by Philbert Ono
Ariake Arena in Koto Ward, Tokyo was completed in December 2019 and I attended the dedication ceremony held on Feb. 2, 2020. It will be the venue for Olympic volleyball and Paralympic wheelchair basketball. Arena capacity is about 15,000. They allowed only about 4,000 people to attend the ceremony that started at 10 am and ended at 12 noon. The
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Updated: March 30, 2020 Saitama Prefecture is next to Tokyo and home to four venues of Tokyo 2020: Saitama Super Arena (basketball) and Saitama Stadium (football/soccer) in Saitama city, Asaka Shooting Range (shooting) in Asaka, and Kasumigaseki Country Club (golf) in Kawagoe.* Spurred by this Olympic connection, Saitama Prefecture is now offering free homestays to non-Japanese having a connection to
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Japan’s new Olympic Stadium (aka National Stadium, Kokuritsu Kyogijo 国立競技場) was completed in Nov. 2019 and the public could enter the stadium for the first time at the opening event called “Hello, Our Stadium” on Dec. 21, 2019. And on Jan 1, 2020, the new stadium saw its first sports event, the final game of the Emperor’s Cup JFA 99th
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Tokyo has been holding some “1 Year to Go!” events. If you visit Tokyo this summer 2019, here are some neat events/things you can see for a limited time. Olympic Rings at Nihonbashi Bridge Olympics rings were installed on Nihonbashi Bridge this Aug. Instant hit among passersby taking selfies in front of it. The on-site staff couldn’t tell me how
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Compiled by Philbert Ono, Updated: Oct. 11, 2019 This is the 2019 schedule of Awa Odori dance festivals to be held in the Tokyo/Kanto area (Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba Prefectures) from June to October 2019. Nobody has compiled such a schedule so I did it myself. Most Awa Odori are held in the summer and a few are held
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Kameido Tenjin Shrine (亀戸天神社) is one of Tokyo’s most beloved Shinto shrines. It has pretty flowers, it’s photogenic, it’s historical, and it retains a local ambience. From late April to early May, the shrine grounds will be colored purple during its annual Wisteria Festival (Fuji Matsuri 藤まつり). The shrine is central Tokyo’s most famous spot for wisteria, and people crowd
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“Kyoto by the Sea” (海の京都) is a tourism catch phrase for northern Kyoto Prefecture that mainly faces the Sea of Japan. This region is most famous for Amanohashidate (天橋立), Ine fishing boat houses, Tango Peninsula, Tango chirimen silk fabrics, Kurotani washi paper, Maizuru navy town, and the castle town of Fukuchiyama. For a few days in October 2018, I visited
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