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Tokyo’s Minato City Issues Winter Edition of Tour Brochure "The Best of Minato City" for ...

Minato City — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 16:00:00 +0900

TOKYO, Feb. 02, 2024 /Kyodo JBN/ --
Minato City
Tokyo’s Minato City Issues Winter Edition of Tour Brochure "The Best of Minato City" for Overnight Visitors

Minato City in Tokyo has issued the winter and latest edition of its tour brochure, "The Best of Minato City," for overnight visitors. The brochure is designed to encourage visitors to Minato City from Japan and abroad to enjoy reading about the charms of the city and feel like taking a stroll in the city in their spare time during their hotel stays. Free copies of the brochure are available at the reception desks of accommodation facilities and the like. Some accommodation facilities in Minato City have desktop POP displays with a two-dimensional code for visitors to read the brochure online.

Image: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105748/202401255727/_prw_PI1fl_ScRx4fK4.png

To read the brochure online, please visit: https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/cp/documents/totteoki2023winter.pdf

The brochure introduces in five languages -- Japanese, English, Korean, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese -- Minato City, where unique and distinctive areas are dotted, and visitors gain new perspectives of the city every time they visit as the year is divided into spring, summer, fall, and winter to show the city’s charms in each season.

The winter edition features Azabu, Shirokanedai, and Takanawa. It introduces the three areas as the streets being elegant and stylish but with the fragrances of rich nature and history. It picks up the temple, an amalgamation of tradition and modernity, partly designed by architect Kengo Kuma, as well as Japan’s first kaleidoscope specialty store that handles more than 600 kinds of kaleidoscope, a Japanese soba noodle restaurant where people can enjoy eating "juwari soba" (soba made from 100% buckwheat flour) and a side dish buffet.

The MUSEUM COLLECTION section introduces the Yoku Moku Museum in Minami-Aoyama. The museum exhibits mainly a collection of Pablo Picasso's ceramics works, another face of the Spanish artist.

The section "Let’s walk in the shopping streets!" deals with the 800-meter-long Shimbashi Akarenga-dori Street lined with shops and other businesses. It introduces the street not only as a red-brick-style sidewalk that creates a nostalgic atmosphere but also as a spot where visitors can enjoy traditional cuisines at restaurants such as "oden" (fishcake and vegetable stew), "unaju" (grilled eel over rice), and grilled chicken thighs, among other foods.

Apart from information on tourist spots, the brochure introduces the community bus called "Chii Bus" which can be used by travelers as a transportation means. The bus is a highly convenient means of transportation for touring Minato City, for example, as it can take only about nine minutes to travel between Zojo-ji Temple and Toranomon Hills, which are popular tourist spots.

The brochure also introduces many other attractive must-see sights in Minato City. Furthermore, the past issues of "The Best of Minato City" are available on the following website.

https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/citypromotion/totteoki_backnumber.html

Minato City, Tokyo, Releases Guide to Deeper Experiences for Foreign Visitors

Minato City — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:00:00 +0900

TOKYO, Mar. 3, 2023 /Kyodo JBN/ --
Minato City
Minato City has released a guidebook aimed to help foreign visitors better enjoy the experiences available in the central Tokyo district and deepen their understanding of Japan’s unique customs, manners and culture. "Minato City Guide and Etiquette," published by Minato City, has been designed to respond to a shift in the needs of inbound tourists in Japan from those that are consumption-based to those that are experience-based. The 64-page guide takes visitors through the geography of Minato City and how to get around the area, local cultural experiences, encounters with cuisine, shopping, and other information useful to visitors from overseas. This guide is available in English, Chinese (simplified), Korean, and Japanese.

Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105748/202302203087/_prw_PI1fl_22Kc0qpK.jpg

Interviews with the people who live and work in Minato provide visitors with unique and practical insights into the city’s cultural and culinary experiences, including tea ceremony, public baths, getting a taste for "sushi" and traditional Japanese sweets, dining on "yakatabune" houseboats, and other experiences, many of which can satisfyingly be encountered in Minato City. By deepening understanding of Japan’s unique manners, customs, and culture, including smoking rules, safe bicycle use, and how to visit shrines and temples, the guide also aims to eliminate any confusion and anxiety felt by visitors and further enhance their experience of the city.

