Ueno

Known as the Gateway to the North, Ueno has many cultural establishments nesting within a vast park.
Ueno Station in Taito-ku is called a gateway to the north because it is the starting station for the railways bound for the Tohoku region(the northeast region) from Tokyo. The terminal accommodates 6 railways including JR Shinkansen Lines. It is a prominent downtown rivaling with the Ginza, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Shibuya.


In the Tokyo Ueno-onshi-koen Park, the Tokyo Metropolitan Imperial Gift Park that boasts a vast area in the west of Ueno Station, there is a concentration of cultural institutions such as the first zoo in Japan, Tokyo Metropolitan Imperial Gift Ueno Zoo, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Cultural Hall, National Western Art Museum, National Science Museum and Tokyo National Museum, all offering recreation and relaxation for the citizens.


There is Ameya-yokocho Market called Ameyoko for short in the area under the elevated railway from Ueno Station to Okachimachi Station. This area used to be a thriving flea market immediately after the end of the WWII. There are over 500 shops that sell everything from basic foods to high-class imported goods at reasonable prices, and thus it is always crowded with shoppers. The year-end special bargain sales, in particular, have become one of the scenes that add poetic charm to the season that reflect the lives of the common people of Tokyo.