After going around Ginza yesterday, we were still excited to see a bit more today. We had thought that we might want to go back to the Ginza area, and try to see some things that we had missed yesterday, but at the last minute, we decided against that. Instead we wanted to see a different area today, so we went to Ueno Park in the northern section of Tokyo.
The first thing that we noticed after we got out of the train station was that there was a lot of homeless people around. I suppose that the park bench is as good a place to camp out as anywhere else.
The first thing that we saw when we walked into the park was a statue of Saigo Takamori. He was the inspiration for the movie ‘The Last Samurai,’ and fought against the Emperor (after fighting for him before), in the late 19th century. After his death, he was recognized as a hero for fighting for Japanese tradition, and was pardoned by the Emperor, and even had a statue erected in his honor. It was cool to see it, having read the history.
From the statue of Saigo Takamori, it was less than a hundred yards before we came upon a traditional Buddhist temple. It was called the Kiyo-mizu Hall. Outside of the hall was a traditional sort of well, or fountain with which people would wash their hands, or rinse out their mouth.
Before I got to see too much more of the hall, a Japanese man came up to me and asked me where I was from. I told him that I was from New York in America. He spoke English very well (as a foreigner who had lived in America for some years might). Being a cautious American, I tried to keep notice to see if he would try to pick-pocket me (I had nothing in my pockets, anyway, and my camera was wrapped around my wrist), as he looked a bit like he might be one of the park’s regular residents. He spoke to me about American politics, and asked me whom I would rather vote for, Obama, Clinton, or Giulianni for president. He went on to complain about the youth in Japan, that they did not have the respect that the older generations had (I think that every generation complains about the younger generation, and claims superiority over the older generation). He gave me some advice as to how I should greet Japanese people, and that in general, they are nice. He finally excused himself politely, and allowed us to see more of the park.
We looked at our map, and led ourselves to Shinto Shrine called the Gojo Shrine. It was tucked away and secluded in the park. It was a small square with several different small buildings, and it seemed so peaceful. Of course, there were people who waked by and did their little prayer rituals while we were sightseeing.
From there we walked up a little further to the Tosho-gu Shrine, where the first Tokogawa Shogun, Ieyasu, was originally buried (his body is now somewhere else). It was very neat with gold leaf paint over the main part of the building, the roof was green, and there was so much detail all around, including gargoyles. The best part of this shrine was that, unlike other shrines that we have passed, we were able to walk inside of the shrine (but we couldn’t take pictures). There were statues of Japanese style lions and statues of guards protecting the box at the front of the shrine. Just like the previous shrine, Japanese people came in to say a prayer, which made the scene that much more serene and spiritual.
Also set within Ueno Park are several museums. We didn’t actually go inside any of them, but we did pass some. Outside the National Science Museum was a life size model of a blue whale. Paola looked at it and couldn’t believe that an animal could be so big. I had to remind her that the blue whale is the largest animal ever.
Another museum that I didn’t think would interest me, but did was the National Museum of Western Art (having come from America, I feel like I didn’t come to Japan to see Western Art). However, one major piece that they have outside in their sculpture garden is ‘The Gate of Hell’ by August Rodin. I had seen a picture of it, but, like so many other pictures of art, I didn’t grasp the greatness of it from a picture. First, it is so big, and also, it is a sculpture on its own, but on the doors is amazing relief sculpture that literally come out of the door.
All in all, it seems to me that Ueno Park is a good place to be if you want to see a lot of traditional Japanese places, such as temples and shrines. That makes it a pretty cool place to visit as a tourist to Japan. Perhaps that is also why so many homeless tend to stay in this park.
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