A PDF version of each section of "Minato City Guide and Etiquette" can be accessed via the respective URLs below:
- Cover, Table of Contents, Outline of Minato City, and Part 1: Travel far and wide through Minato City
https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/citypromotion/welcome/documents/guide_p1-18_2022.pdf

- Part 2: Japanese experiences in Minato City
https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/citypromotion/welcome/documents/guide_p19-28_2022.pdf

- Part 3: Trying Tokyo's contemporary cuisine
https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/citypromotion/welcome/documents/guide_p29-48_2022.pdf

- Part 4: Enjoying Japanese shopping
https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/citypromotion/welcome/documents/guide_p49-56_2022.pdf

- Useful travel information
https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/citypromotion/welcome/documents/guide_p57-64_2022.pdf

Trying Tokyo’s contemporary cuisine:
Minato City’s guide helps visitors to explore the city’s vast diversity of dining experiences, explaining how to place orders, understand the culture, and smoothly get to grips with the table manners at different styles of restaurant. In the city’s Shimbashi district, visitors can sample the Japanese businessperson spirit and enjoy inexpensive "izakaya" (Japanese-style pub) dining in Tokyo’s leading business district where the "real work starts after 5 p.m.," or so some local workers like to joke.

The guide also introduces a variety of soba noodles from "seiro soba" noodles served on a bamboo steamer to "kake-soba" noodles in broth soup through insights. Minato City is the ideal place to try buckwheat soba noodles, much loved by Tokyoites since the Edo period (1603-1862). Restaurant owners and chefs across the city have been serving the noodles for generations and well understand the phrase, "true Tokyoites eat soba."

Akasaka is home to Minato’s famous "hana machi," a "geisha" (professional female entertainer) district where fancy "ryotei" Japanese-style restaurants offer visitors a chance to experience the essence of Japanese cuisine. Here, restaurant "Akasaka Asada" welcomes diners with traditional "kaiseki" multiple-course cuisine and beautifully furnished rooms. "We invite you to experience ryotei dining in a ‘tatami’ room. There are also geisha performances with singing and dancing for those looking to enjoy a Japanese cultural experience," Shota Asada, the restaurant’s representative director commented in the guide.

Information for having a safer and more pleasant trip:
"Minato City Guide and Etiquette" helps travelers stay informed during their time in Japan with information that includes an event calendar covering local culture activities, the locations of tourist information centers and the availability of guide services in the city, and details about other sightseeing tools. The guide also includes information about staying prepared during an emergency through the city’s multi-language disaster information e-mail service, among other emergency resources.

Copies of "Minato City Guide and Etiquette" are available at the following locations:
- Minato City Tourist Information Center Hamamatsucho Station
Address: Tokyo Monorail Hamamatsucho Station, 2-4-12, Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku

- Minato City Tourist Information Center Fudanotsuji Square
Address: 1F Fudanotsuji Square, 5-36-4, Shiba, Minato-ku

Three Choice Spots for Cherry Blossom Viewing Unique to Minato City, Tokyo, and Event Information

Minato City — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 15:00:00 +0900

TOKYO, Mar. 11, 2022 /Kyodo JBN/ --
Minato City
Minato City, Tokyo, is known for its numerous tourist attractions such as Tokyo Tower and Roppongi. It has many noted cherry blossom sites unique to the metropolitan area where visitors can fully enjoy viewing cherry blossoms while shopping and dining out. For tourists visiting Tokyo after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, Minato City recommends some spots and cherry blossom season events from late March to early April.

- Tokyo Midtown

Tokyo Midtown is a cluster of complexes featuring offices, hotels, cultural facilities, and restaurants. Within the area visitors will find Sakura Street, which is lined with approximately 200-meters of cherry blossom trees. The harmonious scenery created with flowers that bloom in the same period and the surrounding greenery is a colorful spring treat. There are also over 40 cherry trees in the adjacent municipal Hinokicho Park. During the cherry blossom season, it’s popular to take a stroll through both.

Sakura Street:
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105748/202203018020/_prw_PI1fl_JE3ak8ZG.jpg

Event information
MIDTOWN BLOSSOM 2022
Date: Friday, March 18 - Sunday, April 17

Location
Tokyo Midtown: 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato City
Minato City Hinokicho Park: 9-7-9 Akasaka, Minato City

- Roppongi Hills

In Roppongi Hills where there are complexes with a concentration of offices, restaurants, art, and other offerings, there are two cherry blossom-viewing spots, Roppongi Sakurazaka and Mori Garden. Roppongi Sakurazaka has over 70 “Yoshino” cherry trees along a 400-meter stretch of road that amaze visitors with their beauty.

