Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
184
Cherry-Blossom Viewing in Ueno Park
If you happen to come to Ueno Park during that brief single week in late March
or early April when the cherry blossoms burst forth in glorious pink, consider
yourself lucky. Cherry blossoms have always been dear to the Japanese heart
as a symbol of beauty, fragility, and the transitory nature of life.
Ueno Park, with its 1,000 cherry trees, has been popular as a viewing spot
since the Edo Period. Today, Tokyoites throng here en masse to celebrate the
birth of the new season. It's not, however, the spiritual communion with nature
you might think. In the daytime on a weekday, Ueno Park may be peaceful and
sane enough, but on the weekends and in the evenings during cherry-blossom
season, havoc prevails as office workers break out of their winter shells.
Sending underlings to stake out territory early in the day, whole companies
of workers later converge on Ueno Park to sit under the cherry trees on plastic
or cardboard, their shoes neatly lined up along the perimeter. They eat obento
box lunches and drink sake and beer; many get drunk and can be quite rowdy.
Still, visiting Ueno Park during cherry-blossom season is a cultural experience
no one should miss.
Other good bets for viewing cherry blossoms (Japan boasts more than 300
different varieties of cherry trees) include Shinjuku Gyoen, Chidorigafuchi (the
outer moat of the Imperial Palace), Sumida Park in the Asakusa district, and
both Aoyama and Yanaka cemeteries. More than likely, you'll be invited to join
one of the large groups—and by all means do so. You'll all sit there drinking
and making merry, seemingly oblivious to the fragile pink blossoms shimmer-
ing above.
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expansive view over Edo. This is where Tokugawa Ieyasu would have taken refuge, had
his empire ever been seriously threatened. Although most of the castle was a glimmering
white, the keep was black with a gold roof, which must have been quite a sight in old
Edo as it towered above the rest of the city. All that remains today of the shogun's castle
are a few towers, gates, stone walls, moats, and the stone foundations of the keep.
Free guided tours of the garden, run by volunteers, are given Saturday from 1 to 3pm.
The meeting point is outside Tokyo Station's Marunouchi Central Exit. For more infor-
mation, see the website http://freewalkingtour.org.
1-1 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku.
&
03/3213-1111.
Free admission (you'll be given a token upon entering; turn
it in at any gate when you leave). Tues-Thurs and Sat-Sun 9am-5pm (to 4:30pm Mar to mid-Apr and
Sept-Oct; to 4pm Nov-Feb). You must enter 30 min. before closing. Closed Dec 23 and Dec 28-Jan 3;
open other national holidays. Station: Otemachi, Takebashi, or Nijubashi-mae.
Hama Rikyu Garden
Considered by some to be the best garden in Tokyo
(but marred, in my opinion, by skyscrapers in Shiodome that detract from its charm),
this urban oasis has origins stretching back 300 years, when it served as a retreat for a
former feudal lord and as duck-hunting and falconry grounds for the Tokugawa shoguns.
In 1871, possession of the garden passed to the Imperial family, who used it to entertain
