Ueno Park
The Best One Day Tokyo Itinerary
Japan is a vast country with a myriad of things to do. One could spend their entire life trying to experience it all and never begin to scratch the surface. Between ancient shrines, temples, or the ultra modern, there is always something to do. Nevertheless, if someone had a single day to spend in this wonderful country there is one place I would wholly recommend — Ueno Park.
This answer both surprises and puzzles many Japanese yet despite this reaction I have not found a better smorgasbord of options in all of my travels. Wish you could get to see the Fushimi Inari Shrine but can’t make it to Kyoto? Ueno has you covered. Nikko’s Toshogu Shrine just too far for you? Don’t worry! Ueno has a little of that too.
During the Edo period (1603–1868), the Ueno Park grounds were originally part of Kan’ei-ji . The temple maintained strong connections with the Tokugawa shogunate and was one of the city’s biggest shrines. In 1868, most of the original structures were burned down to restore Emperor Meiji during the war. The area was transformed into the nation’s first Western style park in 1873 following the commencement of the new government.
