I planned to do a lot of things while in Ueno: visit the Tokyo National Museum, visit a couple of shrines, visit the Shitamachi Museum and after that Ameyokocho market. Sadly I underestimated the size of Ueno park, getting lost in the process; making me extremely exhausted.
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| The Tokyo National Museum houses a wonderful collection in their main building, Honkan |
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| It's amazing how fierce, bold and delicate the metal working is. Along browsing I came upon samurai armories and other sorts of warrior gear. |
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| I was surprised to find all of Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" in the museum |
The prints are full of color but a lot bluer in tone than what I expected (I think my eyes were playing tricks on me).
The walk around the entire main building's galleries made me more tired than usual. And there were other buildings around the museum's vicinity but I didn't bother going inside any of them.
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| Sweet architecture |
I wondered around outside the museum's gates to see if I could find the Kanei-ji but being unable to find it and becoming increasingly agitated I made my way outside the park en route to the Shitamachi Museum. Although I did arrive at the museum's entrance I didn't go in. Instead I was fascinated by the amount of brown in the Shinobazu Pond.
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| I was even shocked to find pigeons, in Tokyo! |
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| つり禁止 means fishing isn't allowed |
Afterwards I decided to make my way on to Omotesando-dori from the Minato-ku (the Aoyama side) to the Shibuya-ku (Harajuku side).
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| The Prada building is really funky but a masterpiece nevertheless |
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| Around the corner their's an Originalfake store but it's really small (and really expensive) |
One of the main reasons I ventured through Omotesando-dori was to find the Bathing Ape store. It's pretty well hidden and irritating to find. If you've been to the New York store there's nothing new you'll find here (except for the colorful display of sneakers and store design).
After a disappointing hour of trailing I decided to make my way to the Meiji Jingu via Omotesando-dori. The street is a little like New York's Madison Avenue - a mixture of 5th Avenue and Broadway. The most fulfilling place is probably Omotesando Hills, a very interesting shopping center.
Quite dazzling - beats every other shopping centre I've ever been to. I even stopped and caught a bite at a restaurant called Golden Brown. It's smaller than any other restaurant I've ever been in but the food is delicious!
Meiji Jingu was packed. I guess a better time would of been the morning but its still a beautiful place, regardless of how many people are around.
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| I think Japanese women are the only kind women that can walk on pebbles and not tear a ligament |
