Before coming to Japan last week I studied a University of Tokyo course on edX called "Tokyo Hillside, Tokyo Riverside: Exploring the Historical City". One of the areas of the city discussed was the hills around Ueno. In particular, the professor walked around Shinobazu Pond. This pond was once part of the river system in Tokyo and was basically a small lake along one of the rivers. During the Tokugawa period, many rivers were rerouted and what is now Shinobazu Pond became a small, isolated lake. During the Meiji Period and after WWII, more development occurred here with the creation of the Ueno Zoo which now takes up part of the pond's area.
At least half of Shinobazu Pond is full of lotus plants. None of them were currently in bloom but when the flowers come out this must be quite the sight. I don't think that I've ever seen a field of lotus plants this large. The other half of the pond is open water and is more or less a recreation area with swan-shaped paddle boats floating around.
Although not as nature-filled and as peaceful as Hama-rikyu Gardens, the area around Shinobazu Pond contains an amazing amount of wildlife from hundreds of koi in the pond, to ravens in the trees above and doves and pigeons all around. The doves and pigeons here were some of the tamest that I've ever seen. Clearly they've been well-exposed to humans. They would walk right up to me with barely a twitter. At one point I came across a lady who clearly likes pigeons a bit too much. She was feeding them and was completely surrounded and covered by them. Not exactly my idea of a good time...
I thoroughly enjoyed this walk around the pond. Unfortunately for me I got "caught short" about halfway around. Ugh... Why now?! I'm going to have to use an outdoor, public washroom? What the hell is this going to be like? I know what these types of facilities are like at home (usually dirty, graffiti filled, and potentially with needles lying around) and I didn't really have a desire to use the nearby washroom. There was no way that I was going to make it back to the hotel - my guts were churning too much. So, I went. To my pleasant surprise, this outdoor public washroom was clean. Whew... This is one of the things that I greatly appreciate about Japan - cleanliness. Where I come from in Canada should take note and start to have some pride in public areas / facilities. Feeling much better I walked around the rest of the pond and the sites were great.
Outside of Shinobazu Pond is the larger Ueno Park area. This is a rather large park that contains a zoo, temples, and a number of significant historical sites. I didn't have enough time to explore the park today so I visited a temple and then decided to head back to Kanda for the afternoon before I go out to Shinjuku for a night photography workshop this evening.
Comments
Post a Comment