybe in July.

Now we have hello of more than 20 languages. English, Spanish, French..... Polish, Thai, Maori, Serbian, Arabic.... and more.

Come here to add your hello before the page gets full!

Our next project is to collect "thank you."

Hey! Tomo came back from Vietnam safely last night.
Yes, I must say "safely" because our flight arrived at Tokyo while the large typhoon was approaching to the city. I had never experienced such a scary flight in my life. We had more than two hours of repeating turbulences and air pockets and everybody, I believe, expected the worst situation. Some people screamed and others were just dumb with fear.
Me on the plane ⇒⇒⇒

I'm truely happy to have survived the flight in typhoon and brought back lots of souvenirs for Yuri and others :D
Souvenirs ↓↓↓

Don't worry, Naoto. I have something for you too. Dozens of instant pho ↓↓↓

What surprised and impressed me most in Ho Chi Minh City was this ↓↓↓

On the first day, I felt completely at a loss to cross the street busy with hundreds of motorcycles pssing by. I spent more than 10 minutes wondering how I could go back to my hotel right on the other side of the street. It felt farther than a kilo meter although it was right there in front of me...

But on the last day, I got a knack for doing that! Don't look at those motorcycles in a mass. Don't run but walk slowly and dodge them one by one.
Don't know what I'm talking about?? Now it's your turn to travel to Vietnam :)

(English below)
¡Un luchador japonés está en la recepción!
Naoto trabajó con una máscara de la lucha libre que nos regalaron los dos mexicanos en la foto.
Parece fuerte, ¿no?

Muchos huéspedos nos traen regalos de sus países. Guardamos todos los regalos en el hostal. Nos recuerdan los tiempos divertidos que compartimos juntos. La oficina y la recepción estan llenas de los recuerdos de todo el mundo. ¡Gracias a todos!

(Español arriba)
Here's a Japanese luchador in the reception!
This is Naoto, working with a lucha mask that these two mexican guests gave us.
Looks strong, right?

There are many guests who bring us presents from their countries. We keep all of them as constant reminders of the memorable time we shared with those guests. I'm very happy to see our office and front desk getting full of souvenirs from all over the world. Thank you, everybody!

(English below)
Diego, Oracio y la novia de Oracio vinieron a Japón para pasar el examen del tercer dan (san dan) de Aikido. Son de Argentina. Se quedaron con nosotros cinco noches en Sakura Hostel y la semana pasada se fueron a un dojo de Aikido.

Japón es la meca de los artes marciales. Mucha gente viene a Japón de todo el mundo para practicar Aikido, Judo, Karate y otros martes marciales. No sólo practican las técnicas sino aprenden las filosofías.

Si les interesa practicar algun marte marcial cuando se quedan con nosotros, les ayudaría Naoto, un personal de Sakura Hostel quien practica jujutsu brasileño.

Diego y Oracio, ¡que tengan un buen tiempo en el dojo y pasen el examen!
¡Dejame en contacto con ustedes!

(español arriba)
Diego, Oracio and his girlfriend came to Japan to pass the third level exam (san dan) of Aikido. They stayed with us at our hostel for five nights and left for a dojo (training school) of Aikido last week.

Japan is the mecca of martial arts. A number of people come to Japan to learn martial arts such as Aikido, Judo and Karate. Not only techniques but also their philosophies are things to be learnt.

If you are interested in experiencing a training of those martial arts while you are staying with us, go ahead and talk to Naoto, one of our staff members. He practices Brazilian Jujutsu.

We met a tall guy!
The tallest among those who have stayed with us.

I'm 160cm, nothing special.
Tsuyoshi is 185cm, the tallest among the Sakura staff.

Joshua is

205cm!!

Do you know what I imagine with this picture??

This...
↓↓↓↓
↓↓↓↓

Once again, the name of our hostel is Sakura Hostel. Our sister hotel (Sakura Hotel) and sister companies (Sakura House and Sakuratei) also have "sakura" in their names.

Do you know what "sakura" is?
It's the national flower of Japan, the flower most loved by Japanese people for centuries.
In English, it's called cherry blossom.

Among the many species of cherry trees, Japan's most beloved one is Somei Yoshino (photo above). The color is almost white when you see a flower close. But when you are farthur from the tree, it looks light pink.

Spring is the season when you can see the flowers. The flower's life is very very short, only a week or two. If the flower lived longer, it wouldn't be loved this much. In the flower, Japanese people see the briefness and beauty of life,

Tokyo is expecting their early blooming this year due to the warm winter.
The flower forecast says the 18th of March is "the date" this year.

