Category: Ueno

Ueno Park History Walk, Part 2: From Battlefield to Museum Hill, with Le Corbusier

This post contains affiliate links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

In Part 1 we walked the south side of Ueno Park: the shoguns’ temple of Kan’ei-ji, the Battle of Ueno in 1868, and the racecourse around Shinobazu Pond. We ended with a question. The battle left most of the hilltop in ashes, so what happened to all that empty land?

The answer is all around you on the north side of the park. In about 150 years, the burned temple grounds became Japan’s greatest museum quarter: the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Nature and Science, and the National Museum of Western Art, Le Corbusier’s only building in Japan. Along the way we will meet a Dutch doctor with the wrong face, a ghost station built with the Emperor’s permission, and, at the end, a bridge where the ancient seashore meets Tokyo’s busiest railway lines.

Quick facts

Route	JR Ueno (Park Exit) → Tokyo Bunka Kaikan → National Museum of Western Art → National Museum of Nature and Science → Bauduin statue → fountain square → Tokyo National Museum → old Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen Station and Sogakudo → Kan’ei-ji main hall → Ryodaishi Bridge
Distance	About 2 km, mostly flat
Time	1.5 hours outside only, or a full half day with one museum
Cost	Walking is free, and so are the Rodin sculptures outside the National Museum of Western Art. Tokyo National Museum collection: ¥1,000. Western Art permanent collection: ¥500 (¥1,000 from 20 March 2027)
Avoid	Mondays: the main museums are closed
Nearest stations	Start: JR Ueno, Park Exit. Finish: JR Ueno or JR Uguisudani

Start: the Park Exit

JR Ueno Station’s Park Exit (Koen-guchi) is the front door of the museum quarter. As soon as you walk out of the ticket gates, the National Museum of Western Art is on your left and the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan concert hall on your right, with the zoo and the museums beyond.

The Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, opened in 1961, is the work of Kunio Maekawa, one of Le Corbusier’s Japanese students. It faces his teacher’s museum across the square, which is a nice way to begin. Note that the hall is closed for major renovation from May 2026 until some time in fiscal 2028, so for now you can only see it from outside.

Le Corbusier’s museum: the National Museum of Western Art

The National Museum of Western Art opened in 1959. Its story begins with a businessman, Matsukata Kojiro, who collected thousands of European paintings and sculptures in the early 20th century. Part of his collection stayed in France and was held by the French government after the Second World War. When France agreed to return many of the works to Japan, Japan promised to build a museum for them, and Le Corbusier was chosen to design it. His Japanese students, Maekawa Kunio, Sakakura Junzo and Yoshizaka Takamasa, finished the drawings and supervised the work.

At first sight it is a plain box. But look at how it stands. The ground floor is lifted on columns, with open space underneath: Le Corbusier called these columns pilotis. Inside, the galleries wind around a central hall in a square spiral. His idea was a “museum of unlimited growth”, which could keep expanding outward like a snail shell as the collection grew. In 2016 the building became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as one of 17 works by Le Corbusier in seven countries listed together.

On my visit, the special exhibition was so crowded that I could not get in. Many visitors seemed to have come for the World Heritage building as much as the art. But I have been here many times before, and I can say this: the permanent collection is wonderful, and a bargain. Look for El Greco, Monet and Renoir. Adults pay ¥500, university students ¥250, and high school students and younger are free. From 20 March 2027 the price for adults rises to ¥1,000 and for students to ¥500, still very reasonable.

Rodin in the front garden, free

You do not need a ticket for the best-known works. In the front garden stand Rodin’s The Gates of Hell and The Thinker.

Find the small seated figure above the doors. Rodin first made The Thinker as part of this gate, looking down on the souls below, before he enlarged it as a separate statue. Then walk over to the big Thinker, which you can see from very close. Look carefully at his pose: he rests his right elbow on his left thigh. Try it yourself. It is surprisingly uncomfortable! Then look at his feet. His toes are curled and gripping the stone, as if his whole body is working, not only his head.

