e-Tokyo Today
Title
News & Announcements

News &
Announcements 


Special Article

Special Article

"Charm of Tokyo"

Tokyo's Concept Cafe

Tokyo's Concept Cafe

"Knit Cafe"

Event Information
Updated Radiation-related Information in Tokyo

News & Announcements

Tokyo Grand Shopping Week 2015 to Be Held in January
Tokyo Grand Shopping Week 2015 to Be Held in January
This major shopping event will take place from January 22 through February 24, 2015, in the Harajuku and Omotesando area, one of the most popular fashion districts in Japan and a trend-setting place. More than 200 shops in the area will participating in the campaign and prepare special gifts for overseas travelers. If you buy or eat 1,000 yen (about 8.4 dollars) or more at one of the shops, you will be given a scratch-off card. Winners can get a shopping coupon that is provided by the campaign-participating shops.

KIRARITO GINZA Opened on October 30
kirarito
kirarito
A new commercial facility "KIRARITO GINZA," which means "A Shining Place in Ginza," opened on October 30 in Ginza 1-chome, a center of Tokyo.
The facility´s concept of "brilliant life stage" includes the best products, service and space for weddings. The building was created under the theme of a brilliant-cut diamond and will present a different look as the reflection of light changes. The open terrace in the fourth floor is about 100m2 wide and creates a new open-space in Ginza. There are 52 stores in all where tourists can fully enjoy shopping, including fashion and beauty stores, restaurants, gift shops, and so on. How about taking a look at this popular spot among Japanese couples?
Website KIRARITO GINZA: http://www.kirarito-ginza.jp/pdf/language.pdf

Bus Operation at Late Night and Early Morning from and to Haneda Airport Available!
Bus Operation at Late Night and Early Morning from and to Haneda Airport Available!
Bus operation during late night and early morning from (to) International Terminal of Haneda Airport to (from) the central areas of Tokyo started on October 26, 2014 and will continue until March 31, 2015. There are five routes and each route operates one round-trip per day.

1) Haneda Airport <-> Ginza/Tokyo (Station)/Akihabara
2) Haneda Airport <-> Shinjuku/Ikebukuro
3) Haneda Airport <-> Shibuya
4) Haneda Airport <-> Ōtorii/Kamata/Shinagawa
5) Haneda Airport <-> Yokohama (YCAT)

The late night bus starts at Haneda Airport between 1 and 2 a.m. and the early bus arrives there between 4 and 5 a.m. It will make your travel more convenient if you visit Japan via Haneda Airport during this period.
Website Detailed information: http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001057349.pdf#page=3

Special Article
Charm of Tokyo as a City and Tourist Destination
Mike Kubeck, an American who has been living Tokyo for long years, will introduce the charm of Tokyo from a foreigner´s perspective.

mike

Profile: Mike Kubeck

Executive Producer of ´SuperDeluxe,´ a multi-purpose event space located in Nishi-Azabu. ´SuperDeluxe´ is a venue where in addition to music you can also enjoy a creative ambiance much like a gallery. An atmosphere recognized by Time Magazine who chose ´SuperDeluxe´ as the number one place in Asia for ´spending time and enjoying the avant-garde.´
Mike has lived, studied and worked in Tokyo for over two decades.

Website SuperDeluxe: https://www.super-deluxe.com/?acc=_top

––Could you share the reason why you came to Tokyo?
I first came to Tokyo as an exchange student to study at Waseda University. I started off my Tokyo adventure with local restaurants, used book stores, live-houses, and mountain biking in the Okutama area. Before starting ´SuperDeluxe´ in 2002 I worked as a technical translator and writer.

