A bronze statue of Saigō Takamori stands on a rise near the main entrance of Ueno Park. Created by sculptor Takamura Kōun and unveiled in eighteen ninety-eight, the monument depicts the influential samurai alongside his pet dog, Tsun.…
Ueno Park Temples and Culture
This walk takes you through Tokyo’s first public park, exploring how historic Tokugawa-era temples and grand modern museums coexist on the same ground. You will see both the quiet spiritual pockets that survived the Meiji Restoration and the landmark monuments of Japan's rapid modernization.
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1. Statue of Saigō, Ueno Park
2. Kiyomizu Kannon-dō Temple
The Kiyomizu Kannon-dō temple is distinguished by a large, elevated wooden stage that projects out over the hillside, a design inspired by the famous Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto. Established in sixteen thirty-one by the monk Tenkai, it served…
3. Shinobazu no Ike Bentendō
The Shinobazu no Ike Bentendō stands out for its unique octagonal shape, rising from an island constructed in the middle of Shinobazu Pond. This temple is dedicated to Benzaiten, the goddess of music, wisdom, and wealth, who is the only…
4. Ueno Toshogu Shrine
Ueno Toshogu Shrine stands out for the brilliance of its gold-leaf-covered buildings and a long path lined with hundreds of stone and bronze lanterns. This seventeenth-century Shinto shrine was first established in sixteen twenty-seven to…
5. The National Museum of Western Art
The National Museum of Western Art is distinguished by its reinforced concrete main building, a structure designed by the Swiss-French modernist architect Le Corbusier. Completed in nineteen fifty-nine, the museum is the only building by…
6. Tokyo National Museum
The Tokyo National Museum is defined by its massive, tiled-roof Honkan building, which sits within a sprawling campus in Ueno Park. As the oldest national museum in Japan, it originated in eighteen seventy-two when the government staged an…
7. Kan'ei-ji
Kan'ei-ji is a Tendai Buddhist temple founded in sixteen twenty-five by the monk Tenkai. You can distinguish the site by its historic connection to the Tokugawa shogunate, as it was built to guard the northeastern "demon gate" of Edo…