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Tori-no-Ichi market Kazari kumade

Autumn in Japan!

November is autumn in Japan and brings many festivities and events to look forward to. It’s a perfect time for students to take up a course in Tokyo. Most fall festivals are relevant to the harvest season as well as the autumn foliage. Aside from autumn festivals, there are so many other things to do during the autumn season in Japan!

One of the best ways to experience fall in Japan is to visit Japanese gardens.  Most of the gardens are located within cities and Tokyo is no exception. It’s a great way to relax after trekking the bustling city. Some of the gardens are open in the evening and are illuminated for the season. Some of the must visit gardens in Tokyo are:

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

Shinjuku Gyoen – a spacious metro park that features wide lawns, ponds and trees. The Shinjuku Gyoen is a unique blend of three unique garden styles namely English Landscape, French Formal and Japanese Traditional.

Ueno Park – a public park which features a statue of Saigo Takamori and his dog. Takamori is known as one of the most influential Japanese samurai in history.

The Imperial Palace Gardens – was once part of the inner palace area of the Edo Castle. None of the castle’s main buildings stands today, but the entrance gates, guardhouses, moats and walls.

Kazari Kumade

Kazari Kumade.

The Tori-no-Ichi open air market is a much anticipated event that can be traced back all the way to the Edo period.  It is considered to be the first fair to usher in the New Year.

Tori-no-Ichi (Good Luck Rake Fair) is held at various shrines around Japan every November. The most popular site is the Temple of Tori (Juzaisan Chokoku-ji) in Asakusa, Tokyo.

Kumade are rakes and a kazari kumade is an ornament featuring many symbolic items made into one lucky charm. Kazari kumade are good luck charms for businesses  ‘rake in’ the success.

One celebration not to miss is Bunka no hi (文化の日), “Culture Day.” This national holiday occurs every November 3, the anniversary of the announcement of the Japanese constitution after the war in November 3, 1946.

November in Japan is surely an exciting month that liven up your Japanese experience!

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Read all about Japanese immersion learning and studying abroad. Check out our eZasshi archives for more articles!