Harajuku and Asakusa
Today we were out by about 8:30 because Simon was off to Kitakyushu to meet up with some of his mates. After saying goodbye at Ueno station, Jo and I went for a walk around Ueno-koen (Ueno Park). According to Lonely Planet, Ueno Hill was the site of the last-ditch defense of e Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868. They were beaten by the imperial army and the new Meiji Government decided that the site should become a park. Check my photo section for some pics.
After that we went on the subway to Asakusa – the home of the Senso-ji temple which enshrines the Buddhist god of Mercy. The temple was amazing and next door to it was a woman with a monkey that did tricks to entertain the crowd. The monkey was very talented.
Lastly we went for a walk around Harajuku where the Meiji jingu shrine is located. It was built in memory of the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. The surrounding park, yoyogi-koen was a real reaxing place to walk around which was a bit of relief from the hoardes of people on the subways.
Tomorrow we’re off to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train), which is supposedly a lot more relaxed and pretty than Tokyo.
