JPN: Ueno Park

5-20 Uenokoen, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Daily: 5.00am - 11.00pm

Ueno Park, which is officially named Ueno Onshi Park, is a spacious park located right next to Ueno railway station in central Tokyo. It was established in 1873, making it one of Japan's five oldest public parks. Besides being a highly popular spot to view sakura (lit. cherry blossom) trees, it also houses a few temples, museums and a zoo.

The grounds of the park used to be part of Kaneiji Temple, one of the largest and wealthiest temples around during the Edo Period.



A golden duck statue marks the birthplace of Haifu Yanagidaru, a celebrated collection of satirical and humorous poems published in 1765.


Does anyone know about the following statue of a man with a dog shown below? I might've missed the information panel, if any.


The tomb site of Shogitai soldiers, who perished during the Battle of Ueno in 1868, has been registered as an important cultural asset of Taito city since 1990.


Kiyomizu Kannon-do was originally built in 1631 as part of Kaneiji Temple. It's home to an image of Kosodate Kannon, the goddess of conception.



There are monuments dedicated to Wani, a scholar sent to Japan from the Kingdom of Baekje that was located in present-day southwestern Korean peninsula.


There are hundreds of sakura trees lining the central pathway of the park. Alas, my BFF and I couldn't witness them in their full glory.


It's said that the park has drawn over ten million visitors a year in recent years, not including 2020, of course.


Does the sakura viewing mascot of Ueno Park look adorable to you?


What's a totem pole doing there?
A closer look at the flowers? Here you go!



How much do you like flowers? In general, I like them a lot.
We saw quite a number of pop-up stalls selling food and drinks.


Crêpes for you?

I joined the long queue at that particular stall.

Sorry, you don't get any points if you guess that I was queueing for some dango (Japanese skewered rice dumplings), Instead, I got myself a cup of hot amazake (Japanese sweet, non-alcoholic fermented rice wine).


After finishing the amazake, I found myself admiring the statue of Prince Komatsu Akihito, the first president of the Japanese Red Cross Society.



Did you know that Ueno Zoo is the oldest zoo in Japan, which was founded in 1882? The operating hours of the zoo are from 9.30am to 5.00pm, and it's mostly closed on Mondays.



The Starbucks Coffee branch at Ueno Park looks pretty awesome.



For a substantial meal, you may want to consider Park Side Café.


In total, the park covers an area of 54 hectares.


I wonder if that's a sakura tree species.


Established in 1872, Tokyo National Museum isn't only the largest art museum in Japan,
but also one of the largest art museums in the world.
As the sky was getting darker, we checked out the various food stalls lining the path to Ueno Tosho-gu, a Shinto shrine.


Honestly, I can't remember when was the last time I had candy floss.


I was rather surprised that the place wasn't crowded at around 6.15pm.
We decided to share an okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake) before leaving.


Here's a photo of Ueno Tosho-gu from a distance as the gate was already closed that evening. Unlike many of the buildings in the vicinity, the shrine has remained intact throughout the many wars, fires and earthquakes, including the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake.


By that time, I'd already clocked more than 30,000 steps.

Enjoying the sight of rows of lanterns illuminating the sakura trees after nightfall~


I know it's not so obvious, but can you see that oddly-shaped pine tree?

Even though it was rather short, we did enjoy ourselves exploring the park in an hour and a half.



We didn't manage to, but do check out Shinobazu Pond at the southwestern end of the park that features Benten-do, a temple hall on an island in the middle of the pond.

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