Roppongi Sakurazaka
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105748/202203018020/_prw_PI2fl_DyKEF5m3.jpg

Mori Garden is an expansive Japanese garden that was once the site of a feudal lord’s residence until the end of the Edo period. Visitors can leisurely admire cherry blossoms along with a pond, the murmur of a stream, and the vegetation in all four seasons.

Cherry blossoms in Mori Garden at night
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105748/202203018020/_prw_PI3fl_BoL4zU9d.jpg

Every year, both sites are lit up at nighttime during the cherry blossom-viewing season so visitors can also enjoy the cherry blossoms at night.

Event information
The illumination this year has yet to be scheduled.

Location
Roppongi Sakurazaka: 6-chome, Roppongi, Minato City
Mori Garden: 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato City (in Roppongi Hills)

- Tokyo Tower and Zojo-ji Temple

At Zojo-ji Temple, where the Tokugawa Shogun families lie, there are over 200 Yoshino cherry trees and weeping cherry trees. This is the only spot visitors can enjoy the synergy of cherry blossoms, traditional architecture, and a view of Tokyo Tower in the background. In addition, since the neighboring Minato City Shiba Park with about 60 cherry trees is also a cherry blossom-viewing spot, tourists will want to visit it along with Zojo-ji Temple.

Tokyo Tower and Zojo-ji Temple
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105748/202203018020/_prw_PI4fl_V42FifZ5.jpg

Location
Tokyo Tower: 4-2-8 Shibakoen, Minato City
Zojo-ji Temple: 4-7-35 Shibakoen, Minato City
Shiba Park: 1, 2, 3, 4-chome, Shibakoen, Minato City

Welcome to “MINATO NIGHT WEEK 2019” Showcasing Minato City’s Nighttime Attractions

Minato City — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 14:00:00 +0900

TOKYO, Oct. 11, 2019 /Kyodo JBN/ --
Minato City
Welcome to “MINATO NIGHT WEEK 2019” Showcasing Minato City’s Nighttime Attractions
Tokyo’s Minato City has organized “MINATO NIGHT WEEK 2019” full of exciting nighttime events from Saturday, October 26, to Sunday (national holiday), November 3, to enable visitors to spend memorable moments and attract more tourists to the city.

The organizers expect news organizations to visit Minato City during the period to cover various events as part of MINATO NIGHT WEEK 2019. Media outlets hoping to cover relevant events are required to notify the organizers one week before the events regardless of whether they can make reservations or not. The organizers can respond to reporters only in Japanese and English during the events.

(Images: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/201909301515?p=images)

Pre-event

A pre-event will be held prior to MINATO NIGHT WEEK 2019 (No advance applications required).
Schedule: 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Place: O-YANE PLAZA at Roppongi Hills (6-10-1, Roppongi, Minato City)
Details: Addresses by Minato Mayor Masaaki Takei and guests talk show with guests.
Celebrity: model Hikari Mori
Born in Tokyo in 1992, Hikari Mori has appeared in numerous fashion magazines and advertisements. In 2015, she was appointed as the “Because I am a Girl” Angel by humanitarian organization Plan International Japan.

Night Bus Tours
Participants will travel along sightseeing routes to enjoy the sparkling night views of Minato City with commentary provided by a tour guide from HATO BUS CO., LTD.
(Advance applications required)
Schedule: Sunday, October 27; Monday, October 28; Wednesday, October 30; Friday, November 1; and Saturday, November 2

*Courses differ depending on the day and time. For details, visit the website listed below.

Night Yoga Class
Participants can enjoy yoga while seeing the night view of Minato City.
(Advance applications required)
Schedule: Saturday, October 26; Tuesday, October 29; and Thursday, October 31.
Place: Anchorage Observatory (3-33-19, Kaigan, Minato City) and the 38th floor of the World Trade Center Building (2-4-1, Hamamatsucho, Minato City)

Night Boat Luck Tour
Participants can enjoy the waterside at night with commentary along the route provided by a volunteer tour guide from Minato City. (Advance applications required)
Schedule: Wednesday, October 30; and Sunday, November 3
Places: Shibaura Canal and other locations.

Public viewing:
A public viewing of the Rugby World Cup 2019. (No advance applications required)
Schedule: Saturday, November 2
Place: Shiba Park (4-8-4, Shibakoen, Minato City)
Details of the event:
https://minato-night-week.com/en/