Results tagged “Tokyo” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Lawrence Ferber timed his visit to Rio de Janeiro well, arriving just in time for the announcement that the city won its Olympic bid for 2016. He sends along a dispatch from the weekend's festivities.
 
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Obrigado, Olympics Committee! A geyser-like spray of silver confetti greeted the announcement that Rio won the bid to host the 2016 Olympics, and the glittering cloud engulfed the jubilant crowd of Cariocas who had gathered in front of the Copacabana Beach stage, flanked by giant TV screens, to take in the news and par-tay.

With the famed Copacabana Palace Hotel looming to the left, and the ocean to the right, the celebration was one big samba, with music and local celebrities keeping everyone entertained. But come 1:30 p.m. the televised proceedings from Copenhagen held us rapt. Rio had lost its 2012 Olympics bid (and at least two others before it), but now following a two-year campaign it had beat out second front-runner Madrid (which was booed when the name came up during the announcement), Tokyo, and Chicago. Not quite gingerly but politely enough, many Brazilians, and even some North American visitors, remarked that Chicago would have been a boring choice - "it's South America's time!" nodded one visiting American journalist.

All through December we'll be showcasing the best of the holiday season in cities around the world. Today it's Christmastime in Tokyo and we've asked local experts for the essential ways to enjoy the winter's best. Visitors and locals alike come together to celebrate the holidays and the New Year, and we encourage you to share your own favorites with us in the comments below. You can find all of the cities we've already visited and stay up-to-date on the rest by bookmarking the series here. Traditionally, celebrating the New Year is much more important than Christmas in Japan (less than one percent of Japanese are Christians). Holidays come early in Tokyo, with many of the lighting ceremonies happening mid-November and lasting through January. 


Mayako Sumiyoshi, Chief Concierge

Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo

• January 1st to 3rd are called shogatsu (Japanese New Year's holidays) in Japan. January 1st is called gantan and is a Japanese national holiday. Shogatsu is the most important holiday in Japan. To celebrate, Japanese people eat osechi.  Like a bento box, osechi offers foods that are colorful and presented in a lovely fashion. Each dish has a particular meaning. For example, prawns for long life, kuromame (sweet black soybeans) for health, kazunoko (herring roe) for fertility, tazukuri (teriyaki-flavored small sardines) for a good harvest, kurikinton (sweet chestnuts and mashed sweet potato) for happiness. Many local hotels and gourmet grocery stores take orders for osechi (available in traditional and Western versions).

• Japan lights up during the holidays. A must-see display is Sapporo White Illumination with more than 370,000 white lights decorating Odori Park and Ekimae Avenue. The Shibuya area from Dogenzaka to Miyamasuzaka and Koendori Street is decorated with more than 600,000 lights.

• Take to the sky at the top of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills. Opened for its first holiday season, the Sky Deck is 886 feet above sea level and provides an open-air, 360-degree view of the city.  

• Since the traditional Christmas celebrations are not observed, the holiday season has become a commercial event and locals like to shop. Among the popular places to shop in Tokyo are the Galleria at Tokyo Midtown, where you'll find upscale shops and boutiques, Omotesando Hills for high-end fashions, and Roppongi Hills for an eclectic mix of shops, cafés, and restaurants.

• Pick up specialty cakes during the holidays at the Café & Deli at The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo. Other sweet shops that sell traditional pastries during this time, include Toshi Yoroizuka and Kyohayashiya.

• Get thee to a Temple. The Japanese all go to temple during the New Year holiday. New Year's Eve is relatively quiet, with the exception of the tolls of the temple bell. It rings 108 times to banish each of the 108 sins. At temple, people pray for safety, health, and good fortune.