Ueno 1-11-01

Today, we moved from Tokyo to Mito, where Steve's factory is. Before we left the hotel, I went down to the AM/PM to get myself some breakfast. It was delicious. The rice ball had smoked salmon and something green in it. I loved it. The edamame salad was really yummy, too. I thought the juice would be close to V8, and it sort of was, but not as much flavor.
We took the subway to Ueno (a suburb of Tokyo), where we put our luggage in lockers at the train station and then explored a little. The cities look rather futuristic to me.

Then we walked up some stairs and were in a park, with guess what, another shrine/temple. The visitors can buy a fortune and then if they don't like what it says, they tie it one here:

People would ring the bell before entering the temple.

Then we saw a juggler in the park. His friend accompanied with the accordian.

Ta-da!

These are all cherry trees and this is a very popular park in the spring when they're blooming.

Then we saw a big Buddha head:

Then Steve got a new hat. (amusing myself)

We went down this lantern lined path to a temple, which is being restored. It's front is actually plastic with an image of the restored building on it. I was trying very hard not to break into a "Where the Hell is Matt?" dance. Steve said he would tape it, but in the end, I thought it would be too disrespectful. That long corridor would have been perfect for it!

I don't know if you can read the sign but it tells about the brass lanterns. There are fifty of them and they're still used ceremoniously.

This monument was sobering, and after seeing it I was very glad I'd not done the dance! There's a flame in the garden, which originated in Hiroshima from a fire after the bombing. That flame has been protected all these years. It was combined with fire made from hitting together roof tiles from the bombed out Nagasaki, and now it's part of this eternal flame to bring attention to dismantling of nuclear arms. It was a pretty hard sign to read. I felt as though I should be apologizing to everyone around me. Very sobering.

I found the wish Steve posted last October!

A five story pagoda:

Gate to something...

We watched a few minutes of a ball game between the Dolphins and the Ball Mates before heading back to the train station for the next part of our journey.