Tokyo Day 5 (last day): Ueno Park & Views of Mount Fuji

Before leaving Tokyo, I wanted to check out Ueno Park, which had been recommended to me by a friend and I’d seen as a top destination on several websites (I use TripAdvisor a lot, by the way, for reviews and ideas).

Our flight wasn’t until later in the afternoon, either, so we took the train to Ueno Station, grabbed a quick bite, rented a locker and stowed our two suitcases so we didn’t have to roll them around the park. How convenient! It was a nice, sunny day, and it’s a pretty big park. You could spend hours there.

At the park you’ll find several temples, a shrine, a large pond with a fleet of paddle boats and swan boats for rent, a zoo (Ueno Zoo: Japan’s oldest zoo, known for its giant pandas), a small children’s amusement park, multiple museums, and more. Apparently, the park grounds were originally part of the Kaneiji Temple, one of the city’s largest and wealthiest temples during the Edo Period. The grounds were later converted into a Western-style park and designated in 1873 as the first park in Japan.