A whale and a rocket launcher: the National Museum of Nature and Science

Next door is the National Museum of Nature and Science, founded in 1877, Japan’s main museum of natural history and science. Even from outside there are two things to see. One is a life-size model of a blue whale, about 30 meters long, diving beside the entrance. The other is a big red launcher. It is not a rocket, but the real launch rail used for the Lambda rocket that put Japan’s first satellite, Ohsumi, into orbit in 1970, from Uchinoura in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Why is this a park? Thank a Dutch doctor

Walk on toward the fountain. Past the Starbucks, at the back on the right, stands a small bust that most visitors walk straight past. This man is the reason Ueno Park exists.

After the Battle of Ueno, the new government planned to build a medical school and hospital on the burned hilltop, and work had already started. In 1870, the Dutch army doctor Anthonius Bauduin, who was teaching medicine in Japan, was shown the site. He told the Japanese officials that it would be a waste to cut down the trees, and that Ueno should become a park, like the great parks of European cities. The medical school was moved to Hongo instead, and became the University of Tokyo. In 1873 Ueno was named one of Japan’s first public parks, together with Asakusa, Shiba, Fukagawa and Asukayama, and it opened officially in 1876. Without Dr. Bauduin, Ueno might be a university campus today.

The wrong face, again

Remember Saigo Takamori’s statue in Part 1, whose widow said, “My husband was not like this”? Ueno has a second face problem. When Bauduin’s bust was first put up in 1973, the family had supplied a photograph of the wrong man, his younger brother, who had been the Dutch consul in Japan. Nobody noticed for decades. In 2006 the bust was finally replaced with the right face. So if you want to see the real Dr. Bauduin, you are just in time.

The fountain square: a temple, then a world fair

The big fountain square is the heart of the park. Look back at Hiroshige’s view of Kan’ei-ji in Part 1: the great main hall of the temple stood right here. After the battle, this empty ground became the stage for modern Japan.

In 1877 the government held the First National Industrial Exhibition here, a Japanese world fair to show off new machines, crafts and products. Kawanabe Kyosai’s print from that year shows Ueno full of flags, halls and visitors, with a tall windmill turning above the pines. Only ten years earlier this was a temple ground where the shoguns came to pray.

Exhibitions kept coming back to Ueno, and the museums grew out of them. That is why so many museums stand side by side here today.

The Tokyo National Museum

At the end of the fountain square stands the Tokyo National Museum, Japan’s oldest museum, founded in 1872. Its collection of Japanese and Asian art is one of the largest in the world, with many National Treasures.

Then and now: two main buildings

The building you see today is not the first. In 1881 the British architect Josiah Conder, the “father of modern Japanese architecture”, designed a red-brick gallery for the Second National Industrial Exhibition. When the exhibition closed, it became the museum’s main building. Yoshu Chikanobu printed it in 1881, with fashionable ladies strolling in front. That brick hall was badly damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

What stayed the same: the place, and the idea of a grand building to show Japan’s treasures. What changed: the style. The present main building, completed in 1938, is a Western-style concrete building wearing a heavy Japanese tiled roof, a style popular in 1930s Japan. Look up at the roof: you will find onigawara demon tiles and phoenix ornaments, traditionally meant to keep away evil and bring good fortune.

Inside the main building

Inside the entrance hall, a grand staircase rises under a coffered ceiling. You may recognize it: it often appears in Japanese TV dramas. The main building is huge, on two floors, and seeing the whole collection properly takes several hours. Visitors from abroad especially love the tea bowls used in the tea ceremony, the samurai armor and the Japanese swords.

Make your own ukiyo-e print

My favorite corner is near the entrance of the main building: a hands-on ukiyo-e corner, at no extra charge. You press five color stamps, one after another, onto the same card, lining each one up with a guide mark. Color by color, a woodblock-style picture appears, and you take home your own ukiyo-e postcard. Real ukiyo-e used many more blocks, and the panels explain how the professionals did it. It makes a lovely souvenir.

When I visited, a special Hiroshige exhibition was on, and the museum was busy. There are plenty of sofas to rest on, coin lockers, and elevators as well as stairs.

