Tokyo and Cherry Blossoms, Japan

 We spent our first day in Tokyo riding the Hop On Hop Off bus to get our bearings, and get an overview of the various areas. Today, we chose to go back and explore two of them.  Ueno Park  was designated in 1873 as the first park in Japan. It's huge grounds are famous for viewing the cherry blossoms, and we were very lucky that they bloomed early this year and we are able to see them. The crowds were out in full force, and many booths selling different varieties of fast food and snacks were set up all around the park. It was quite a fun atmosphere.


The pond at Ueno Park with cherry blossoms in full bloom.

There were some very unusual ducks in the pond. I love the black one with the white bill.

Cherry trees line both sides of the walkway in the park near the pond.

The crowds were all trying to get the best shots of the cherry blossoms.



There are over 400 varieties of  cherry trees in Japan. The color of the blossoms varies from white to various shades of pink.

A closeup of the blossoms.


One of the main sites in Ueno Park is the
 Toshogu Shrine with the green roof, which was built in 1627.

We also went back to visit the Asakusa neighborhood and the Sensoji Temple. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo and is said to have been built in 628. It is approached by a long alley filled with shops selling all things traditional Japanese, and lots of little side alleys with all kinds of food. 


It was raining, but that didn't deter the huge crowds of people around the temple on a Saturday morning. 

The golden statues in the middle of the temple.





The temple complex has several outbuildings on the grounds.

There were lots of girls in traditional dress around the temple area.


One of the small shops that rents out kimonos for the day for 2,980 yen, which is approximately $22. This girl is posing for pictures, and has just come out of the shop.


This tea house was in a side alley near the temple.


After all that sight seeing we worked up an appetite. We have gone to the same little restaurant near the hotel twice now, and the food is very good.
It is very busy with local Japanese people, and there were no tourists. They don't speak English, but we managed to point and choose the pictures of the foods  we wanted to try.


The name of the restaurant is the "Juicy Dumpling Manufactory". As promised, the have excellent gyoza dumplings!


It's a good thing that the menu also had an English translation, since Basashi is raw horse meat sashimi. We decided not to try that!

We also passed on the black Chinese Century Egg.








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