––What do you think about your specialized field, the music scene in Tokyo?
mitsubachi
Live scene in Tokyo
Tokyo has a wide range of different clubs, live-houses and concert halls where you can enjoy music from all over the world. Every day you can see performances by Japanese artists from all over the country as well as international artists from all over the world. Music fans are spoilt for choice.
One unique aspect of the live music scene in Tokyo is that it is often possible to meet the musicians after the show is finished. This is especially so when visiting one of the many smaller venues found throughout Tokyo. This close proximity between artists and audience is something unique to the local music scene. One of my favorite local venues is a jazz club called ´Pit-inn´ in the Shinjuku area.
Website Pit-inn: http://www.pit-inn.com/index_e.html
Live performance information in Tokyo: http://www.tochoh.com/

––What places do you recommend in Tokyo?
odaiba
Odaiba
Although I´ve lived in Tokyo for over twenty years, I only recently discovered the pleasures of Odaiba and its spacious parks and great views. It is an excellent place to relax and unwind.
I also like shrines and temples located throughout the city, which provide relaxing areas in which one can enjoy a quiet stroll.

––What do you think about food in Tokyo?
sushi
Sushi
ramen
Ramen
I think Japanese food holds immense soft-power on a global scale. Sushi in particular is a Japanese delicacy that foreign tourists come to enjoy. Most people know of Tsukiji, Tokyo´s famous fish-market, but there are many places in Tokyo where good sushi can be found. Some of my favorites are the reasonably priced but high-quality sushi restaurants located in between the Tsukiji and Ginza areas.

Tokyo is great because you can eat cheap and delicious food like ´katsu-curry´ (pork cutlet and curry with rice) and ´cha-han´ (mixed fried rice) at restaurants aimed at students located near universities and student towns. There is a particular old Japanese curry shop called 'Murugi' in Shibuya, which only has short business hours serving lunch from 11:30~15:00 but has some of the best curry I have ever tasted. I also think yaki-niku (grilled slices of meat) is something overseas tourists would enjoy, as it is like having your own personal BBQ, where you can cook the meat to your preference on a grill in the middle of the table.

There are also many kinds of wonderful noodles, soba, udon, and ramen. Scenes of people slurping down a hot bowl of ramen can often be seen in Japanese animation and movies. It´s a typical Japanese noodle dish, and seems to be booming overseas as well. Slurping noodles, is not common overseas, but it´s another fun part of Japanese culture that overseas tourists can enjoy while eating (slurping!) their meal. I also like how you can find restaurants which westernize or create new and original combinations of Japanese noodle flavors, like tomato udon and curry udon etc. Not to mention the opposite, where western pasta dishes are given a Japanese flavor. There are countless different noodle dishes that can be found throughout Tokyo for tourists to enjoy.

I also love Toraya 'yokan,' a traditional type of Japanese sweet which comes in the form of a bar of sweetened and jellied bean paste made by the Toraya Corporation.

Japanese cuisine alone works as an excellent tourist attractor with countless tourists coming to Tokyo every year to indulge on an array of different dishes and sweets that cannot be found elsewhere.

––Where would you take your friends or family from overseas?
shima
Izu Oshima
Nippori Fabric Town is a place I recommend to anyone interested in fashion and design due to its wide range of shops selling a variety of top-quality Japanese fabric by the meter at reasonable prices.
Actually, my parents would be visiting Japan soon and I am planning to take them to an island located in the Tokyo area called Izu Oshima to enjoy a spa resort.
Tokyo is not only a city with a bustling nightlife, restaurants and shops, it also includes many rural areas where older generations can relax and enjoy themselves. I hope tourists will enjoy and explore both of these two sides of Tokyo.

Website Nippori Fabric Town: http://goope.jp/goope/12044/140412165627fbce.pdf
Izu Oshima: http://www.gotokyo.org/en/izuoshima/

––Do you have any tips for overseas travelers to comfortably and conveniently travel around Tokyo?
I want to introduce a simple Japanese word that will help tourists coming to Tokyo enjoy their stay even more. どうも(do-mo) is a simple and particularly useful word that is easy to learn. Do-mo is short and easy to remember, and has various meanings that can be used in most everyday situations such as greeting people and expressing gratitude.
I also want to talk about how useful PASMO is. PASMO, a rechargeable contactless smart card, is mainly used as a replacement for train and bus tickets, but can also be used as e-money when you are in restaurants, convenience stores or even when taking a taxi. PASMO could definitely help ease the language barrier for tourists.
Website PASMO: http://www.pasmo.co.jp/en/
Suica: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html

––Lastly, would you give us your overall view on Tokyo?
nightview
Night view of Tokyo
Tokyo is a mega-city in which one can enjoy an endless range of different music, cuisines and fashion originating from both inside Japan and all over the world, but it´s also a great place to relax and enjoy Japanese culture. Tokyo is very metropolitan city that men and women of all ages can enjoy. These are perhaps just some of the reasons why I have lived and worked in Tokyo for such a long time and still enjoy every day.

