五家荘緑紅 Your English speaking tour guide
I’ve been back on track since our borders had been opened after a long period of border closure, FINALLY!!
I couldn’t be more excited that we have international tourists back in Japan again and I feel everything is going forward to where it should be.
Yay! I tested positive for COVID, finally!
I had a fever on 25 Aug and asked my wife to take me to the hospital to take a test. There I was told to stay at home for 11 days in a row since then. Next day, my wife also had a fever and tested positive and was told the same.
So that makes 12 days of our staying home in total. Now we have been almost recovered but we still have 3 more days to go! Wish us luck!
I’m a forestry worker for the time being, until our borders are fully open and individual tourists from overseas can enjoy visiting Japan freely.
This is very good excise for me, though.
I’ll be back on track as soon as the borders are open and am hoping to see you soon!
Our government is now considering opening the borders starting in coming June for group tourists to vegin with. And if all goes well, then they will allow indivudual tourists as well.
In my opinion, they have to make a tough dicision this time because of the national election to be held on 10th July. Politicians seem to avoid to talk about this matter for their major voters, the elderly, who hate to let “infected people” into Japan again.
(Of course, we have had those who tested positive to COVID every single day and its number has still been growing domestically, even though we have shut the borders for over 2 years. So, they seem to be barking at the wrong tree.)
In our country, youngsters don’t tend to go for voting but the elderly do. So politicians have no choice but face to them and propose nice and sweet policies for them. However, as other countries start opening their borders to be back to “normal” and stimulate the economy, Japan also needs to follow them to show the world “We are also one of the G7”.
I’ve kept my fingers crossed. Hope to see you soon.
Hope you had happy, healthy and safe new year days.
I had very peaceful new year days (from year end) with my family. And before I start the new year period, I had a chance to work as a tour guide for an Australian family who have lived in Japan. We visited Takachiho Gorge and Mt Aso.
I’ve been prepared to do my work as a tour guide and hoping to receive enquiries from you at anytime! However, I might not be available from early Feb to mid March. So, if you are interested in doing guided tours with me, shoot me an email first.
Hope everything will get back to what it used to be before the pandemic, as soon as possible.
As the title says, we have had ZERO people who tested positive for the coronavirus for over 30 days in a row here in Kumamoto !! That’s great news!
Even in Tokyo where the population gets to nearly 14 million, they have only around 10 – 20 people tested positive a day recently.
This is all thanks to our efforts to keep ourselves as clean as possible by wearing a mask and washing hands as soon as we get home or when move from door to door AND our involvement in vaccination, more than 75% of Japanese have got vaccinated as of the early December.
But actually, people have already been enjoying going out for drinking with friends as it’s a party season right now, which is called “Bonenkai” (忘年会 = “forget-the-year party) . We are bored of staying at home and not seeing friends. We miss each other. And they take off the mask while drinking and eating together face to face, but still we have none tested positive for a month.
I also went out for a party with my friends last weekend and that was awesome. We hadn’t seen each other since the beginning of the pandemic, almost for 2 years. We all enjoyed our reunion and talked a lot about our recent situations and something about what we are going to do in the future, after the coronavirus situation.
It’s been a while since I posted a journal on my blog here. I’ve been doing well as always! How have you been?
Just to let everyone know that I’ve been vaccinated since mid September. That means, I am ready to do my job as a tour guide! In Japan, we have much fewer people who tested for COVID-19 than that we had before August this year.
Up until now, more than 70% of us Japanese have been vaccinated and people are now free to go out for shopping, gathering, sightseeing and so on as long as they are careful not to get infected to the virus. We are trying to get back to the normal life that we used to do before the pandemic, though we have to put a mask on and keep our hands clean and get vaccinated.
Now is the time for you to enjoy sightseeing before we have another restriction such as “State of emergency”. So, should you are looking for a reliable tour guide, please feel free to contact me via email / WhatsApp / LINE
Email: schingo.tk@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +81 90 1976 1812
LINE: Hashizaki Schingo / 090 1976 1812
We have a rainy season usually from June to July here in Kyushu. It can last for 1 month – 1.5 months depending on the year’s meteorological conditions, which we can never know.
We had comparatively longer rainy season but with less amount of rain this year, which started in the middle of May and ended in the middle of July. Yes, it went on for 2 months this time round.
But actually it turned out the rainy season hasn’t finished yet. We are having very unusual rainy days in the middle of August, which have brought floods and landslides in many villages/towns/cities across Japan. I am deeply saddened to hear the losses of the people who died in these disasters caused by this unusual rains. We need to be prepared anytime.
My family and my neighbours are all safe here in Gokanosho. Though some of the roads are blocked due to landslides, we can even go out for shopping to the nearest town Hitoyoshi and Yatsushiro, which takes us 1 hour to get by car. Unfortunately, the the only road directly leads us to Kumamoto has been blocked due to a landslide or something.
Anyway, I am safe here and have been surviving somehow. Makes sure to call/email me if you are planning on a trip to Japan in the future. Until then, stay safe and healthy!
Golden Week (GW), one of a few of Japan’s holiday periods where we have a national holiday on 29 Apr followed by 3 holidays in a row in the beginning of May. And when Saturday and Sunday are located between (or the beginning/end of) these holidays, we Japanese people can enjoy a longer holiday, that could go on for a week or up to 10 days. And many office workers are ‘allowed’ to use their paid holidays to make it a long holiday, then touristic spots get packed.
29 Apr – Showa Day （Former Emperor’s (1901-1989) birthday)
03 May – Constitution Day
04 May – Greenery Day
05 May – Children’s Day
Though Governors of big cities insisted that people should not go out during GW to prevent the spread of COVID-19, people are fed up with staying at home!
Fortunately, I ran a couple of tours to Takachiho Gorge and Mt Aso during Golden Week this time. The first one was on 3rd May, in the middle of GW. What I saw there at Takachiho Gorge and Mt Aso was lots of tourists! Not only Japanese but also some foreigners who should be living in Japan were seen here and there. I had expected that people would not go out being scared of the further spread of the virus, but they didn’t seem to be worried about that. Yes, we are Japanese who are well disciplined not to bother anyone around. WE believe we can get through this by wearing a mask and frequent hand washing, until the vast majority of us get vaccinated.
03 May – Takahiho & Mt Aso tour
The second tour was run on 6 May, which was for a family.
Shoot me an email or text massage. And I’ll take you on a great tour.
Email: schingo.tk@gmail.com
WhatsApp: Hashizaki Schingo
LINE: Hashizaki Schingo
I am alive! And I’ve been safe and healthy here.
In March, I was lucky enough to have run a couple of tours for 2 foreigner-groups who live in Japan. A 2-day Gokanosho tour and a Takachiho & Mt Aso tour.
Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to do any tour in April though, I’m supposed to do a couple of Takachiho & Mt Aso tours in May.
I haven’t got vaccinated yet, but I’ve been very careful not to get infected with COVID by wearing a mask and washing my hands frequently. Luckily enough, we haven’t had anyone tested positive to COVID here in Gokanosho (approx. 250 people).
If you would like to join a guided tour, Text/Call me. I am available here. I would be pleased to be of help to you.