[Recap] Picnic in Tokyo

Last week, we had a picnic at Asukayama Park.

It was so international meet up event, because ’ @JulienH , ’ @Pedi and @KimberlyAnnG came from abroad.

@HiroyukiTakisawa , @Christine_T and @YasumiKikuchi also came from more than 300 km away.

@03mami02 , @Izumi , @VJL , @rentajima , Megu-san, Takuma-san (Sorry, I can’t mention you) also attended.

Thank you so much!

Why Asukayama Park

Asukayama Park is one of the place recognized as the first public park in Japan.

This town is also known as the birthplace of the western paper industry.

And Hiroshige Utagawa, a famous painter about 300 years ago, painted some pictures of people who enjoyed picnic in this place like us.

But now, it seems like an ordinary park.

This is not listed on Lonely Planet ; it’s a little-known but good place.

So I thought if we had a picnic here, we can do it like local people.

That’s why I chose here (We are Local Guides!)

One dish

This time, I told attendees some requests and one of them was to bring one dish.

The snack from Singapore, Sandwiches, Ohagi…We enjoyed these dishes we had each brought to share.

Each plate was a delicious!

.

I was afraid that we could not talk so much because there were many people of the first meeting. But it was unnecessary, we had a great talk each other thanks to delicious food.

After the picnic

Some people went to another meet up event.

I hope the attendees not only enjoyed this picnic, but also had the opportunity that led to do something or know other Local Guides.

[日本語]

先週、飛鳥山公園でピクニックをしてきたので、Recapします。

Julienさん、Pediさん、 Kimberlyさんが参加してくれて、気がつけば国際的な交流会になりました。

国内ではヒロさん、クリスさん、やすみさんが300km以上離れた場所からいらしてくださり、最終的にはおそらく3,4カ国から15人ぐらいが参加してくれました。

なぜ飛鳥山か

飛鳥山は日本で最初に公園として認定された場所の一つです。

飛鳥山のある町は、洋紙産業発祥の地としても知られており、歌川広重も浮世絵をいくつか残しています。

でも今はいたって普通の公園です。ガイドマップにも載っていない、知る人ぞ知る場所となっています。

まさにローカルガイドにぴったりの場所ではないでしょうか(という気がしました)。

一人一皿

今回、一人一皿の提供をお願いしたところ、皆さんたくさんの食べ物を持ってきてくれました。本当にありがとうございます。

シンガポールのお菓子、コッペパン、おはぎなどなど…持ち寄った食べ物を楽しむことができました。

どの食べ物も(ワインも)美味しかったです!

初対面の方ばかりだったのでどうなるか心配でしたが、そこはローカルガイドの皆さん、不要な心配でした。美味しい食事もあいまって、なかなか盛り上がったように感じます。

ピクニックの後は

何人かは他の交流会に参加していました。

参加者の方々には、今回のピクニックを楽しんでもらうだけでなく、他のローカルガイドを知ったりなど、何かのきっかけになってもらえたら嬉しいです。

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@Anzu さんお疲れさまでした!

超国際的なミートアップは大成功のうち完了しました。杏さんの人脈と下準備の賜物だと思います。

飛鳥山公園について教えて頂きありがとうございます。20年前東京に住んでいたころは都電から眺めるだけでしたが、重要な場所の一つだったんですね😮。

知らないことを教えてもらえることがローカルガイドの人間関係の最たるものだと思います。

参加者の皆さんの協力関係を目の当たりにしたことも多くの学びになりました。良いですねミートアップって😊!

今後とも東京近郊の交流会でご活躍ください!お誘いいただきありがとうございます🙏

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Hello, @Anzu ,
Thank you for sharing this and managed this amazing meet-up!
Of course, we enjoyed very much and I was happy to be able to meet new local guides via this meet-up.
I wish to be held such impressive meet-up regularly:-)

段取り含めいろいろとありがとうございます。素晴らしい交流会でした。次の機会も楽しみにしています!

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HEY, how does everybody reply so fast?? The post is only 33 minutes old and i’m already the third reply!?!?

=D

@Anzu Thank you for arranging the meetup. When I reached out and mentioned I am coming to Tokyo, I did not know if you would be available and I hope I am not causing too much disruption in this busy cherry blossom season. I know everyone in Japan is busy having so many parties and hanami with their friends.

It was a great joy to see all of my friends @Anzu @HiroyukiTakisawa @Christine_T (and baby), @YasumiKikuchi , @KimberlyAnnG , I did not know if I will be able to see everyone at Connect 19. I definitely did not expect such a big crowd! It’s amazing that our schedules synced up and so many people are able to attend!

I love Asakuyama Park as it is a smaller park which not many people know about! It is a better experience as I as a foreigner would never come across it. The sakura there were really beautiful, the atmosphere of hanami was excellent and it is great fun for everyone. I am also happy that my family get to experience what a Local Guides meetup is like, and see why I spend so much time doing this and why we travel to US for Connect.

I love the food. I thought to surprise everyone with some Singapore snacks, and it is a good idea that Yasumi also brought local Japanese snacks! What fun to trade. I am also glad that you all loved them.

This is like a mini Connect event because there were so many meetups on the same day! And after this, I also spoke to Hiro and Christine again back at the hotel and the next morning when they were leaving to go home. Aw it is like our own event.

