Ueno Park is a nice public park in Taito area of Tokyo. Best way to get there is stop at the Ueno Station and follow the signs in the station that point the way to Ueno Park, don't worry it is in English!!
It was established in 1873 and houses a lot of museums and a zoo! It is the most popular city park in all of Japan and it was one of the first established. It is a large area park with 133 acres. You will find tons of trees, baseball field, buildings, the zoo and ponds. There are also a few small shrine and temples there as well.
It is a great place to retreat to in Tokyo to get away from the busy city. It is free and there is plenty to walk around!
This is the monument of Shogitai which was an elite group of the Shogunate. This is in honor of them for the Boshin War where the Battle of Ueno took place.
This is where you will find the large fountain and the museums located. The Tokyo National Museum is located in the back of this picture which is the oldest and largest Museum in Japan founded in 1872.
I stopped at the new Starbucks located near the fountain and I got this large chocolate frappuccino that has vanilla pudding in the bottom. It was so good and filling.
Here is the entrance to the Ueno Zoo where it was quite busy that day with children and teachers ready to go in. It is 35 acres and established in 1882. I didn't go but don't let that stop you. It is closed on Mondays.
This is Kiyomizu Kannondo...
Like the Temple Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto this one has a wood stage built up but not as glorious as the one in Kyoto.
These students were really nice and came up to me and talked with me. they wanted to practice English and also get it down as it was an assignment!
This is a statue of Prince Komatsu Akihito, and if the bloodline of the Imperial family at the time was to die out he would gain the throne.
There was a mini amusement park near the entrance of Ueno Zoo, was very colorful and there were a few kids on the rides.
This is the entrance to the Ueno Tōshō-gū which is a shinto shrine.
This is located inside Ueno park bu there were not many people by this area like the other more crowded areas...
I was curious about what all the lanterns were about and I found a sign explaining it below ^_^
This is for the people that lost their lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the Atomic bombs that were dropped. This preserves the never ending burning flame of the bombs that had fallen there. They preserved the flame from when the cities burned in honor of peace for our future.
Most of the shrine was under construction and I guess that includes the well
It was unfortunate that it was hidden behind this, but I find it funny that they still put up a huge banner with the picture of the shrine.
Plenty have left their wishes still though...
I laughed when I saw this cat haha, he has the look of a street cat, "Don't even try to mess with me!"
This homeless man was actually training this street cat to follow this toy and run up and down the tree it was cute!
Not being in North America I found it odd to see a Totem Pole!
This is what remains of the Ueno Daibutsu. It use to be a large bronze statue that sat there and was repaired many times from fires and earthquake. The head finally toppled off in 1923 when The Great Kanto Earthquake had struck.
This reminded me of Fushimi-Inari Shrine in Kyoto but mini one! This is the Gojōten Jinja or Hanazono Inari Jinja...
If you cut across this road from the museum area and where all the stuff above is you will find the ponds!
Lots of lily pads! This is Shinobazu Pond.
'Located between the three ponds you will find Bentendo.
The other pond that isn't part of the Ueno Zoo or Shinobazu pond is this pond where you can take a date and go on a paddle boat.
Watching these couples paddling around was cute and Tokyo Skytree is standing in the background!
info from Wikipedia
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