Travel Destination: Exciting Tokyo

For the first time, Tokyo Metropolitan Government recently held a tourism promotion event in Dusit Thani highlighting key tourist places for future travelers of Japan.

To give us a taste of Japan, invited guests were invited to a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, a.k.a “The Way of Tea,” which in itself goes back a thousand years.

To give us a taste of #Japan, the #Tokyo Metropilitan Government held a #tourism promotion event recently at #DusitThani and jump started it with a traditional #JapaneseTeaCeremony a.k.a. #TheWayofTea. A ceremony that more than just show cases the #MatchaTea but the whole process of preparing from the heart. The most interesting portion of the ceremony was the way the #TeaBowl was handed to the guest, with its face facing the guest, the gesture of acceptance and the turning of the bowl such that the guest does not drink from the face of the bowl (as a sign of respect). Such beauty of the #Japanese culture! On the #blog soon! 🙂

A photo posted by jenaspacio (@jenaspacio) on Feb 2, 2016 at 1:54am PST

The tea ceremony involves the traditional ritual of preparation and serving Japanese Green Tea also a.k.a. Matcha with Japanese sweets a it balances out the bitter taste of the green tea. One thing that’s undeniable as I watched the lady painstakingly prepare each tea bowl that the ceremony was more than the tea drinking itself but the whole process of preparing from the heart. Each utensil, from the tea bowl (Chawan), tea scoop (Chashaku), ladle (Hishaku) the interesting wooden whisk (Chasen) have their own special placing on the table complemented by the ceremonial movement of the lady preparing the tea.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is giving their full effort to promote the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic and to further make Tokyo a travel destination to people the world over.

The Tokyo Tourism Promotion even was opened by the Director General of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Hiroshi Tsuchibuchi.

Since most speakers spoke in Nippongo, we each were equipped with interpreter headphones that allows us to instantly understand what the speakers are saying.

Masahiko Sakamoto, Senior Director of Tourism Division, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs of Tokyo Metropolitan Government

One of the things that I got excited over was Snoopy Museum. The hubby and I have Japan in our bucket list for sometime now and given the chance, we sure won’t miss this. I’m sure he’ll find it trivial but he’ll patronize me anyway. 🙂

We also got a taste of Japanese entertainment. Cultural, comedic and fun!

A photo tour whetted our traveler’s appetite.

Aerial view of Tokyo at night © TCVB

© TCVB

If you’re flying to Japan, you can’t miss Tokyo Disneyland. We’ve only been to Hongkong and we so know that Tokyo is notches awesome than the former. Everyone in attendance were pumped and ready to fly to Japan and visit the many beautiful scenic and tourist spots that were featured.

As the Tokyo Tourism Promotion  has coined this event as “Exciting Tokyo,” it aims to show one of the unique values of Tokyo as dynamic and energetic city which is constantly evolving as it promises that visitors will find new excitement and joy beyond our imagination each time we visit Tokyo. Here’s hoping we get to cross Japan out on our bucket list and finally get to see Exciting Tokyo! 🙂