Tokyo Day 3

Our itinerary in Tokyo was full thanks to Sean & Melissa’s planning. This was their first family visit to Japan so they wanted to make the most of it. May 14th was Mother’s Day so Melissa wanted to see the Kanda Matsuri Festival. This is an important cultural Shinto event that she wanted to experience.

According to Wikipedia:

“Kanda Festival, is one of the three great Shinto festivals of Tokyo, along with the Fukagawa Matsuri and Sannō Matsuri. The festival started in the early 17th century as a celebration of Tokugawa Ieyasu‘s decisive victory at the battle of Sekigahara and was continued as a display of the prosperity of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. Additionally, the current form of the festival is also held in honor of the kami of Kanda Myōjin (Kanda Shrine).
The festival is held on the Saturday and Sunday closest to May 15, but since it alternates with the Sannō Matsuri, it is only held in odd-numbered years. On these years, the festival takes place at Kanda Shrine as well as in surrounding central Tokyo districts. Its prominent parades involve over 200 mikoshi, in addition to musicians, dancers, and floats.”

Kanda Masuri Festival

Sumo Tournament

With all the visits I’ve made to Japan, I’ve never experienced a Sumo Tournament, other than on TV. It is another wonderful cultural event that expresses the Japanese culture. Sean bought tickets from the US well in advanced and we had seats above the front of the ring – Dohyo.

Tokyo Skytree

I’ve visited the Tokyo Skytree on previous trips but missed much of the shopping & restaurants, just going up in the tower for panoramic views of Tokyo. This trip, we were there at night and enjoyed the city lights at night. Then walked through the mall & had Japanese fast food – ramen.