Two more buildings for two imperial weddings

To the left of the main building is the Hyokeikan, a domed palace in the Western style completed in 1908 to celebrate the wedding of the Crown Prince, later Emperor Taisho. It was designed by Katayama Tokuma, a student of Josiah Conder, and it is an Important Cultural Property. It was closed on my visit. Behind it, the modern Heiseikan opened in 1999 to mark the wedding of the then Crown Prince, today’s Emperor. It shows archaeology, including clay haniwa figures and Jomon dogu, and hosts the big special exhibitions.

A ghost station and Japan’s oldest concert hall

Leave the museum and walk west along the road beside it. Opposite the Kuroda Memorial Hall stands a small stone building: the old Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen Station, “Museum and Zoo Station”, on the Keisei Line. It opened in 1933. The land belonged to the Imperial family, so building a station here needed the approval of the Emperor himself, and the railway was told the building must be dignified enough for the site. That is why a small station looks like a little temple of classical architecture. Trains stopped calling in 1997, and the station was closed for good in 2004. It is opened to the public only for special events, so check the Keisei website.

Across the road stands the Sogakudo, built in 1890 for the Tokyo Music School, the forerunner of today’s Tokyo University of the Arts. It is the oldest Western-style concert hall in Japan and an Important Cultural Property. It is open to visitors on certain days, and there are often concerts.

My favorite coffee break

On the corner opposite the old station is Ueshima Coffee House, at the Kuroda Memorial Hall. It is one of my favorite cafés in Ueno: it is usually less crowded than the cafés in the middle of the park, and from the window you can sit and look out at the old station and the Sogakudo. The perfect place to rest your legs before the last stretch.

Kan’ei-ji today: a temple hall from Kawagoe

Walk north along the road to find what remains of Kan’ei-ji. After the battle, the temple had lost almost everything, including its great main hall on today’s fountain square. In 1879 the monks brought a hall from Kitain, a temple in Kawagoe with deep ties to Kan’ei-ji’s founder Tenkai. It had been built there in 1638. The hall was taken apart, carried to Tokyo by boat, and rebuilt here as the new main hall. So the shoguns’ great temple, which once covered the whole hill, now lives quietly in a corner at the north end of the park.

From the road in front of the temple, look back: you can see the green dome of the Hyokeikan above the trees.

Finish: Ryodaishi Bridge, on the ancient shore

End the walk at Ryodaishi Bridge, just north of Ueno Station, which crosses the railway from the hilltop. Its name comes from Ryodaishi, a temple of Kan’ei-ji nearby. From here you look down on a river of tracks: the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku Lines, the Utsunomiya, Takasaki and Joban Lines, and limited express trains such as the Hitachi. Because the trains are just leaving or entering Ueno Station, they move slowly, so you can watch them properly. Stay ten minutes and you will see many kinds of trains, sometimes three or four at once. Children love it, and so do I.

Why the trains run along the foot of the hill

Remember the elevation map in Part 1? The railway runs exactly along the foot of the Ueno Plateau, on the flat lowland. About 6,000 years ago, when the sea was higher than today, this lowland was the seashore.

The proof lies a little farther north. At Kami-Nakazato in Kita City, at the foot of the same plateau, the Jomon people left the Nakazato shell mound, a heap of shells about 1 kilometer long and up to 4.5 meters deep, made about 4,600 to 3,900 years ago. It sits on what was then a sandy beach, and archaeologists think it was a kind of seafood factory, where people heated and dried shellfish to trade inland. Today the shell mound, now a National Historic Site, lies between two railway depots, the Tokyo Shinkansen depot and the Oku train depot. The Jomon beach has become a parking lot for trains.

Trains and shell mounds have met before. In 1877 the American zoologist Edward Morse was riding the train from Yokohama to Shinbashi when he spotted layers of shells in a cliff near Omori. Because the railway runs along the foot of the plateau, the cliff was right beside his window. His dig at the Omori shell mound is remembered as the start of modern archaeology in Japan. So as you watch the trains from Ryodaishi Bridge, remember: you are standing on the edge of an ancient sea.

Best time to go

Come on a weekday morning, Tuesday to Friday, when the museums open (9:30). The Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art stay open until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, which is a quieter time to visit. In late March and early April, the cherry blossoms make the walk beautiful, but very crowded.

