Work together with TV station

Last night’s rain had stopped and it was a little cloudy, today.
I headed for Mt. Takao with a nervous feeling.
TENGU got to work together with some TV station to make a　drama for English education for students, and today was a　shooting day.

My role was an English guide who introduced Mt. Takao to an American　student and his friends. The shooting was done at an open space in front　of Kiyotaki station and a place with benches on the Trail no-1. Casts, other than me, were all professionals and native speakers. However they were practicing their lines over and over again before the shooting. Seeing them made me more nervous. There were a camera for shooting, a big microphone and a reflecting plate. They were just the same as what I saw on TV!

Only remembering my lines and speaking them correctly was enough for me. On top of that, I had to follow a lot of directions such as “stop here” “look at trees” or “pronounce this English in this way”  Doing those things at the same time was truly hard. But everything was so interesting and exciting.

After the shooting we were treated to lunch at a soba noodle restaurant.  It was a kind of the event of my life and I thank TENGU for bringing me such an opportunity. I hope more people get to know our activity through this event.

By Nancy Nov.19

Momiji Festival has started! Mt. Takao Tour for JICA on November 7th, 2015

It was a little too early for Momijigari (Maple Viewing) but we were able to observe some autumn leaves during our tour and there was no doubt that it was a perfect autumn day for our tour.

Staffs of Momiji Matsuri

There were 7 guests from JICA (3 from Egypt, 2 from Iran, 1 from Vietnam, and 1 from China) and 11 TENGU members joining the tour.

November is the month of "Momiji Matsuri" (Maple Festival) .  Every weekend of November, you can enjoy various live performances such as "Taisho Koto" (Japanese harp) and Japanese traditional drums at the stage by Kiyotaki Station.   In addition to it, there are two booths set up near Takaosan Station.  One booth is for "Tokyo Kokeshi" (Japanese traditional wooden dolls) that you can observe amazing skills of Kokeshi master and the other is for  "Sake Brewer" that you can buy a cup of Japanese Sake brewed in Hachioji area.

While waiting for the cable car at Kiyotaki Station, staffs of Momiji Festival handed out a bag that have giant flying squirrel illustrations printed along with a soda candy manufactured by Sakumaseika Co., Ltd.  One of the staffs told us that Sakumaseika has a candy factory in Hachiouji City.   Sakumaseika is famous for a canned candies called "Sakumashiki Drops" (Sakuma style candies) which has been loved by Japanese people since its release in 1913.

As expected, there were many people visiting Mt. Takao to enjoy its rich nature and a long queue for a chair lift and cable car.  Overall our our tour progressed slower than usual due to the crowd.  However, we were able to guide some points that our guests enjoyed and go down the mountain without any serious incidents.

Our regular November tour will be held on November 15, 2015.  If you are interested in joining us, please e-mail us with your name, number of persons joining the tour, e-mail address and cell phone number.

If you would like to join our tour for other date, please e-mail us with the date you would like to visit Mt. Takao along with the information above.  We will check our members' availability and get back to you.

Momiji Festival Information 

Momiji Festival schedule for performances and booths. (Japanese only)
(By Cat)