The Ueno Area - History in Art and Those Passed Away

I spent the afternoon of my second day, the 24th of October in the Ueno area...about 1.5 to 2 km to the west of Asakusa and my ryokan - a nice walk.  

I had lunch at an Udon place just south of the Ueno Station, under the tracks.  To order my meal I had to go to a vending machine that had the pictures of meals and their respective prices.  I inserted my 390 yen, pushed the button, brought my ticket to the kitchen and about five minutes later I was slurping (noisily as one is supposed to do) my noodles.

I then headed through Ueno Park to Tokyo National Museum.  It was just pouring rain...in fact it poured all day.  Torrential rain...all day.  I had never experienced that before, not for that length of time.  I got soaked and parts of the park were saturated.  The museum would be a good place to spend a few hours.  

I did three of the multiple buildings of the museum.  The one that impressed me most was the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, mostly because I really liked the modern architecture of the building itself.  Having said that I saw amazing pottery, sculptures, swords, tools, drawings, prints, etc.  You notice how Japan has had simplicity and an appreciation for nature for 2000 years.  You see it in all the art produced at different stages in their history.

From there I headed down a street to the east of the museum complex to reach the Tokugawa Shogun Cemetery.  On the way, on the east side of that street, there were a few nice temples of which I took pictures of their small gardens.  The cemetery itself is a fairly large place packed with tombs.  They are beautiful having minuscule gardens, benches to sit on, lanterns.  Beautiful wooden planks are also inserted at their backs.

Well that was Ueno for half-a-day.  I walked back to the ryokan to vegetate in Asakusa.  Here are some pictures.

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Comments

Sleepwalker said…
I read your post with much trepidation and excitement. Your comment on the simplicity of Japanese art in the past 2000 years made me want to be there with you. Thank you for sharing that and also for the very intriguing and fascinating pictures of cemeteries. It's great to read your posts!
October 25, 2008 at 7:08 PM
Unknown said…
Wow, those pictures are fantastic Oliver - Ueno looks wonderful. So did the older section of Tokyo, Asakusa. Must be mind blowing! I'm curious as to the folks you're running into and what they're like.

Best
Noel
October 26, 2008 at 9:08 PM
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