Good to know before you go

Mondays: the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art are closed (except on public holidays).
Tokyo Bunka Kaikan is closed for renovation until some time in fiscal 2028. You can only see the outside.
The National Museum of Western Art can be very crowded during special exhibitions. The Rodin sculptures outside are free.
Prices change: the permanent collection of the National Museum of Western Art will cost ¥1,000 for adults from 20 March 2027.
Give the Tokyo National Museum time. The main building alone can take several hours.
The old station is open only during special events, and the Sogakudo only on certain days. Check before you go.

Getting there

Start: JR Ueno Station, Park Exit. From Asakusa, take the Ginza Line to Ueno (about 5 minutes) and walk through the station to the Park Exit.
From Narita Airport: Keisei Skyliner to Keisei Ueno, then walk up through the park (or start with Part 1).
Finish: from Ryodaishi Bridge, walk back to JR Ueno Station (about 5 minutes), or north to JR Uguisudani Station.

Open Ryodaishi Bridge in Google Maps

Make a day of it

See Ueno with a local guide

This three-hour small-group tour in English covers Ueno Park, the Tokyo National Museum and the Ameyoko market. It is still new, with only a few reviews so far, though they are good. The museum ticket (¥1,000) is not included. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Prices may change, so check the details before you book.

See the Ueno Park and Ameyoko walking tour (GetYourGuide)

Where to stay

Mitsui Garden Hotel Ueno

Why choose: Right by JR Ueno and Keisei Ueno stations, so you can walk to the museums in minutes, and the Skyliner to Narita Airport is on your doorstep.

Check Rates on Booking.com

Nohga Hotel Ueno Tokyo

Why choose: A stylish small hotel that works with local craftspeople, in a quieter street east of Ueno Station. Good for design lovers.

Check Rates on Booking.com

Official websites

Tokyo National Museum
National Museum of Western Art
National Museum of Nature and Science
Sogakudo (Japanese)
Old Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen Station (Keisei, Japanese)

Next time

Next time, we keep walking north from Kan’ei-ji into Yanaka and Nippori: quiet temple streets, the old-fashioned Yanaka Ginza shopping street, and the edge of the plateau where the Jomon people once lived beside the sea.

Photos: Aozora Walks unless otherwise noted. Woodblock prints: National Diet Library Digital Collections (public domain): Kawanabe Kyosai, “Panorama of Ueno” (Famous Places of Tokyo, 1877), https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1305644; Yoshu Chikanobu, “The Second National Industrial Exhibition at Ueno” (1881), https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1307421. Elevation map made from GSI Japan’s Chiriin Chizu (pale map and 5 m DEM), with colors and labels added by Aozora Walks. Information as of October 2026.

2026-10-30

Ueno Park History Walk, Part 1: Edo’s Sacred Hill, a Battlefield and a Racecourse

This post contains affiliate links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Most visitors come to Ueno Park for its museums. But the park itself is the best museum in Tokyo, if you know how to read it. Over its long history, this hill has been the edge of an ancient sea, the holiest temple ground of the shoguns, a battlefield, and a racecourse where the Emperor watched horses gallop around a lotus pond.

There is so much to see that I have split Ueno into two walks. This is Part 1, the south side of the park: the Edo-period temples, the Battle of Ueno and Shinobazu Pond. In Part 2 we will walk the north side, where the burned temple grounds became Japan’s museum quarter, with Le Corbusier’s only building in the country. As a geography teacher, I will also show you old woodblock prints from the 1850s, so you can compare them with the same places today.

Quick facts

Route	Keisei Ueno / JR Ueno (Shinobazu Exit) → Saigo statue and Shogitai grave → Kiyomizu Kannon-do → Bell of Time → Ueno Daibutsu → Ueno Toshogu → Shinobazu Pond and Benten-do → racecourse curve
Distance	About 2 km, with some stairs and slopes
Time	1.5 to 2 hours
Cost	The park, temples and Benten-do are free. Ueno Toshogu charges a small fee to enter the inner precinct
Best for	History lovers, and anyone who wants Edo-period Tokyo without the crowds of Asakusa
Nearest stations	Keisei Ueno (Keisei Line, Skyliner from Narita Airport) or JR Ueno, Shinobazu Exit

Start at the edge of an ancient sea

Walk out of Keisei Ueno Station or the Shinobazu Exit of JR Ueno and look up. In front of you, a steep green slope rises above the traffic. That slope is the edge of the Ueno Plateau, the eastern tip of the Musashino Plateau that covers much of western Tokyo. Everything around the station, and everything east toward Asakusa, is the flat Tokyo Lowland.

