around Ueno Park and Akihabara (on foot): Gina, Catherine, David, Tom, and i spent the morning of ourfirst full day in Tokyo exploring Ueno Park. Then we split up, and Gina and i checked out the International Library of Children's Literature, and then walked to Akihabara to see the streets and look at some comic stores.
morning in our tiny Ueno Park hotel room |
the television you have to turn on every time you need the wifi password |
Catherine and i walked to the other side of the park to try out coffee chain Tully's |
David and Tom join us; we all have coffee! |
a train |
Gina joins us, and we head off to find breakfast |
a fresh-squeezed orange juice machine |
obviously we tried it |
a cartoon orange reporting that the juice is 66% ready |
a manhole cover labelled for Ueno Ameyoko |
back to the pedestrian mall in the morning |
sweet potatoes with eyes |
the pedestrian mall is much less lively before 9am |
entrance to Ueno Park |
there's a designated smoking area, and lots of people are using it |
want to throw something away? think fast |
we started off down the cherry-tree-lined main path of Ueno Park |
lots of cherry blossoms |
the first of many torii gates we'll see on this trip |
a fox statue |
a shrine in Ueno Park |
plants near the shrine |
small wooden plaques, called Ema, which visitors buy and write prayers or wishes |
this Ema involves bunnies |
inscribed stone bricks in a wall |
a landing and another gate |
prayers on knotted pieces of paper |
Tom, David, Catherine, and Gina, under a cherry tree |
a big stone lion |
cherry blossoms have fallen on this manhole cover depicting cherry blossoms |
cherry blossom closeup |
cherry blossom themed map of Ueno Park |
much tree, very tall |
it turns out that this tree was planted by Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia during their post-presidency world tour |
this tree is also pretty cool |
squid on a stick! |
the Kan'ei-ji Buddhist temple's five-story pagoda, from the 17th century |
a citrus tree! |
many metal candle-holders |
look at this dragon |
it's part of the Karamon, an ornate 17th-century gate |
a tree with many round parts |
a garbage truck with a broom holder |
American long potato vendor |
vendors and tables in Ueno Park |
reflecting pool in Ueno Park |
a whale and a cherry tree |
a bicycle with a kickstand |
a locomotive, by the entry to the science museum |
memorial baseball field for Masaoka Shiki, primarily known for (wait for it) reforming haiku |
Masaoka also happened to play baseball as a teenager, so he was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame 100 years after his death, afaict because of the haiku thing |
a tree with metal-capped stumps |
steps down from Mt. Suribachi, a mound which used to be a shrine and is now a place you can sit |
we wanted to get mochi from this vendor, and walked up to his window. he looked a bunch of stuff up on google translate and then wrote out 'prepare' on a piece of paper. so, no mochi for us (yet). |
Tom, walking in front of cherry blossoms and picnickers |
a monument to Wani the Scholar, a possibly-legendary figure who is supposed to have visited Japan from Korea in the 200-450 CE timeframe |
a temple complex, complete with bicycle |
red sign, red flowers |
a carved stone |
a well |
the Shushiki Cherry Tree, named after another haiku author, a girl who used that pen name |
cherry blossoms and temples everywhere |
Tom and David under a tree |
a colorful bird |
an Italian restaurant in Ueno Park |
a water feature |
a tree whose trunk makes a loop |
this sign is just telling you where you can rent boats; the inference that using the boats is hard and you will be sad is totally subjective |
a skyscraper reflected in Shinobazuno Pond |
Birds of Japan 2: three birds, chilling |
fish! |
candles at the temple |
cherry trees reflected in the pond |
Birds of Japan 3: small and round |
the view across the pond |
the view across the pond, reeds, skyscrapers, trees, and a big amphitheatre |
do not feed the birds. do not feed the fish. no |
Birds of Japan 4: thinks it's in a wind tunnel |
... now in flight! |
a nice pavilion by the pond |
Gina is done with the pond and ready to go to a museum |
i bought a crab on a stick from this vendor |
the fountains were on at the reflecting pool |
public bathroom with a great art exhibit about digestive tracts |
public art: girl in wall |
public art: official name: WOOD HOOOOOOOOOOOORN (2023) |
more public art |
concert hall of the former Tokyo Music School |
construction warning sign |
Gina approaching the International Library of Children's Literature |
Maurice Sendak's One Was Johnny |
Japanese kids books in the library |
international kids books in the library |
kids books about engineering |
library stairwell |
view out the window of the library |
poster from an exhibit about Japanese kids books in translation |
poster from an exhibit about kids books being translated into Japanese |