Hanami (flower viewing party) is another reason why Japanese love the flower this much. People go to parks, riverbanks, temples and shrines to have a party with foods and drinks under sakura trees. It never matters whether the real purpose is to view the flower or just to drink...

On Saturday, March 24th, we will have this hanami party with our guests. We will go to a riverbank close to the hostel. The sakura flowers are expected in full bloom around that date. Come and join us with your own food and drink!! >>>event calendar

On my days off, I traveled to Kyoto and Hiroshima.
Have you been to those places? They are both worth a visit.

In Kyoto, I met a Swise guy who had stayed at Sakura Hotel, our sister hotel before. I went with him to one of the most popular shrines of Kyoto, "Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine" and the city's biggest neigborhood of Geisha called "Gion."

In Hiroshima, I stayed at J-Hoppers, which is the only one backpacker's hostel in Hiroshima. I was so happy to meet the owner of the hostel because he is one of the people who inspired me to start a hostel on my own and also because we hear lots of good things about his hostels from our guests.

Is there any lucky person selected to join the Tokyo Marathon 2007?
It will be held on Sunday, February 18, 2007 and start from Tokyo Metropolitan Government and finish at Tokyo Big Sight. 25,000 selected lucky people can join it.

What is so exciting about it is... they will come to our place, Asakusa! In the latter stage of the race, they run through the Kaminarimon gate, only a few minutes walk away from our hostel. We are sure that we will go cheer for the runners with our guests on that day.

Already drunk?

We had a pub night last night after we enjoyed the tea ceremony and Noh play.
Me and Hiromi took a group of around 15 people to a Japanese bar (izakaya) called Uotami in Asakusa.

You want to sing karaoke, Hiromi?

¡Bienvenidos a Sakura Hostel Asakusa!
Somos el único hostal que habla español en Tokio, Japón.
Ya tenemos nuestro website traducido al español.
http://www.sakura-hostel.co.jp/spanish/index.htm

Lo tradujo Jesús de Madrid, quien se quedó con nosotros en el hostal un mes el verano pasado. Muchisimas gracias a Jesús. Y, a Cris y Minori, ustedes nos ayudaron también.

Nos han visitado a nuestro albergue en Asakusa mucha gente de España, México, Perú, Bolivia y otros países de la america latina, en donde han viajado los personales del hostel, yo también. Cuando estaba viajando en España y México, me ayudaron mucha gente amable. "Mi casa es tu casa" es una expresión que aprendí de los amigos mexicanos y me gusta mucho. Muy bonita, creo.

Ahora, yo estoy aquí en nuestro hostal para ayudar a ustedes.

Sakura Hostel Asakusa changes blankets seasonally.
Today, we replaced summer blankets with the winter ones which are thicker and warmer for our guests to be able to have a good sleep in the Tokyo's chilly winter.

Our blankets, pillows and fotons are frequently washed and dried in the sun so that nobody would have an unpleasant sleep, which is taken hard to avoid at some backpacker's hotel.

The price is cheap but the quality is not cheap. That's Sakura Hostel.

LaLaport Toyosu is one of the Tokyo's biggest shopping mall, newly built in the Tokyo bay area this October.
I went there yesterday to see how it is. It was still full of people so that it told me it'd been open only for 2 weeks.

Though it has a close resemblance to American shopping malls, it is unique in that it has an "ukiyoe" museum and a work experience studio for kids. Their ocean-front garden is quite huge and comfortable and must be good for a sunny day walk.

The access from our place to this mall deserves special mention. The Tokyo Water Cruise now takes you from Asakusa down to Toyosu and shows you a variety of Tokyo scenes on the Sumida river. The photo on the right is the Toyosu port where cruisers arrive.

Our guests from Mexico had a small concert at our lounge tonight.
They are professional guitar players.
Their songs were sometimes powerful, sometimes so sweet.

They brought back to me the wonderful time I spent in Mexico.

Thank you guys, I enjoyed it from the front desk.

Tonight, at 9:00PM, we'll have a movie night.
My neighbor Totoro, by Hayao Miyazaki, with English subtitles.

I've seen this movie so many times in my life, but still I see it.
I believe many of you guys agree with me.

Come join us at our first floor lounge to see one of the most loved movies of Hayao Miyazaki.

Tonight, at 9:00PM, we'll have a movie night.
My neighbor Totoro, by Hayao Miyazaki, with English subtitles.

I've seen this movie so many times in my life, but still I see it.
I believe many of you guys agree with me.

Come join us at our first floor lounge to see one of the most loved movies of Hayao Miyazaki.

