Tokyo Drifter: Ueno Park (上野恩賜公園)

Electrician's underground access panel, Ueno Park

Regular readers of my blog know that Ueno Park (上野恩賜公園) is a place I visit often. Yet another blog post about this favourite spot of mine might, therefore, seem rather mundane. Ueno Park has so much to offer, however, that it's well deserving of continual appreciation. The vast park grounds are not only pleasing to the senses, but to the mind and body as well. Dotted with monuments, museums, fountains, places of worship, performing arts, a zoo, cafés and restaurants, the park is a complete destination in and of itself.

On today's walk, I spent some time at the beautiful Ueno Tōshōgū Shrine (上野東照宮), built in veneration of Edo Period Shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康). The shrine was built in year 4 of the Kanei Period (寛永4年 / 1627) and long ago was part of the expansive and very wealthy Kaneiji Temple (寛永寺) before much of the temple grounds were destroyed during the Imperial victory of the Boshin War (戊辰戦争) (1868–1869), resulting in the surviving buildings' being separated into smaller, distinct parts.

The shrine is well-known for the long pathway lined with stone lanterns leading up to the gorgeous gold-leafed facade which is flanked by clusters of beautifully ornate bronze lanterns. The shrine's annual winter and spring peony festivals (ぼたん祭) are also quite famous.

After my visit to the shrine, I spent much of the day wandering around, enjoying another famous Ueno Park pastime, people-watching. I became intrigued watching this man, a retired middle school art teacher, who was making sidewalk art by simply trailing water onto the pavement from a brush. Since he was able to speak some English, he seemed eager to meet someone with whom he could practice, so we chatted for a short while. Well I helped him to enhance his English vocabulary, he told me that his art was inspired by a form of Chinese calligraphy which employs the same technique. Due to years of practice, he is able to draw and write (in both English and Japanese) upside down so that his creations appear right-side-up from the perspective of his observers. His drawings were particularly popular with young children visiting the park with their families. He did a great job of appealing to their fascination by drawing lots of panda bears, which are a famous symbol of the park due to the bears' prominence as a cherished exhibit at the zoo.

Here he drew my zodiac symbols on the pavement for me.

Here's a bronze statue commemorating the life of Prince Komatsu Akihito (小松宮彰仁親王 / Komatsu-no-miya Akihito shinnō) (1846-1903), a masterful military tactician in the Imperial Army, a prominent and higly decorated commander during the Boshin War, and former potential heir to the throne. The Prince led a fascinating life which included time as a buddhist priest in Kyoto, a term as Chief of Staff of the Imperial Army, and also an ambassador, of sorts, who traveled all over Asia and Europe as a representative of the Emporer. At one time he was even arranged to be married to Princess Kaʻiulani in order to seal plans of an Imperial alliance with the former kingdom of Hawai'i, but these plans never panned out.

Ueno Park also features a small, aging children's amusement park, which is literally overflowing with a certain magnetic and wonderfully heart-warming nostalgia, which makes it an incredibly popular hang-out for families.

This kid is too cute!

There are some more photos I didn't include here, especially of Ueno Tōshōgū Shrine. Anyone who's interested in having a look is welcome to visit my Picasa album here.