Date: July 26, 2009 (Sunday)
Featured Guest: Writer Sumiko Enbutsu
Luncheon and Talk Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Fee: Luncheon (set menu) and talk ¥4,000; talk only (from 2:00 p.m.) ¥2,000
Please Note: Reservations for the event (with or without luncheon) are required by July 24th (but please reserve as early as you can); alternative menu options are not available
Place: Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, Kantokutei Hiroma
Access: 8-minute walk from Korakuen Station on the Marunouchi and Nanboku Lines (exit M22, N11); 5-minute walk from Iidabashi Station on the Oedo Line (exit C3); 8-minute walk from the JR Iidabashi Station (east exit); 8-minute walk from Iidabashi Station on the Tozai Line (exits T06, Y13, N10).
Reservations: by email to SWET Events; by fax to 03-3430-1740

SWET will hold its summer social event for 2009 at the “Kantokutei” pavilion just outside the entrance to the Koishikawa Korakuen stroll garden in Tokyo’s Iidabashi area. Join us for a light kaiseki meal, drinks, and a veteran wordsmith’s insights into writing about nature, tradition, and walking Japan’s historic landscapes.

Participants are encouraged to tour the garden before the event begins. The garden opens at 9:00 and closes at 4:30 p.m. Entrance to the garden is 300 yen.

Sumiko Enbutsu is a former columnist for the Japan Times and author of many walking guides in English about Tokyo and its environs, including Tokyo: Exploring the City of the Shogun (2007); A Flower Lover’s Guide to Tokyo: 40 Walks for All Seasons (2007); Old Tokyo: Walks in the City of the Shogun (1993); Chichibu: Japan’s Hidden Treasure (1990); and Discover Shitamachi: A Walking Guide to the Other Tokyo (1984). Starting with the famous daimyo garden around us, Enbutsu will explain the cultural and literary associations to be enjoyed while walking, and tell us tales of the challenges she faced in writing and publishing about her passions: traditional landscapes and buildings, as well as chiyogami paper. She also has been involved in preservation of historic Tokyo for many years, such as the movement to save Shinobazu Pond (Ueno) from a proposed construction project; and, as an active member of the Tatemono Oendan (Bunkyo Link for Architectural Preservation), is a volunteer staff guide at the Yasuda House, a Japan National Trust property in Sendagi.

Copies of A Flower Lover’s Guide to Tokyo and some other books by Enbutsu will be on sale at the event.