Ueno Park: attractions and guide.

     Ueno Koen (park) is one of the largest parks and outdoor walking areas in the city of Tokyo. Year-round it serves as a fantastic escape from the tall buildings and city surroundings and provides hikers, walkers and runners with a great place to go. Tourists often flock to Ueno in spring for its fantastic Cherry Blossom viewing (although it is ridiculously crowded at this time, so be warned), in the fall for foliage, and year-round for a trip to the zoo located in the center of the park or to the many wonderful museums and art galleries that have been built around the circumference of the park. The zoo, known as Ueno Zoo, is a wonderful day trip and only costs $6 USD (600 JPY) for adults, and the museums are truly unique and wonderful visits as well. If you want to see certain things in Ueno and only have a day or so to be there, I suggest going to websites and trying to plan out your day based on which attractions you would like to see the most.

     The history of the area is steeped in change. In 1868, Ueno Hill was the site of the last stand of the Tokugawa Shogunate. 2,000 or so Tokugawa loyalist samurai tried to stop the new government from taking control, but were ultimately defeated.

     The Tokyo National Museum (Japan's oldest museum) was founded in Ueno Koen in 1872 and holds over 110,000 artifacts that are rotated through exhibits periodically.

     In March of 1872, the National Museum of Nature and Science (then known as the Ministry of Education Museum) was planned and founded. All specimens and exhibits were destroyed in the Great Kanto Quake of 1923, but the museum was able to relocate to a new site in Ueno, rebuild and reopen in 1930. It is still open in the same place in Ueno today and houses simply fantastic and stunning exhibitions year-round.

     In 1882, Ueno Zoo was opened and today maintains its goal of educating patrons not only about animals from all over Japan, but from all over the world as well. It's a fantastic day trip and the walking paths to get to the zoo are filled with wonderful sights and sounds to take in as well. You can see street performers in the center of the park on weekends, or you can walk through temples and shrines that dot the landscape. We took in a few and wanted to share some pictures with you and videos from our trip through the park and the zoo.

 Enjoy!

Above: Shrine to those who passed in the Battle of Ueno Hill.

Kiyomizu Kannon Do, Buddhist Temple established in 1631 by Tenkai Sojo (high Buddhist Priest).

Bad luck lately? Write it on a piece of paper, tie it to this rope, and wish it away!

Wish for good luck in the year to come on a woodblock here in the temple.

Messages were from all over the world and written in many languages!

The water spout is an ornate dragon. Here you would fill the cup with water, rinse your hands and mouth, and purify yourself before going up to the temple for blessings.

Leaving the Temple.

Pathway to a Shinto Shrine dedicated to the Fox Trickster spirit.

These Tori mark the entrance.

Some are in need of repair!

The trickster himself.

Ueno zoo entrance is marked by this neat totem poll with many animals figures on it.

The entrance doesn't look like much but it really is a fantastic zoo.

Here's some video of a red panda!!!

This Thai Pavilion inside the zoo was a gift from the Thai government symbolizing years of good relations between the two countries.

Looked stunning on the inside!

Brian touching bamboo for the first time.
Video of a cool Sumatran Tiger 'noming on a stick.

Oh Brian. lol.

Gorilla munchin' on something.

Cabbage

I think this Polar Bear believes that hoomans smell delicious. hehe.

Another neat building in the zoo.

Anteater.

Meercat.

Bush Babies.

Crocodiles.

Mandarin Ducks.

For the kids, there are a bunch of rides, including this cute Pikachu here.

Once you leave the park (to the right of the metro station) you'll see lots of shopping, restaurants, and the famous Ameyoko Arcade which is a shopping street known for it's delicious sweets and unique gifts. It's usually packed tight in there with people bargaining and especially right now since it is around New Years! Definitely worth a stop and try some Japanese sweets if you haven't already.

Ueno also has a fair amount of Nabe places. Nabe is a kind of hotpot dinner where you cook a bunch of food in a sweet sauce over a hotplate. It's sort of traditional and usually expensive so watch out when you are going out for Nabe because you will be charged PER PERSON and often receive a table fee as well. Definitely delicious though and worth the price if you've saved up or found a place running a good deal. These wax food molds look so real that I have to say I'm usually very tempted to go in and splurge!

Before leaving for the day we took a few minutes to enjoy the seasonal lighting that is still up around the park. There are even cute animal light displays like this one here!

Hope you enjoyed the photos and video!
 Please feel free to leave comments. Thanks!
 Lady Jones

Mameshiba Commercials

Recently stumbled across a series of Mameshiba bean commercials that I thought readers might find entertaining. The basic gist is that each commercial features a kind of cute, talking bean that informs the person about to eat it with a piece of random, usually strange trivia that generally confuses or disgusts the person. They are seriously hilarious and so I decided to post some here on the blog.
 Enjoy!
 Lady Jones

This one is my favorite because of the ridiculous "English speaking" bean. It's great.

And finally: the Mameshiba Theme Song!
 Enjoy!

Merlin the Chocobo

Sorry for the lack of travel posts lately. I have been very tired and overworked and thus I decided to make a lighthearted post about my most recent purchase at Kotobukiya in Akihabara. Kotobukiya is this chain store of geek goods and cute gifts that always seems to have the right thing to cheer me up. They often carry some serious favorites like Final Fantasy Characters, Nintendo Plushies, and cute figurines from the Ghibli movies like the famous Totoro (from My Neighbor Totoro) and Nekkobasu (Cat-bus also from My Neighbor Totoro).

