Tokyo Day 4 - Ueno & Asakusa

Today we have two walking tours to do in two different Tokyo neighborhoods.  The first neighborhood is Ueno where the main focus is Ueno Park, the biggest park in Tokyo.  Ueno also happens to be home to one of the Japan Railway (JR) offices where we can pick up our Japan Rail Pass.  It is much better to pick it up before traveling so you aren't stressed about waiting on a line and catching a train.

I wanted to get to Ueno Station earlier, but we started out a bit late this morning and arrived at the JR office around 10:30 where there was a bit of a line.  We did manage to get though the line in about 30 minutes, pick up our 3-week Japan Rail Passes, and received our tickets for our first train ride on Sunday to Hiroshima.  After being in Tokyo for over a week, it will be nice to get out and see another parts of the country.

I had to post this picture of a poster that hangs in most of the train stations.  Tim laughs at it every time we pass one...poor rabbit.

We left the station, walked across the street, and we were inside Ueno Park.  The park is located on top of a broad hill and is 297 acres.  It used to be home to a huge temple and subsidiary temples, but those were all destroyed in 1868 during a standoff between shogun loyalists and the Imperial Army (the Imperial Army won).  It is now home to multiple museums, a few still standing temples, and the Ueno Zoo.

This guy is the samurai Takamori Saigo who actually led the shogun revolt against the Imperial Army.  It is supposedly the most famous monument in Tokyo.

This is the pathway that leads to Toshogu Shrine lines with massive stone lanterns,

To the right of the pathway is a five-story pagoda (located on zoo grounds), covered entirely in lacquer and constructed in 1639.

And this is Toshogu Shrine, erected in 1651.  As with all of the Japanese Temples we have seen, the setting is beautiful and the red, blue, green, and gold ornamentation on the temple door is beautiful.

We left the temple grounds to walk to Shinobazu Pond.  On the way we noticed a guy with a pet monkey.  Of course we had to stop and see.  The monkey went right up to Tim and sat down between his feet.  I have no idea why.  Perhaps because he was the biggest man in the area or perhaps Tim's beard and mustache reminded the monkey of his monkey father?

This is Shinobazu Pond filled with lotus plants that will supposedly bloom in August. I bet that is a beautiful sight.

On an island in the middle of Shinobazu Pond is Benzaiten Temple and is dedicated to the goddess of fortune.  We mostly liked the statue seen blow that is a snake with a man's head,.

It was almost 1 PM and we needed lunch.  The walking tour mentioned that there is a street, Ameya Yokocho, alongside the train station that is lined with stalls and shops.  One of the first places we saw was a place selling Rice Bowls which sounded perfect to us.  Tim ordered the Grilled Chicken Bowl and I had the Grilled Salmon Bowl.

That completed the Ueno Walking Tour and now we had the Asakusa Walking Tour to do.  The tour said to start at Shiodome Station, so I took us there.  Asakusa is what is left of old Tokyo with narrow streets and women in kimonos.  When we emerged from the train station we saw anything but this.  We saw tall, modern buildings.

It was then that I realized that this wasn't the correct station to visit Asakusa direct.  This is the station you use if you want to take a boat up the river to Asakusa, which, by the way isn't running.  Well...back to the train station.  As we were walking to the station entrance, Tim noticed a steampunk looking clock on the side of a building, so we went to get a closer look.  The Ghibli Clock was designed by director Hayao Miyazaki, one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation.  The clock was going to do something at 3 PM, but we didn't want to wait to see it.

We went back down into the station and returned almost to the same place that Ueno walking tour ended...Oy!  We finally made it to the start of the Asakusa tour, the very popular Kaminarimon Gate.  I think this is the most tourist we have seen in one place since we came to Tokyo.

By the way...that lantern weighs 220 pounds.

After passing under the gate, the street narrowed and was lined by shops and venders catering to tourists.  Many sold food, but reminded you that you are not permitted to eat food on this street.  We bought a small pastry and had to go the to next street to eat it.

We turned off the main thoroughfare and wound up at Chingodo Shrine and is Dedicated to Chingodo, the so-called raccoon dog and guardian against fires and burglars.  What is a raccoon dog?  This is what it is:

We headed back to Nakamise Dori, the main street which led to the inside gate to the temple which was just as grand as the outside gate.

Finally, Sensoji Temple, Tokyo's oldest temple founded in the 7th century.

Throughout Asakusa there were numerous people wearing kimonos.  There were actually stores renting kimonos if you were interested.

We hung out on the grounds of the temple for a while watching groups of school children and other tourists wander around.  After two walking tours in one day we were pretty beat.  It was after 5 PM when we finally decided to find somewhere to eat.  We figured we would wait to take a train after rush hour and eat here.  We walked around and looked at menus with nothing really sounding good.  We were passing a small place with cooktops at each table and took a peak in.  One of the waitstaff told us to have a seat.  We had no idea what they made here, but the person assured me that I can have it without meat.

We were seated and given a plate with chopsticks and a little spatula. 

We didn't know what to order, so we pointed to another person's table and said that we wanted that.  They made in front of us an Okonomiyaki, a Japanese Savory Pancake, and Fried Noodles.  Both stuffed full with seafood.

It was a fun meal and tasted pretty good.  People at other tables were eating some kind of savory mochi with melted cheese spread out on the stovetop and using the little spatula to scoop it up.  It looked interesting and maybe something we will try the next time we come across one of these restaurants.

We were back down in the train station around 6:30 PM and the trains were still pretty busy

We did managed to make it back to the apartment around 7:15 PM. This gave me some time to blog until going to sleep around 10 PM...I was pretty tired.

I don't know what we will do tomorrow.  We are supposed to take a train to Kawagoe (Little Edo), but it is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I will decide what to do when tomorrow.  Until then...