Tokyo's Concept Cafe
Knit Cafe-Mori no Kobuta
Knit Cafe-Mori no Kobuta
Knit Cafe
"Knit Cafe, " a cafe where you can knit something while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea, has been popular in recent years. Once handwork just meant moving the knitting needle alone at home, but now it has changed into a style that you can enjoy a conversation and delicious drinks with those who have the same interest with you at a cafe.
Here is a Knit Cafe in Tokyo which has a cute name, "Mori no Kobuta" (piggy in the forest). Mori no Kobuta is a new type of concept cafe where you can spend relaxing moments while making something by knitting. It is just like an ordinary cafe from morning to lunchtime. After the lunchtime, it can be used as a knit cafe. Besides knitting, you can also embroider or bead on something, or any other handwork if you like. It is the best
choice to enjoy a knit-time after having the healthy lunch here.
Website www.morinokobuta.com (Japanese only)
Address Sawa Bldg. 1F, 2-2-2, Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Map Map
Open 7:00-18:30
Regular holiday Sat, Sun, and holidays (except for the day when events are held)

Event Information
Events at Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa from Winter to Spring
Hagoita Ichi
Hagoita Ichi

Mamemaki
Mamemaki
Asakusa Hagoita Ichi (Battledore Fair), which is an annual fair, will be held at Senso-ji Temple on December 17-19, 2014. Along both sides of the approach to the temple, there are many stalls that sell battledores and other New Year ornaments. Pictures of Kabuki and the year´s celebrities are decorated on the battledores. You can feel a complete Edo (old Tokyo) atmosphere in the fair.

In New Year Asakusa is also thronged with people as Senso-ji Temple is a popular place of Hatsumode (first New Year's visit to shrines and temples).

The word Setsubun in Japanese originally meant a traditional celebration taking place on the last day of a season. But in nowadays it especially means the day before the beginning of spring. To celebrate the coming of spring, Setsubun Festival will be held on February 3, 2015 and Mamemaki (bean throwing ceremony) will take place on that day.

Website Hagoita Ichi (Japanese only)
Setsubun Festival (Japanese only)
Map Map
Date Hagoita Ichi : December 17-19, 2014
Setsubun Festival: February 3, 2015

Ume Matsuri (Plum Festivals)
Ume Matsuri
Yushima Tenjin Ume Matsuri
Yushima Tenjin Shrine has been famous for beautiful ume (plum) blossoms since the Edo period (1603-1867). Ume Matsuri is an annual event there and held from February 8 to March 8. You can enjoy an amazing sight of blooming plum blossoms as the shrine has approximately 300 ume trees (mainly Shirokaga white plums).


Ume Matsuri
Takao Baigo Ume Matsuri
Takao Baigo is also a great place to see ume blossoms and Ume Festival is held in mid-March every year. Seven ume groves with about 10,000 ume trees are located in the area of 4.5 km (about 2.8 miles) long along the Koshu Road. You can enjoy beautiful red, pink and white flowers with a nice smell.

Website Plum Festival (GO TOKYO)
Map Yushima Tenjin
Takao Baigo
Date Yushima Tenjin Ume Festival : February 8 to March 8, 2015
Takao Baigo Ume Festival: mid-March, 2015

List of events and festivals
Go to our website & find more exciting events and festivals.


No Negative Impact on Our Health: Updated Radiation-related

Radiation dose after touring Tokyo for one day (July 9, 2012) Report on field measurements
by Japan Tourism Agency

Measurements results of Environmental radiation levels in Tokyo
by Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health

Information on the Great East Japan Earthquake
by Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare


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