Lastly I must say that I did not realize Anzu was going to go to the park at 8am in the morning to reserve a good spot for our picnic which was going to start only at 12noon! OMG thank you Anzu. I now realize that Japanese people take hanami very seriously! Thank you for your effort!

I miss Tokyo!

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Hi @JulienH

I enjoyed while being surprised at the taste of the sweets in your country! I ate a lot😋. I was glad you and your sister were delighted with traditional Japanese cheap sweets! If you want to get it again, I will cooperate😉

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@Anzu this Meet-up was a surprise to me too! I was very excited when @YasumiKikuchi sent me a link a couple of weeks before I traveled. I was even happier that I would be able to reunite with my Connect Live 2018 (2017 as well for @JulienH ) Meeting new friends at your meet-up has expanded my collection of Local Guides friends around the world. Something I treasure above all else in this world!

The food was so delicious! I loved seeing what everyone brought to share. I tasted as much as I could and brought home to San Jose a bag full of treats (Japanese and Singaporean) to share with friends and family. Much more fun that any other souvenirs!

Anytime I travel to Japan in the future (I’m already making plans in my head!) I will hope to have another meet up with the local Local Guides. It was great chatting with as many people as I could but I wish for even more time!!! Even if I had the entire day, it would never be enough. I love to talk to Local Guides!

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Hi @Anzu ,

Many,many thanks for sharing your recap. I wish I could join your meetup some day.

Toyo

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Hey @Anzu ,

Thank you so much for hosting this amazing meet-up!

As it looks like you had a great time together. Your recap is also very interesting. To have a picnic under the cherry blossoms is one of the best think for me, so I am a bit jealous.

I have never been in the Asukayama park and didn’t know about the history of the park, but looks gorgeous with all the cherry blossoms in bloom.

What to say about the food, look so delicious! Thank you again.

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@Anzu

Thank you for organizing such an amazing meet-up!
It was so much fun meeting and talking with everyone and I loved the different food that everyone brought.

I didn’t know anything about this park before this but it was such a nice little place and nowhere near as crowded as imagined hanami in Tokyo. Next time I want to try to ride on the ropeway. :smiley:

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@YasumiKikuchi さん

こちらこそ先日はありがとうございました!

新しいことを知ること、そしてお花見を楽しんでもらえたようで何よりです。

ちなみに、飛鳥山公園は、新紙幣デザインに選ばれた渋沢栄一も住んだ場所であり、この町はお札を作る工場があったりもします。

私も今回のお花見で、ローカルガイドの皆さんがとても友好的で、良い方たちばかりだということを知れてよかったです。反省点も多くありますが、次回の交流会に活かしたいと思います。

またお会いできることを楽しみにしていますね。

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@HiroyukiTakisawa さん

Thank you for coming the other day. And I’m really glad to hear that you enjoyed very much!

Regularly!? I can’t think about next still lol But I learned from my mistakes in this picnic, so I’d like to use it someday.

I hope that you and your family will participate in next time, too!

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Hi, @JulienH !
I don’t know why Hiro and Yasumi were so quick. But they are always quick especially in Japanese topics :slight_smile:

Anyway,I was really happy to meet you and your family the other day!
When I received your message, I was so glad and I wanted you to enjoy Japan definitely.
So I planed you to enjoy Japanese local Hanami(Picnic).
Asukayama Park was just right place for that.

The sakura was in full bloom, we came across Kimberly and Yasumi, and your snacks were really nice.
It was too good to be true, but enough to enjoy!(except cold)
I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed this picnic, Hanami, and Sakura. Your words made me happy. Thank you.

Aaand you talked at hotel after that? Jealous!
I should have stayed there. Let me in next time!

As you know, it is always crowd with people in Tokyo. We have to reserve when we are serious.
But Tokyo always welcome your visit!
This is not once-in-a-lifetime meeting (This is Japanese idiom). 珍惜这份缘分。See you again!

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Hi, @KimberlyAnnG !

Thank you for coming the other day! I wanted you to experience local, ordinary Hanami in Japan. But I was just a little bit afraid that it would be boring. So I’m really happy to hear that!

Glad to here that! Yes, actually food was delicious. I didn’t imagine how food could discribe what our character were.

I was also happy to meet you, Julien, and Pedi again and notice the meeting at Connect live 18 was not once-in-a-lifetime meeting. I wish our relationship continues for a long time. See you in San Jose! (If I can!)

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Hi, @user_not_found san

You’re welcome. I would like to see you one day, too! Please let me know when you host meetup event in Ikoma or Tokyo!

Hi, @Ivi_Ge !
You’re welcome. Except for the cold, it was a great picnic!

I like Asukayama Park. “Ordinaly but great” is one of the feature of this town. It was good chance to let everyone know about there.

This was the fist time I hosted meetup event. It was fun!
I learned many things this time, so I’d like to apply them to next meetup. I wish you could participate next time!

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Hi, @Christine_T san!
Thank you for coming the other day! I was really happy to meet you again!

Yes, The simplicity and sober in Asukayama Park is really nice although it has great history. I like Asukayama Park very much and happy to spend a time with everyone there. Of course, food was so delicious. Your sandwiches, too :slight_smile:
Please try to ride on the rope way next time! You can see one side of this town for one minute.
I hope to see you again!

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