More Ueno

Because this was my first visit to Japan, the first couple of days were full of discovery. Ueno was where I discovered the best convenience store food in the world and started the practice of eating breakfast onigiri from 7 eleven or equivalent every day. Must be one of the best $1.50 breakfasts available anywhere! Oh and hot coffee in a can from vending machines.




I also found that Japan was a lot less difficult to get around than I had imagined it might be in some respects. Despite a complete lack of Japanese, we managed to navigate our way around and communicate with people as much as we needed to.

But it was also hard to interact with some of the more uniquely Japanese culture - like the maid cafes. On our first full day in Japan we wandered into Akihabara, the electronics district of Tokyo where huge multi level video gaming centers dot the streets and where young (looking) girls line the footpaths handgun out flyers for cafes where you pay an hourly fee for some coffee and conversation. I would have loved to hear what kind of conversation $10 an hour buys you, but sadly I think it's all conducted exclusively in Japanese. Probably would have felt a bit creepy to pay someone to talk to you...

It's intriguing to look around Akihabara at all the images of women on billboards, posters, even life sized 3D dolls who look nothing like any of the Japanese women I saw. Not one woman looked like those images... I wonder how Japanese women feel about it.

In contrast to the pop culture of Akihabara, we also visited Tokyo National Museum next to Ueno Park. It's a pretty good museum with lots of historical stuff - and very reasonably priced like all the tourist attractions we visited. But the best part were the gardens at the back - absolutely gorgeous gardens with some traditional buildings, a lake and cherry blossom petals falling like snow. An incredibly peaceful place despite all the other people.

We did also check out a department store in Ueno, the best part being the food hall in the basement, which provided dinner one night - amazingly beautiful sushi platters, fish, meat, sweets. A feast for the eyes!

Ueno, Tokyo

The first three days of our Japan trip were spent in the Ueno area in Tokyo.
By way of background, this trip was a little undercooked in terms of planning and preparation. In fact, we had no intention of visiting Japan this year until we heard about some very discounted tickets (on Jetfail) from a friend of my mother. They had purchased some tickets they couldn't use, so suddenly we had a trip to Japan!
I think if I'd planned the flights, I would have flown into Tokyo and out of Osaka - but the flights we took over were in and out of Tokyo and frankly I could not be bothered stuffing around with the tickets so we kept them as they were. We did buy a 7 day Tokyo rail pass before leaving Melbourne and had decided on the following itinerary: 3 days in Tokyo to chill out, train to Kyoto and spend 7 days in Kyoto region (including 2 nights in a ryokan in Uji), then train back to Tokyo for 7 more nights.
So the first three days of the trip were intended to be spent in Tokyo chilling out and decompressing to get into the Japan vibe. We chose some no-frills accommodation in Ueno, Tokyo because it was directly on the line from Nakita airport without knowing much about the area.
Turned out we chose very well. Firstly, the Candeo hotel in Ueno was perfect for a three day stay. A small, but well thought out and comfortable room. Amazing vending machine with huge 500ml Asahi cans for $2 (a big hit with Phil) and free English movies on the in-room tv - what more could you want??
But the best aspect of the hotel was its proximity to the glorious Ueno Park, which was a mere 5 min walk away. It turns out, that Ueno Park is one of the best cherry blossom viewing locations in Tokyo. And when we arrived (March 28), the blossoms were not only in full bloom, but blossom petal snow was falling whenever a stiff wind blew through.
It was absolutely gorgeous to walk around the park and see the blossoms. And to see what felt like the whole suburb come out to see them too. People were taking picture after picture of the pink haze in the treetops and hundreds of others were picnicking on tarpaulin's with lots of friends, cute bento boxes and lots and lots of booze.
Beer, sake, spirits lined the edges of countless blue tarps. It was such a fantastic people watching opportunity! The park is absolutely huge and includes a massive lake, a zoo, boulevards of cherry blossom trees and (during our visit) outdoor food stalls and markets - takoyaki - yum!!