Cherry blossom season has started into full swing, and one of the best places to see it in Tokyo is at Ueno Park. We weren't the only ones there, though -- even though it was noon on an overcast and soon-to-be-raining Wednesday, there were plenty of other people out enjoying the almost-full blooms on the trees. This isn't the park staff's first rodeo though -- all along the tree-lined alley were signs instructing people to walk in specific directions to circulate around without colliding. Very smart, especially since I'm sure it will get more crowded on the weekends as the trees reach peak bloom.
We made sure to stop at the beautiful and well-preserved Toshogu Shinto Shrine near the Ueno park entrance. This shrine is one of the few that has survived the centuries mostly intact despite earthquakes, fires, and wars. It was built in 1627 and dedicated to the memory of Tokugawa Ieyasu the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. The main hall is covered in very beautiful carvings and gold leaf. Seeing this shrine was interesting because in a couple weeks we will be visiting the town of Nikko where the main (and larger) Toshogu shrine was established after Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1616.
One of the best parts of visiting Ueno park, as opposed to some of the other Sakura viewing spots, is that there is a food court with delicious snacks and drinks on offer. So many food stalls to choose from!
We wanted to drink up the atmosphere so we chose some Sakura-flavored Lemon Sours made with lemon chu-hi (shochu distilled spirit with lemon flavor). Each drink was served with a tiny pink Sakura bud floating on top. Kanpai!
We knew from the forecast that the rain would start around lunchtime, so we ate our fill from the food stalls and headed to the "Electric Town" district of Akihabara once we started feeling the first few raindrops. Akihabara is known for nerd culture -- electronics stores, manga bookstores, anime collectible figurines, and indoor arcades. We figured playing some video games would be a fun way to get out of the rain.
We stopped in at an arcade called GiGO 3 -- a multi-storey building with floor after floor of arcade games and crane/claw machines. Most of the games were unfamiliar and seemed too complicated for me to figure out, but give me a steering wheel and a gas pedal and I'm happy to just floor it and try to stay on the road. Pedal to the metal!
Probably the most fun we had was playing the Taiko no Tatsujin (Master of the Drums) game. Using huge traditional Japanese drums (taiko drums) you follow along with the beat of your chosen pop song. Extra points are given for good "drum rolls". Super fun!
Most of the games we played allowed you to choose to use the English language menu so you would have some kind of idea how to play and what the rules were. But I managed to find one that needed no rules explained in any language: just hit the alligators with the hammer -- easy!
The rain was expected to continue into Thursday. Many of the museums we really want to go to are taking a spring break to change over their exhibits -- so that wasn't an option. What to do when it's pouring out and you're looking for indoor stuff to do? You go to the movies, of course! We chose an early morning screening of "Project Hail Mary". It was in English and subtitled in Japanese, not dubbed, so we could follow it except for maybe one or two sentences at the very end. Going to the movies in Japan was really interesting. They did have popcorn flavors that we generally don't see in US theaters -- Kevin had caramel and I had soy butter flavor. The audience was very quiet throughout the movie (no wrapper rustling or anything!) and every single person stayed in the theater until the final moment of the closing credits, wow!
Later in the evening on Thursday, we headed over to a jazz/dinner club called Blue Note Place in Ebisu to hear a jazz group led by the incredible pianist Shota Watanabe. Some songs were instrumental, and others had a very talented vocalist who sang in both English and Japanese. They were really good!
Ueno Park is one of several Sakura/Cherry Blossom "hotspots" around Tokyo. Another popular park is the Shinjuku Gyoen (Garden). While entry to Ueno Park is free, the Shinjuku Garden has a small entry fee. But in addition to cherry blossoms it also has a Japanese garden, a formal garden, a teahouse, and other beautiful green spaces. Here the cherry trees are spread throughout the park so there is much more to explore than in Ueno.
The earlier blooming bright pink Kawazu-zakura trees have already passed full bloom; the wind is scattering their fuchsia-colored petals and blanketing the ground beneath.
We were glad to come here on a Friday -- this is one of the most popular places when the trees are in bloom and it was expected that you'd need a timed entry ticket over this weekend and next to enter (just for Saturdays and Sundays though, so that's why we headed over here today).
After we had our fill of cherry blossoms, we headed over to the main tourist area of Shinjuku to find lunch. This is one of the most touristed areas of Tokyo, and the streets were jam-packed with people (and kaiju, giant monsters -- can you spot Godzilla lurking among the buildings?)
If Godzilla is too scary for you, you can head a few streets over to watch the antics of "Shinjuku Cat" instead. This electronic billboard was built with a slight curve so that the animated ads look like they are in 3-D. The cat is very popular, and every few minutes in between other ads he pops up to swat at and knock various objects off of the shelf. Super cute!
Some of the streets here are a bit grittier and seedier than most of the rest of Tokyo as well. Shinjuku is home to a few of the popular late-night entertainment districts, like the Golden Gai area. This maze of alleys is packed with tiny bars, each unique and open into the wee hours of the morning. We came here with a food & drink tour on our last trip to Japan, but that was in the evening after dark. It was actually hard to find a flattering angle for a photo in the daytime. I can definitely say it looks much more inviting at night all lit up!
Most of the bars weren't even open yet (it was lunchtime) so we left the Golden Gai area and found a great shop selling delicious gyoza dumplings in a rainbow of flavors. Kevin does most of the restaurant research when we travel and this time he definitely found a gem!
They had pretty good beers too! Cheers to the upcoming weekend with (hopefully - fingers crossed) NO RAIN!
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