TOKYO: Day 4

ASAKUSA, UENO AND AKIHABARA

Today we visited a temple, a park and an electronics city.

Asakusa is home to the Buddhist Sensoji (also known as Kannon) temple built in the seventh century making it Tokyo’s oldest temple. It was extremely busy on a Sunday afternoon with people traveling from miles around to visit this holy place. On this day, we were fortunate to see a religious parade as various interesting characters associated with a local festival bowed in front of the main temple. Luckily for us we were on the steps in front of the temple as the event began. The street leading up to the temple is jam-packed with people and is lined by shops selling religious paraphernalia and tourist souvenirs. Occasionally women in traditional dress would wander through the crowds delightful as the cherry blossoms themselves.

Ueno Park is a popular park for families especially on weekends. It is also one of the main cherry blossom viewpoints in Tokyo. We were about week late for the blossoms. I can only imagine how stunning the scene must have been with the pathways lined with thousands of these colorful trees. The park includes several shrines, national museums, and a zoo. It was fun to people watch here as bright young families intermingled with older couples, tourists and locals alike.

We pushed our ailing bodies a little to stop off at Akihabara, known for its streets filled with electronics. The stores range from small shop fronts to massive multi storied super malls. The area is also more recently famous for the manga and anime shops, and for the maid cafes that are dotted throughout the area. The roads in Akihabara are closed to traffic on Sunday afternoons.