the main exhibit, titled The Imperial Library and the Dawn of Japanese Children's Books |
prints in the exhibit |
sketches in the exhibit |
i haven't seen a translation... |
...but i am assuming this display is about how they remembered to account for the weight of the books while building the library |
pandas on the stairs |
we pass the reflecting pool again, this time observing the flower boxes |
a demonstration involving a monkey |
success! we achieved mochi on a stick |
mochi-on-a-stick vendor, now open for business |
art on a store sign: person in bento box with egg hat |
walking to Akihabara |
our first encounter with the Potato Tornado |
Taito Station, an arcade |
ads in Akihabara |
many gashapon machines |
walk signal countdown timer |
corner with ads, in Akihabara |
GAMEPANIC, the building |
checking out Comic Zin |
shelf at Comic Zin |
shelf at Comic Zin |
bicycle fan comics shelf at Comic Zin |
another cute bicycle comic |
bucket of yuri |
in search of Melonbooks' comic shop |
a busy side street |
more yuri |
dojinshi (fan comics) section at Melonbooks |
a restaurant awning with multiple rabbits |
playground rules sign: no troublesome acts |
sidewalk tile with pagoda |
stroopwafels! |
geometric manhole cover |
Ueno Park to Iriya Station (by subway and on foot): Gina, Catherine, and i had reserved dinner at Fucha Ryori Bon, a Buddhist vegetarian set menu restaurant. We explored some nearby temples and shrines while waiting for our reservation, then had an amazing many-course banquet-style dinner, and walked back to Ueno, making time for one more shrine on the way.
street near Iriya Station |
small building behind a skyscraper |
residential alley |
an informational sign shaped like a dog |
bicycle parking |
a variety of brick textures |
suddenly, a temple |
a phone booth, haven't seen that in awhile |
front of Saitokuji temple |
decorative roof caps |
decorative roof seahorse |
temple roofs, seen from the street |
handwashing station at Otori Jinja, with dragon |
facade of Chokokuji temple |
probably don't just ring the bell |
nervous guard-lion |
shrine buildings |
decorative endcap |
i cannot read this handwriting |
flowering trees |
at Otori shrine |
facade of Otori shrine |
Fucha Ryori Bon, where we'll be having dinner |
sliding door of our dining room |
our table is set with this place setting |
we decide to wait for instructions |
tea ceremony: sakura tea with roasted grains |
a menu! now we feel informed about what will happen |
Catherine, in front of the room's other door, which leads to the kitchen |
butterfly-themed appetizer: gluten with a lemon slice and a radish in the shape of a sakura petal, sweet potato butterfly, buckwheat cracker with sesame, fried rice cracker butterfly on a bean |
bowl for seasonal soup |
seasonal soup: carrot with yuba roll |
light in our dining room |
sake |
decorative presentation of cooked vegetables: seaweed soup with potato in the shape of a Japanese flag, cherry blossom and scallion agar agar jelly, sakura mochi, burdock root tempura, miso blob, sesame vegetable, lotus root slice and asparagus, and in the middle two slices of tofu and a black rice roll with ginger on top |
traditional 17th century Chinese soup: some sort of cornstarch-like thickener in a very nice broth, with lotus root, carrot, and mushroom |
a bonus course! our sense of what will happen is shaken! sashimi vegetable basket containing sesame tofu cube, fiddleheads, two types of carrots, radish, lotus root, another orange, and a bamboo shoot which we didn't initially recognize, plus a miso-sesame dipping sauce |
boiled or steamed seasonal vegetable: more bamboo shoot, beans, a crispy rice cracker with a seaweed sauce, and we never identified the ball, but it was all great |
done with that course, close the decorative bowl |
another bonus course: tofu unagi, with a marinade and a seaweed backing; really good |
our dining room had a window with a view of a small garden |
chilled sesame tofu with wasabi, in maybe the best bowl of the evening |
mixed tempura in a classical basket (made of pressed lacquered paper, we think): look at that elegant carrot shrimp tail, plus homemade noodle spray, burdock root, a leaf of something called angelica (which was great), and two cubes, one of konjac and one of sweet potato |
two courses: miso soup with seasonal garnish, plus rice with green tea |
assortment of pickles: we failed to identify most of these, but the brown one was very tasty |
fruit dessert: soy milk cubes with a very nice berry, green melon with a fruit that might have been a date, assorted other fruits |
roasted green tea: teapot and cup |
red bean and a warm matcha drink |
enjoying my sake, which i learn from the menu is Kamotsuru from Hiroshima |
we walk home, passing this hose cover (we are learning the kanji for 'fire' |
we walk by the entrance to the Mitakejinja Mitsumine Shrine, and decide to check it out |
shrine in the dark |
street art of cats playing musical instruments |
Ueno Station! Almost back to the hotel! |