東京 Tokyo - Ueno 上野
At the time we bought our flight tickets to Tokyo, our idea was to take the bullet train straight away to Kyoto and to start our japanese adventures there. In real life though, things don't always happen the way they are planned.
Since traveling Japan was a last minute decision, we purchased online our Japan Rail Pass only one week before our flight. The Japan Rail Pass was allowing us to travel inside Japan for 3 weeks with no additional cost (the pass is pricey but well worth it!) but as there was no time enough for delivery at home, we had to take it from Tokyo.
So we decided to spend a couple of days in Tokyo which turned out to be a great opportunity to see the Sumo grand tournament that we would have missed would have we been in Tokyo only the last of our weeks in Japan!
Arriving from Narita airport, one of the best and easily reached neighborhood to stay in was Ueno. Yes, it is less central and touristic than Shinjuku or other worldwide famous Tokyoite areas, but it is quiet, relatively inexpensive (for a japanese big city), it makes a good base for sightseeing and it is a great place to explore as well!
Ueno district is best known for Ueno Park, a large urban park that is home to the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum for Western Art, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the National Science Museum. It is also famous for the Ueno Zoo, Japan's first zoological garden which is open since 1882. The Zoo became famous for hosting a Panda, and naturally the Panda became the symbol of Ueno, and can be found all throughout the park in the form of pastries and toys... even the mail box is painted in black and white!
Ueno park also hosts a small amusement park, many Buddhist temples and at the southwestern end of the park lies the Shinobazu Pond.
Additionally, Ueno Park is one of Tokyo's most popular cherry blossom spots with more than 1000 cherry trees. If you have the chance to be there during late March and early April, it is the best time to enjoy the hanami - the cherry blossom viewing.
Just outside of Ueno station and all the way down to Okachimachi station you can find the Ameyoko Market. There are a lot of shops all along the 600 meters of this open air market where you can find everything from clothes, bags, cosmetics, fresh fish, dried food and spices.
Ueno is a great place to stay while visiting the Nippon Capital and it's a really convenient spot for both exploring the city and going on one day trips as the JR East Ueno Station is one of the main subway and train stations of Tokyo .
We loved this district so much that we even came back there for few days at the end of our Japanese tour and it was from there that we visited Nikko and Mt Fuji.
