Tokyo Days 42 - Ueno Park

On a particularly warm day, I decided to pay a visit to Ueno Park, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Tokyo especially if zoos and museums are your interests.

Going in a weekday was a good idea as this meant there would be less people. But, going in the afternoon was not such a good idea as the sweltering heat was really unbearable.

The stoned pavement did not help that either but, the many trees planted throughout the park did provide valuable shade.

Ueno Park is not a park in the traditional sense of the word. It acts much like a connecting ground between various different point of interest with individual attractions interspersed along the way.

There were various shrines and monuments found throughout the park's grounds.

Some were free while others required an admission fee.

These red gates seemed to gather quite a lot of interest from visitors.

Spring may have past but, there were still many flowers in full bloom.

Blue, such a rare color to occur naturally in plants.

Not far out from the main park grounds, was the grounds of the Benten-Do shrine which was surrounded by a huge lotus pond spanning as far as the eye could see.

Some of the lotuses were beginning to bloom.

While others were already in full bloom.

There were even those which in the process of blooming.

One thing is for sure, this tiny splash of pink really brought more life to this otherwise field of green.

The Benten-Do main shrine building.

With a nearby sign detailing the history of the structure.

Finding a blooming lotus near the edge of the pond was quite difficult. Fortunately, there were a few and this captured the attention of many avid photographers.

Truly the pink was a natural stark contrast with the sea of green making it a great scenario for photos.

Tortoises could be found surrounding the pond too!

Not just tortoises but, catfishes too.

This one is pretending to be a log.

Further towards the end of the pond was an area of the lake which was reserved for boat rides. They were not free but, the prices were not too bad either.

Take a quick look back and you would see the lotus pond again.

I wonder what constitutes Dangerous Goods?

There were many shrines scattered within Ueno Park which made it a hard time keeping up with all of them. Yet, everyone was built with a purpose and as a memorial to a historical figure or event.

Due to the large area of the park, there were many maps set up all around in case you ever lost your bearings.

That right there is the Tokyo National Museum, I am still undecided if I would be interested in paying it a visit.

From a certain point in the park, you can even view the Skytree in the distance. Initially, I had planned to visit the Ueno Zoo as well. Upon finding out that students enter for free though, I changed my mind as I had forgotten to bring my own student identification. With that in mind, I kept a mental note to bring along my student card with me for my next visit to Ueno. Until then, thanks so much for reading and have yourself a fantastic day ahead!