 Well, I've had my eye on these cute Chocobo Plushies

that have cute little theme hats for quite some time and finally had a little cash for one.
They are shelved right near awesome
Tonberry Plushies (also from Final Fantasy) and I was psyched to get one.

 So without further ado, presenting the newly purchased Merlin the Plushie who will adventure with me around Tokyo! (This is what it takes to de-stress for a masters degree candidate geek girl. Plushies, chocolate and the occasional sushi binge. heehee.)

Kweh!

Woo hoo Chocobo Plushie! Super cute, super awesome and definitely going to be my new travel companion. This is the best geeky purchase I've made in a while (next to my Nintendo DS and Japanese Kanji software, of course. I'll write more about that later though.)

Goodnight for now!

Coming soon, Travel Destinations in Ueno Park area, Tokyo!

Oyasumi!

 Lady Lara Jones

Riding the bus in Tokyo

What the bus looks like on a quiet weekday afternoon. Now just imagine wall-to-wall people during the evening commute!

      First observation: It's clean, but it's also REALLY crowded at night when I take the outgoing bus to Meguro ku. This can probably be attributed to the obvious reason that people are commuting out of the city after their work/school day has ended and therefore more people have to try to share the space. Even though it is very crowded, Japanese people tend to avoid shoving or ignoring other people who are forced to share the space. There is a great amount of consideration taken and the word Sumimasen! (Excuse me!) is actually used. Some will shove but it's a great deal easier to deal with then a group of Americans grappling for space and swearing at each other when their is no compliance for their selfish needs. I'm American, and yes, I can say those things about my country because in many places, and at many times it has been true. Been there. Experienced that.

 Second observation: Protocol is quite different than on a bus in the US. If you're lucky in Boston or NY, the usual situation is that the driver will occasionally shout into their microphone with a gravely, often cigarette-induced voice that you've arrived at a stop. The bus will screech to a halt, and if you don't get off fast enough you'll be stuck there until the next stop. People might sympathize with you and give you that knowing look of "yeah, I'm sorry," or they might laugh at your misfortune, or exclaim "That sucks!" right to your face. It's quite the experience, really! And yeah, I know it's not ALWAYS like this, but I'm sure everyone from a major city in the US can attest to that terrible bus ride they had once where everything seemed to be gross or going wrong around them.

 The bus in Japan is based on a much more planned out system. When passengers want to use the next stop, they look up at the screen and see their stop is next. After seeing this, they will press a little red glowing button in front of them that says "Tomarimasu!" (Stop, please.) and it will make a friendly little "Ding Dong" noise to tell the driver that you wish to get off at the next stop. He then announces with his microphone someting like, "Wakarimashita! Tomarimasu!" (Roger! I will stop!). Not only are stops written in Kanji/Hiragana on the screen in front of you, but they will also scroll by in Romaji text (English text) if you can't yet read what your stop looks like. I've sort of memorized the Kanji for my stops now but for new-comers to Japan this is really helpful and kind of them to do. The same thing doesn't really happen as much, from what I've been told, in China or Korea (or for that matter, outside of Tokyo!) so I'm thankful that Tokyo bus companies seem to be willing to help visitors out.

 Observation #3: You think your bus in your local town is clean? I have ridden some rather clean Greyhounds back in the states where it looks like the bus is brand new and just rolled off the assembly line, but I still can't get over how clean they keep interiors of ALL the buses over here. I mean, really! They are super nice! When I sit on a cushy seat I'm not worried that it will be wet, ripped or bumpy and uncomfortable. Also, there isn't any trash kicking around on the bus, or butts from old cigarettes. That's pretty nice, in my opinion.

 Observation #4: People are very quiet. This is a trend in Japan that has evolved probably in response to observations of shared space and cultural etiquette. I'm not saying that some quiet chatter on the bus isn't okay - what I'm saying is that as guests in another country you might want to think about respecting the local etiquette and go with the flow. If it's quiet, maybe you should be quiet. If people are talking, then whatever. That's what being a good guest is all about!

 So hopefully I gave you a somewhat encompassing picture of the bus. I just wanted to give you a more comprehensive picture of what riding the bus in Japan is like.

 Signing out,
 Lady Lara Jones

A Really Well-Edited AMV (Anime Music Video) Project

     Anime Music videos; they're a pretty controversial topic in the media community. Some people find them to be a fantastic way to further anime production and export to countries around  the world. Many also find it to be an excellent medium for expression and indeed it is a fantastic way to master video editing, but tons of copyright conflicts exist in the world of the anime music video maker. Anime music videos, by default, are automatic copyright infringement for two reasons. The first infringement case involves the unauthorized use of footage in compositions, and the second involves the use of music that is usually the property of an artist other than the creator of the AMV. It's easy to see why people get up in arms about this, but I'm going to admit to you right here and now that I love AMVs and I hope very much that people continue to be allowed to make them for non-profit purposes. As long as you're not making money from your AMV, I don't see why we shouldn't be making them and furthering the medium. Of course, many people will disagree with me, but it's my personal opinion and I will stand by it.

     That being said, here are two of the best projects I've seen in a long time. The first is a collaborative piece (many segments from many creators put together by a master editor) by Strawberry Kiss Studio of Re-Evolution Studios. Re-Evolution Studios seems to be an international gathering of Anime Music Video artists on Youtube. It's pretty cool. The editing is fantastic.

     The next project I'm going to share is actually not an anime music video, but a pretty neat art project done by Kama152a. It's really sweet!

Hope you enjoy the videos!
 Lady Lara Jones