Julio (the guy in the middle), one of our guests from Spain, had his birthday today.
Happy birthday! His friends traveling with him gave him a beautiful wall ornament decorated with a Japanese kimono woman on it.

Hope this is going to be one of his unforgettable birthday memories.

Hi hi, Tomo writes here again.
2 months and half since the opening! It was quick.

We have had more than 5,000 guests.
Thank you every one! Come back to see us one day, or drop by this page to see how we are doing.
We are always here, Mi casa es tu casa, ciao.

All the front staff got together yesterday for the first time.
We have eight people in the starting lineup so far.

From top left to bottom right.
Hiro, Koji, Tsuyoshi, Naoto
Shiro, Hiromi (can't see the face!), Yuri, Tomo (me!)

Come meet us at Asakusa!

Finally, we decided on the exterior color. On the picture above, the second left is the one we chose. It took such a long time that I almost thought we'd never come to any conclusion and have to start with the unpainted building.

The only thing worrying me a bit now is if we can finish the painting work during the coming rainy season. We'll see.

Everything else is going well. Walking through the whole building, from the basement to the roof, I thanked its great location and big windows. All the rooms have a lot of sunshine and fresh air coming in. I was excited to imagine our first guests coming in to the furnished rooms and enjoying our hostel smelling "new."

Only two more months to the grand opening. Time flies.
Well, I'm not the only one working for the hostel, by the way. I have colleagues. Hiromi, one of my helpful colleagues, will write here pretty soon.

The construction is going on well without any big problem.
They are currently working for the 4th floor and the building is half completed. (It's going to be a 6-storied building.).

It's located right behind an amusement park (called the Hanayashiki Amusement Park), where you enjoy a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, haunted house and so on. Behind the Hanayashiki, you'll see the Sensoji Temple, the Asakusa's main temple welcoming thousands of visitors everyday.

Thanks to the amusement park and temple, we have a great view towards the south without being blocked by tall buildings. It's actually a perfect location to enjoy the anual fire work festival over the Sumida River.

When I went to the place for the first time, there was a very old apartment, which gave me a dark image and depressing mood. Closing its history of over 40 years, the apartment was pulled down last summer and will be replaced by a light pink building with more than 100 beds for backpackers. I can't wait to see our guests heading the hostel with backpacks on their back and the map in their hand.

Do you know what "sakura" means, by the way?
It's a flower. You say cherry blossom in English. Sakura is the national flower of Japan and is deeply related to the spirit and soul of Japanese people. The color of Sakura Hostel Asakusa is going to be the color of the flower. I would say it's light pink but there are an infinite number of light pinks with slight changes of brightness and nuance. We haven't made an decision on the color yet, knowing the time limit is coming pretty soon.

Decision of the exterior color is one thing.
What about the curtains? Doors? The size of the beds, the design of the key card, the schedule of the advertisement...? The building is almost there, thanks to our hardworking partners on the construction. But it's still just a box. We need to fill it with so many things. The time left for us is 2 months and half!

My name is Tomo.
I remember my name is a bit longer, but everybody calls me Tomo.

I’m supposed to be the one who is going to be called the manager of Sakura Hostel Asakusa.
Being selected as the manager sounds like having experienced many hard times and probably won the election and staff.

That’s not what happened here.

It was very simple.

I was the only one who met the Sakura Group when they were starting their new hostel project.

There was a job hunter who wanted to open a hostel like the ones she stayed at while backpacking abroad but at the same time believed it pretty difficult to do it by herself, nearly giving up the idea. There was a company looking for somebody willing to work for their new hostel which did not exist at all yet. They met by a mere chance two years ago. They were me and the Sakura Group.

The project took off.

We got a place, architects, constructors, floor plans, staff members... It took two years to make it this far. I'll try to show you how we are making our new hostel here on this page. It'd be great if you'd feel like you're opening it with us and feel like visiting us at Asakusa one day.

April, 2006
Message for backpackers who are looking for something new.

How come you’re hesitating to come take a look of Tokyo?
Because it’s expensive?

Ok, I can’t really do anything to make your flight cheaper.
Well, I could suggest some tips to save your money on food here.

Wondering where to stay?
No where to sleep for backpackers?

Alright, then, why don’t we open a brand new super reasonable backpackers’ hotel or hostel...
or whatever it’s called?

Who will do that?

Well, we will do.
We, the SAKURA, will do.

Thanks a lot for dropping by our page.
We're glad you found us here.

You are witnessing the historic opening of the Tokyo’s biggest backpackers’ place.
This is a great meeting, isn't it?