Today we start our visit of Tokyo with the Ueno Park, we are interested especially in the Tokyo National Museum but in order to visit it we must pass through the whole garden. It is quite popular and full of Tokyo-ites enjoying the different attractions that it offers.
We start near the Shinobazu Pond which is covered in lotus leaves and is full of wildlife including ducks and turtles. And the ducks are special ones, they are
In the middle of Shinobazu Pond on an island is Benten-do a temple dedicated to the goddess of good fortune. Even though it is small it seems quite popular with the Japanese. Because who doesn’t need good fortune?
Behind it there are concessions renting boats including the typically Japanese/Asian swan boats. We would like to use them but the concessions are not open today, so maybe another time.
Ueno Park is actually the remnant of the grounds of the Kaneiji temple of the former ruling shogunate family Tokugawa which was destroyed during the Meiji restoration. One of the remaining historical places inside it is the Tosho-gu shrine built in 1616 in honor of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
The golden entrance looks impressive and there are people praying in front of it. Another point of interest is an eternal flame that will burn as long as there are nuclear weapons on earth.
There are some beautiful wooden bird carvings on the shrine and also lots of prayers, both are by now quite expected at every shrine we visit.
From the shrine we move on toward the Tokyo National Museum through the middle of the park. This area is quite popular with lots of different paths to take but we find signs that point us in the right direction.
Getting closer it seems that there are some festivities going on with music and lots of vendors. We get a bit distracted and then lost but in the end we see the actual museum in the distance and head straight to it.