The difference is not just a few stairs. After the last Ice Age ended, the sea rose quickly. At its peak, around 7,000 to 6,000 years ago, the sea level was 2 to 3 meters higher than today. Geologists call this the Jomon transgression, after the Jomon people who lived here then. The sea pushed deep inland and formed a long bay, and the Ueno Plateau stood above the water like a headland. The low ground where the trains now run was the seashore, and the valley on the west side, where Shinobazu Pond lies, was also filled with water.

How do we know? The Jomon people left their shells. Just north of here, below the temple of Enmei-in near Nippori Station, workers digging soil in 1888 found a shell mound, a Jomon rubbish heap of shells. It faced the valley on the west side of the plateau. In Part 2 we will meet an even bigger one on the east side. Ueno Park itself also hides traces of the ancient past: Suribachiyama, the small round hill near the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, is believed to be an ancient burial mound.

By the Edo period the sea had long gone, and the foot of the hill had become one of the busiest shopping streets in the city. Hiroshige drew it in 1858: the dark green hill on the left, a big shop on the right, and crowds of people with umbrellas in between.

The same idea is still true. Ueno grew up at the place where the hill meets the lowland, and where travelers arrived from the north. Today the trains do the same job.

A temple city guarding Edo

In 1625, the monk Tenkai founded Kan’ei-ji on this hill for the Tokugawa shoguns. It was built in the northeast of Edo Castle, the direction from which bad luck was believed to come, to protect the city. The whole hill was its temple ground, with dozens of halls, and six shoguns were later buried here.

Tenkai wanted Edo to have everything Kyoto had. Kyoto has Mount Hiei, the great temple mountain in the northeast of the city, so he named this hill Toeizan, “the Hiei of the East”. Shinobazu Pond became a small Lake Biwa, and a copy of Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera was built on the slope. Hiroshige’s bird’s-eye view shows how grand it was: halls and pagodas floating among the pines and clouds.

What stayed the same: every spring, crowds still come to walk under the cherry trees, just like the people Hiroshige drew in front of the great hall. What changed: the hall itself burned in 1868. Its site is now the fountain square, which we will visit in Part 2.

How did it all burn down in a single day? Let’s climb the stairs to the first stop.

Saigo Takamori and the Battle of Ueno

At the top of the stairs stands Tokyo’s most famous statue: Saigo Takamori in a simple kimono, with his dog at his side. Saigo was one of the leaders of the new Meiji government’s army that ended the rule of the shoguns.

In 1868, the last shogun had already surrendered Edo Castle without a fight. But a group of his loyal samurai, the Shogitai, refused to give up. They barricaded themselves on this hill inside Kan’ei-ji. On 4 July 1868, the government army attacked. The battle lasted only one day. The Shogitai were defeated, and fire destroyed most of the great temple.

Now walk around to the back of the statue. Hidden among the trees, just behind Saigo, are the graves of the Shogitai, the men his army defeated. The winner looks out over the city, and the losers rest behind his back. I find this one of the most moving corners of Tokyo.

“My husband was not like this!”

The statue was made by the sculptor Takamura Koun and unveiled in 1898. There is a famous problem with it: no photograph of Saigo is known to exist, so the sculptor worked from portraits drawn after his death. At the unveiling ceremony, Saigo’s widow, Ito, is said to have blurted out, “My husband was not a man like this!” People still argue about what she meant. Some say the face did not look like him. Others say she was upset that he was shown in casual clothes in public. This scene opens the first episode of the 2018 NHK drama Segodon, about Saigo’s life.

Remember this story. In Part 2, we will meet another statue in Ueno Park with an even stranger face problem.

Kiyomizu Kannon-do: Kyoto’s stage on a Tokyo hill

A few steps away is Kiyomizu Kannon-do, built in 1631 as a copy of Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera. Like the original, it stands on a wooden stage built out over the slope. It is one of the oldest buildings in the park, survived the Battle of Ueno, and is now an Important Cultural Property.

