One Day Guiding in Tokyo

I guided two businessmen from London and Brussels around several places in Tokyo on the 23rd. We bought 1,000 yen one-day subway tickets and visited Asakusa, Ginza, the Imperial Palace, Omotesando, Harajuku and Shibuya from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It was very tight to walk around all these places in one day but I hope the itinerary satisfied their requests. Luckily the cherry blossoms were in full bloom ...as they started to bloom much earlier than usual this year. For the busy businessmen, who are traveling in several cities in Asia to attend meetings in a short period, their interests were not historical places. They wanted to see some buildings designed by famous architects such as Omotesando-Hills by Tadao Ando, girls and boys dressed animatedly in Harajuku and the huge crossing in front of Shibuya Station, and they were really impressed with block lines for blind people and safety guards in subway platforms.See More

— at Asakusa,Ginza,the Imperial Palace, Omotesando,Harajuku and Shibuya.

A Professional Canadian Chef

A professional Canadian chef visited my house with his expensive sharp knife which he bought at Kappa-Bashi shopping district, where they sell many kinds of food related items, to experience Sushi-making. He also wore a chef's uniform and b...rought his own chopsticks, which he bought in Asakusa, and his own cooking tools such as a spatula and a grater. Oh, my...! I'm not a professional chef. How can I teach him to cook? "Please, learn how an ordinary Japanese housewife makes home-made sushi." He laughed, "OK, I understand. I'm really interested in Japanese home cooking." I taught him how to make the sushi-rice and he showed me his wonderful knife cutting technique. Anyway, we enjoyed cooking and of course our sushi was so delicious. He was born in a small town near Vancouver and didn't know the word 'chef' until he first went to a big party at the age of 9. He was very surprised when he spoke with a chef who earned a lot of money by cooking at the event and decided to be a chef. He loved to see his mother cooking for his family but he couldn't imagine how people can earn money by cooking. He has been working as a private chef in several European cities for 10 years and always pursued the best way to create a good taste. For him, the number one city is Barcelona, and London is the next. Tokyo is the third and Kyoto is the fourth. Anyway, we shared a wonderful time today.

He sent his comment.  ↓
☆　sushi class as brilliant!!!
she is very knowledgeable and nice
i learned a lot
thank you :-)

Kasugano Beya

I guided three foreign guests to Kasugano-beya sumo stables. Kind Takenawa- Oyakata, a coach, guided us to a space facing the dohyo-rink and prepared cushions for us to sit on. Just in front of us, strong sekitori-wrestlers were fighting ea...ch other. My favorite wrestler, Tochinoshin, lost every bout. "What happened to him? Is he in poor health this morning?" After I happened to find his interview article on a website the other day, I became his fan. The Georgian boy struggled through many difficulties such as language difference, home sickness and loneliness, and became a high-ranking wrestler two years after he entered Kasugano-beya. All of the members helped him. I'm looking forward to seeing all Kasugano wrestlers, especially Tochinochin's, progress in the March tournament. After the morning training, I took one of my guests' pictures with Takenawa- Oyakata, who was a former wrestler, Tochinonada, because he is a fan of him.

An Australian Gentleman

I guided an Australian gentleman to Oguruma-beya. He had been skiing in Hokkaido with his family for two weeks and the 6th was his last day in Japan. He was really interested in many Japanese things and he participated in the Sumo program alone while his family members were sleeping in the hotel.

An Australian Couple

I guided an Australian couple to the Oguruma-beya sumo stable. It was the last day for the members to train in 2012 and the TV camera filmed them. A Komusubi ranking wrester, Syohozan, also joined the training from a different stable. All t...he wrestlers were training very hard as usual but the last part, matches between three Makuuchi wrestlers, the high ranking wrestlers, was so exciting. I was also moved by the stable master, the former Oozeki Kotokaze. He was in a hospital due to his neck injury. He was said to have miraculously recovered and today, he entered the training room by himself in the middle of the training and advised his wrestlers while rehabilitating himself using some tools. After the practice, three Sekitori wrestlers allowed me to take their pictures with my guests. Thank you very much for all Oguruma-beya members and thank you for Kotokaze! He showed us his unconquerable spirit and gave me encouragement.See More

—

An Australian Mother

An Australian mother with four children visited my house to learn how to make three types of sushi. She is so good at cooking that she succeeded in making a perfect shaped roll sushi in the traditional way, using a bamboo mat, on her second try. She told me that she would surprise her friends by making delicious sushi at her party.

A Couple from Tahiti

A nice couple from Tahiti enjoyed making sushi in my home. They arrived at Narita yesterday and seemed to be surprised at how busy Tokyo is. A French speaking guide showed them how to cut raw tuna, salmon and scallops with a sharp knife and they observed her carefully.

Let's smile and take pictures before eating the fruits of great effort! Although I couldn't speak directly with them in French, I could communicate with them well thanks to the excellent French speaking guide, M-San. They enjoyed their first tasting of a Japanese persimmon as a dessert. I hope they will have a lot of good memories of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, where they will visit in two weeks.

The Malaysian TV Crew

The Malaysian TV crew visited my house and I explained the beauty of kimonos and how to fold them. They also asked me why I love kimonos. Japanese kimonos represent Japanese beauty and high skills of Japanese craftsmen. They improved their ...weaving and dying techniques to depict the natural beauty of Japan's four seasons on them. After I started to learn how to put on kimonos at a kimono school, I realized we should succeed our traditional folk clothes. Japanese girls still love and wear kimonos for several special occasions such as Coming-of-Age Day and Wedding Ceremonies. I believe Japanese people continue to love kimonos.See More

Oguruma-Beya

 I guided three French tourists to Oguruma-Beya sumo stable. The sumo wrestlers were training very hard under their coach.At the end of the training all of the wrestlers did sumo-style leg stomps, walked around the ring in a half-sitting posture, and did stretching exercises together.

Hakkaku-Beya

We guided a Spanish couple to the sumo-stable.
We were very lucky in several points. Our guests were courteous and they never broke the rules for watching the morning training. The observers were only us. The wrestlers of Hakkaku-beya were also training hard until 10:45. Even a shower which suddenly started to fall slackened off at the time it ended. I realized that iced towels are necessary durin...g summer. Of course, there is no air conditioning in the Sumo training room. Even for me, it was a little bit unbearable but our guests didn't complain at all. Wrestlers were fighting in such hard conditions. Their bodies were soaked in sweat and they completed all of the training menus including stretching at 10:45. After that, they allowed us to take pictures with some wrestlers. Our guests were talking about how excited they were on the way to the station, the last destination.See More

— at Hakkaku-beya Sumo Stable.

A French Couple from Switzerland

Sushi Making with an American Couple

My Guests from Dubai

My Teacher's Family

My Guest from London