This Week in Tokyo – 23 July 2019

The latest edition of This Week in Tokyo – a review of the Maction Planet week that was and a look ahead to what’s coming up in and beyond the city. Check out photos from our tours and read insights into our explorations as we get under the skin of the World’s Greatest Metropolis, and beyond. This week’s edition, continuing a fully-booked July for Maction Planet, is hosted by Mac, our Founder and Lead Guide. This week: Kabuki Nyantaro; Adachi Fireworks Fun; Mucha x Peko; Ominous Zojoji and Ume-chan’s 60th birthday! 

Featured image – Kabuki Nyantaro: No genre, however serious, highbrow or austere, escapes mascot fever in Japan. This guy is a perfect example. Kabuki Nyantaro is an original character designed by Sanrio (of Hello Kitty fame) in conjunction with the Kabuiki-za Theatre. He made his debut in 2017. He is a rare calico cat, with three colours in his fur. His jingling collar resembles a kimono cord and he has a heart on his back. Nyantaro hangs around the Kabuki theatre watching the actors practice and perform.  As with every mascot, a veritable cornucopia of merchanise is available for fans to gorge on. Guests love snapping a shot with him when we head for a great day of Kabuki.

Adachi Fireworks Fun: Saturday 20 July 2019 marked the 41st annual Adachi Fireworks Festival. My guests and I enjoyed the hour long display of 13,600 fireworks being fired off from the Arakawa River. We were joined by photographer extraordinaire Yayu Wang, who gave our guests some invaluable photography tips. For the last 15 minutes of the display everyone decided to have some fun and Yayu took this incredible light painting fireworks shot which we are able to share here.

Mucha x Peko:  Peko-chan loves dressing up. We have featured her looking fabulous in previous editions of This Week in Tokyo here and here. Here she is cosplaying as one of Alfonso Mucha’s works currently on display at the “Minna no Mucha” exhibition on at Bunkamura until 29 September 2019.

Ominous Zojoji: After dropping my guests off at the Tokyo Prince Hotel I snapped this photo of historic temple Zojoji with the Tokyo Tower looming behind, radiant in International Orange and White.

Ume-chan’s 60th birthday: There was no better place to be in Tokyo on the evening of Friday 19 July than at Yoshiaki Umegaki’s 60th birthday show 60th Birthday Celebration Show  I was honoured to be a guest of DIG Japan at this extravaganza. An incredible night of entertainment from one of the funniest people in entertainment.

Maction Planet runs bespoke Private Tours and Experiences in Tokyo, and beyond. To book yours, contact us at info@mactionplanet.com

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