Trip Day 3: Ueno Koen

Here you have the photos of third day, we went to Ueno Park to eat under the Sakura, we didn't count with the fact that there were no Sakura blossoms yet.. xPP

The day was beautiful for a Picnic, so we woke up as early as we could to prepare and pack the food to take to the park.
I loved the hotel surroundings, as we walked to the train station I couldn't help but admire the place.., everything was so tiny, the cars, the parking lots, the buildings; it's so anime-like.. xDDD Really, at times I felt inside a DORAMA, plus near the hotel there was a school with that familiar sound of the Westminster chime!!! SO COOL!

Takadanobaba Streets, near our hotel.

When we arrived at Ueno Station you could feel the spring floating around even if it still was a bit cold.
There was this stall that sold some kind of Sakura mascot that resembles to an Alpaca. Does anyone know why Alpacas are so popular in Japan..? I'd really like to know!

Ueno Station.

When we got out of the station we went to Yamashiroya since Tamar had to buy a few things, so we sneaked around and bought the Willy Wonka truck with the chocolate.
After finally getting out of the shop (yes, my husband and I can be very dedicate while browsing shops.. xDD), we headed to the park.

Mandatory group photo.. xD


LIAR GAME the final stage ad spotted! ♥ Ahhh, Shota-kun!! :3333


Mandatory location photo! xDD

Then we finally got to the park, there were lots of people, not as much as I would've expected, but a lot indeed.
As I said before, the trees weren't blossoming so I was a little disappointed since it looked like any other park in the world.. xDD

Ueno Koen Map.. See how big it is..? I only got to see 1% of it.. xDD


"The Gang of the Yellow Shoe" sightseeing.. xDD




Apart from crows, there were lots of kitties..


Ryu-chan and I.., I'm making such a stupid face! >.<

After looking around for a while we decided it was time to eat.., so we found a place to seat and unpacked our food..
While we were eating, a guy approached us and spoke to Maka about something. What I don't remember is if he gave her a business card.. Did he, Maka?
In the meantime Tamar and I discussed the possibility of him being a HOSTO, but a very low budget one.. xDD while my husband tried to understand what a HOSTO was.. (you should've seen his face while Tamar and I tried to explain xDDDDD).

My noodles with egg and cheese!! :333


Takoyaki we bought at the park, everyone tried it except for me..


Here is Maka eating the Takoyaki.., I think everyone like it!


And here are the some of the food stalls.

As we walked our way to Toshogu Shrine I met the only cherry blossom tree in bloom, and like me, everybody was there taking photos of it..

Click to see it bigger so you can see it's a Sakura tree.. xDD

Then we went to the Toshogu Shrine.., sadly it was being refactioned so we didn't approached it, but we did looked around; some places to eat, your typical shrine things (yeah.., you can notice I'm not well-versed in this subject.., but you get the general idea.. xDD).
There was also "The flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" (you can read the origin below, if you like, looks like a lot but it's quite interesting!)

The Origin of "the Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki"

On August 6, 1945, US forces dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and another on Nagasaki on August 9 the same year, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in an instant. Even now, many survivors are still suffering from the damage.

Sometime later, Tatsuo Yamamoto went to Hiroshima in search of his uncle, and found a flame of the atomic bomb burning in the ruins of his uncle's house. He brought it back to Hoshino-mura, his hometown in Fukuoka prefecture. He kept it burning in his house as a memento of his uncle and an expression of his resentment. But years went by, the meaning of the flame turned into a symbol of his desire for abolition of nuclear weapons and for peace. Hosino-mura village build a torch and transferred the flame to it on August 6, 1968. It has been keeping the flame ever since as the flame for peace, with the support of the villagers.

"The use of nuclear weapons will destroy the whole human race and civilization... The elimination of nuclear weapons... has become the most urgent and crucial for the very survival of the whole of humanity.
There must never be another Hiroshima anywhere on earth.

There must never be another Nagasaki anywhere on earth."
(From the "Appeal from Hiroshima and Nagasaki" Issued in February 1985)

In 1988, a flame was taken from the torch and was merged with another flame lit by the friction of broken roofing tiles of Nagasaki. Along with 30 million signatures collected in support of the "Appeal from Hiroshima and Nagasaki", it was carried to the third Special Session of the UN General Assembly for Disarmament taking place in New York City.

In April the same year, members of "Shitamachi People Association" put forward an idea of lighting the flame at the precinct of Ueno Toshogu Shrine in Tokyo. Rev. Shozen Saga, the chief priest, warmly welcomed the proposal, and promised to set up a monument and work together to keep the flame burning.

In April 1989, an "Association for the Flame of Hiroshima & Nagasaki Lit at the Ueno Toshogu" was founded with the people of wide ranging people. Tens of thousands of people took part in the fund-raising for over one year and the construction of the monument was completed on July 21,1990.

In commemoration of the 45th year of the A-bomb tragedies, a flame of Hiroshima was taken from Hoshino-mura and lit at the monument on August 6, and a flame of Nagasaki, generated by the friction of Nagasaki roofing tiles, was also added to the monument.

We, hereby pledge to keep burning the A-bomb flame, convinced that this monument should contribute to strengthening the worldwide people's movement to abolish nuclear weapons and achieve peace, which is the most urgent task for the people across the borders.

August 1990

Association for the Flame of Hiroshima & Nagasaki Lit at the Ueno Toshogu

Ueno Toshogu entrance..



Food stalls at the shrine.


I don't know what is this for, I guess for some kind of exhibition or something like that..


Lanterns, beautiful lanterns!


And here is "the Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki"..
Maka and I wanted to take it as a freebie, the gang wouldn't let us.. xDD

After the shrine we went to the Tokyo National Museum, that day they were closing one our earlier so we got to see only one building and no gardens.., they looked beautiful though.. ;_;
Inside there were lots of beautiful things like Kimono, Katanas, Armors, and Art.., I love old Japanese art!
Sadly I have NO photo of those things, but it was mostly forbidden to take photos inside, with few exceptions..

Here's the Tokyo National Museum main building.


And NO! We didn't planned the white coats thingie.. xDD
We match because we are cool like that! ♥

When we got out from the museum, it was already dark, so the lamps on the path's edges were lighten up.. It was so pretty!!