Then and now: the Moon Pine

Look at the left side of Hiroshige’s print. A pine tree has a branch that loops into a perfect circle. This is the Moon Pine (Tsuki no Matsu). Hiroshige liked it so much that he gave it a print of its own, with Shinobazu Pond and the temple island framed inside the ring.

The original pine was lost in a typhoon in the early Meiji period. In 2012, about 150 years later, a new Moon Pine was trained into a ring and planted in front of the stage.

What stayed the same: the stage, the temple and the idea of a pine framing the view. What changed: the trees around the pond have grown so tall that today you can hardly see the water through the ring. You can still spot the temple on the island, though.

Shells from the battle

Step inside the hall and look up to the right. A large painting of the Battle of Ueno hangs there, and fixed to the right side of its frame are two shells said to have been fired during the battle. The government army had modern Armstrong guns, and it is said that they fired across Shinobazu Pond from the Kaga domain’s estate on the opposite hill, where the University of Tokyo stands today. Quiet as it is now, this hall stood in the middle of the fighting.

The Bell of Time

Walk north along the path toward the Seiyoken restaurant. On a small mound stands the Bell of Time (Toki no Kane). In the Edo period, nine bells around the city rang out the hours, and this is the only one still in use. The bell itself was recast in 1787. It still rings three times a day, at 6:00, noon and 18:00, so time your walk to hear it.

How did the Edo people tell time? They divided daytime, from sunrise to sunset, into six equal “hours”, and night into six more. So a daytime hour was longer in summer and shorter in winter. Before the bell rang the hour, it rang three warning strokes, so people knew to start counting.

The Great Buddha who cannot fall any further

Just behind the bell is one of the strangest sights in Tokyo: a giant Buddha’s face, set into a wall, with no body. The Ueno Daibutsu was first made in 1631 and recast in 1843. In the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 its head fell off. The body was kept by the temple, but in 1940 it was taken away to be melted down for metal during the war. Only the face survived. Since 1972 it has been displayed here, next to a small pagoda.

Because it has already lost everything and “cannot fall any further”, Japanese students now come here to pray to pass their entrance exams. (In Japanese, failing an exam is “falling”.) You will see many wooden prayer plaques with students’ wishes.

Ueno Toshogu: a shrine that escaped the fires

Continue along the stone lantern path to Ueno Toshogu, a shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun. It was founded in 1627, and the present gold-covered hall dates from 1651. It survived the Battle of Ueno, the 1923 earthquake and the air raids of 1945, which makes it one of the few early Edo buildings left in Tokyo. The hall, its gate and the bronze lanterns are Important Cultural Properties.

Near the shrine you can see the top of a five-story pagoda. It belonged to the shrine, but after the Meiji government ordered Shinto and Buddhism to be separated in 1868, Buddhist buildings at shrines were in danger of being pulled down. The priest saved the pagoda by declaring that it belonged to Kan’ei-ji, the temple. Today it stands inside Ueno Zoo.

Shinobazu Pond: a temple island and a racecourse

Walk down the slope to Shinobazu Pond. A causeway leads to Benten-do, an eight-sided temple to Benzaiten, the goddess of water, music and wealth, on an island in the pond. This is the island you saw through Hiroshige’s Moon Pine.

On the west side of the island you can rent rowing boats, cycle boats and swan boats, popular with families and couples. From the water you get a fine view back to the temple, with Tokyo Skytree in the distance.

Then and now: horses around the pond

Here is my favorite secret of Ueno. From 1884 to 1892, there was a horse racecourse around Shinobazu Pond. The first races, on 1 November 1884, were watched by Emperor Meiji himself. Horse racing was part of the government’s plan to make Japan look modern and Western, and woodblock artists rushed to print the scene.

This print, made the year the racecourse opened, shows the jockeys galloping along the edge of the pond, with the hill of Ueno behind. Using prints like this, I found what I believe is one of the old corners of the track: the gentle curve of the path in front of the Shitamachi Museum, at the south end of the pond. The rest of the course continued into what is now Ueno Zoo, so you cannot walk the full lap.

