FUJITA KANKO INC. : Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo's Firefly Ritual Planned at Its 17-acre Botanical Garden

Local Children Invited to Experience the Wonder of Nature in the Center of Tokyo

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, an iconic flagship property of leading Japanese hospitality company, Fujita Kanko, will hold its annual firefly ritual on January 30^th and 31^st. Local children will release a thousand firefly larvae into a creek running though the property.

The hotel, re-flagged this month after 20 years as Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so, is known for its lush 17-acre garden in the center of Tokyo, the habitat to various botanical species, birds, insects and even wild raccoon dogs. Every June, the garden becomes home to numerous fireflies - an extremely rare occurrence in the center of Tokyo. Fireflies have had an honored place in Japanese culture for over a thousand years, cherished as a symbol of the beauty of summer.

After the fireflies lay eggs every year, the hotel keeps them in an incubator, and the larvae are returned to the creek where they were born. This is the eleventh year Fujita Kanko is inviting local children to participate in the firefly ritual. The event includes a class for the children on the ecology of fireflies. They will be invited back to see the fireflies in the garden in the early summer.

"Our garden is blessed with a rich natural environment right in the middle of a big city," said Koichi Urashima, the General Manager of Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo. "It is our greatest pleasure to share this with not only our guests from around the world but also our community. Maintaining the garden and its environment is a duty we take very seriously."

For hundreds of years, the garden has been famous for its abundant wild camellias. Chinzanso means "villa on a mountain of camellias." Approximately a thousand camellia trees - a hundred species - bloom in the garden from January until mid-March.

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About Fujita Kanko Inc.

Fujita Kanko Inc., established in 1955, is a publicly-traded tourism industry corporation headquartered in Tokyo. In addition to its core hospitality business, the company's subsidiaries include wedding and banquet facilities, high-end resorts, leisure facilities and related services. The company has over 50 properties/facilities, including 30 mid-priced hotels throughout Japan in two chains: Gracery Hotels and Washington Hotels.

For Fujita Kanko Inc.
Keiko Okano, 212-583-1043 (U.S.)
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