What stayed the same: the pond, the island temple and the hill behind. What changed: the horses and the crowds have gone, and the track is now a quiet path for joggers and strollers.

If you have time, the small Shitamachi Museum beside the curve recreates the streets and homes of old downtown Tokyo, and you can step inside the houses (¥300, closed on Mondays).

Best time to go

Morning is best, when the temples are quiet. Plan to reach the Bell of Time at noon to hear it ring. Late March to early April is cherry blossom season and Ueno Park becomes one of the most crowded places in Tokyo, which is beautiful but slow. In July and August, Shinobazu Pond is covered with huge lotus leaves and flowers, best early in the morning.

Good to know before you go

Stairs and slopes. There are stairs from the station up to the Saigo statue, and from Kiyomizu Kannon-do down to the pond. With a wheelchair or stroller, use the gentle slope from the Keisei Ueno side and the road around the pond.
The Shogitai grave is easy to miss. It is in the trees directly behind the Saigo statue.
The view through the Moon Pine is partly blocked by trees today. Look for the temple on the island.
Ueno Toshogu is free to visit from outside the fence. Entering the inner area around the gold hall costs a small fee.
Boats are rented by the half hour. The boat house closes on Wednesdays from December to February.
Respect the temples. Kiyomizu Kannon-do and Benten-do are places of prayer. Keep your voice low inside the halls.

Getting there

From Narita Airport: the Keisei Skyliner runs straight to Keisei Ueno Station, the start of this walk, in under an hour.
From Asakusa: Tokyo Metro Ginza Line to Ueno, about 5 minutes. Take the exit for JR Ueno Station’s Shinobazu side.
Going on: Ameyoko market is right across the road from the start, and Part 2 of this walk begins at the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station.

Open the Saigo statue in Google Maps

Make a day of it

Walk Ueno with a local guide

If you would like a guide, this three-hour small-group tour in English starts at the Shinobazu Exit of JR Ueno Station and covers Kiyomizu Kannon-do, Shinobazu Pond and Benten-do, the Tokyo National Museum and the Ameyoko market. It is still quite new, with only a few reviews so far, though they are good. The museum ticket (¥1,000) is not included. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Prices may change, so check the details before you book.

See the Ueno Park and Ameyoko walking tour (GetYourGuide)

Where to stay

Ueno is a smart base: the Skyliner from Narita arrives here, the Ginza Line takes you to Asakusa in 5 minutes, and the JR Yamanote Line goes around the whole city.

Mitsui Garden Hotel Ueno

Why choose: A comfortable, reliable hotel a short walk from JR Ueno and Keisei Ueno stations. Very convenient if you arrive from Narita Airport with luggage.

Check Rates on Booking.com

Nohga Hotel Ueno Tokyo

Why choose: A stylish small hotel that works with local craftspeople, in a quieter street east of Ueno Station. A good choice if you like design and want a local neighborhood feel.

Check Rates on Booking.com

Official websites

Keisei Skyliner (from Narita Airport)
Ueno Park (GO TOKYO, official Tokyo travel guide)
Ueno Toshogu (Japanese)

Next time

Next time, in Part 2, we climb back up the hill to the north side of Ueno Park. After the battle, the burned temple grounds were almost turned into a hospital, until a Dutch doctor stepped in. We will see what grew there instead: the Tokyo National Museum, Le Corbusier’s National Museum of Western Art, a ghost station, and a bridge where children can watch a dozen kinds of trains pass beneath their feet.

Photos: Aozora Walks unless otherwise noted. Woodblock prints: National Diet Library Digital Collections (public domain): Hiroshige, “Foot of Ueno Hill”, https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1312248; Hiroshige, “Complete View of Toeizan Temple at Ueno”, https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1302538; Hiroshige, “Kiyomizu Hall and Shinobazu Pond at Ueno”, https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1312247; Hiroshige, “The Moon Pine, Ueno”, https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1312325. Utagawa Kunitoshi, “Opening of the Shinobazu Pond Racecourse” (1884): collection of the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library (public domain), TOKYO Archive, call number 5892-C5. Elevation map made from GSI Japan’s Chiriin Chizu (pale map and 5 m DEM), with colors and labels added by Aozora Walks. Information as of October 2026.

2026-10-30