We started today at the 24 hour McDonald’s I found at Shimbashi Station. Gary was ready for a change of pace! The plan for today was for Gary to be done with work around 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. We’d meet back at the hotel and head to Ueno (wayno) Park. It started out as a prettier day so I revisited Hibiya Park to see if I could get some brighter pictures. By the time I got there, it started clouding up so I didn’t. I just messed around for the morning. At 1 p.m., Ravi called me to let me know Gary had been delayed and probably wouldn’t be back until 4 p.m. or later. Bummer!
Off to Ueno Park. I took the train to get there (courtesy of excellent consultation provided by my pals in guest relations). It was about a 10 minute trip. As I approached the park, a young Japanese man approached me asking if I spoke English. Big mistake – I said yes. Well, he was panhandling for victims of some earthquake – he said. I quickly gave him some change and left. I had just a few minutes to make a free tour of the park that started at 1:30 p.m. I tried my best to get there, but missed it. I even took a short cut by walking up stairs. This was a major concession because there are stairs everywhere and my thigh and butt muscles start contracting when I look at one. Nevertheless, I didn’t make it in time for the tour. I headed for the National Museum of Western Art – closed! Bummer #2!
Next, I went to the Tokyo National Museum. They were having a major exhibition of art treasures from the Konoe Family Collection. I spent the afternoon seeing the exhibition and touring part of the permanent collection. One section was – guess what! – closed! The Konoe Family Collection was a huge collection of calligraphy from several hundred years ago. There were letters to and from Emperors. There were diary entries. They also had fabrics used for mounting scrolls, some artifacts like tea utensils, and exquisite little doll figures of all sorts. I did enjoy the exhibit even though there was only an English explanation for about every 10 -15 pieces. After I had completed the first half of the exhibit, a monitor noticed me and asked if I had the English list which I did not. So she hustled to get me one. I thought, ” Great! I’ll be able to understand more.” Well, it was a list – not an explanation, but it was very nice of her to do that for me. I was able to say thank you very much to her.
The permanent collection I viewed was also very interesting. There were a lot of examples of Buddhas. The first room I went into the Buddhas were carved in wood and had a slight gold finish. I also found a Japanese artist who studied in Europe and so his paintings were in the European style – some were in the Impressionism style. He was born 100 years before me and only lived to age 51 – my age now. I think if he had lived another 20 years we might have heard of him in the west because he would have had a larger portfolio to draw attention.
I went to the Museum Store. They were happy I came and my mother will be happy I shopped there.
I intended to go ahead and go back to the Ueno Station to get back to the hotel to meet up with Gary, but you know what they say about good intentions. On my way through the park, I found a craft fair of sorts. So I had to go through that. I didn’t buy anything though. Then, there was a guy making balloon animals for kids. Actually, he made a balloon Snoopy. You’ll notice the heart shape on his scalp in the picture. Then I walked a little more. I came to an area and looked right. There was a temple surrounded by a marsh with birds. Say no more – I’m there! I walked all around it and the marsh. You’ll see a picture of a little girl feeding the ducks and pigeons. After I took the picture, I found a sign that obviously was admonishing the public not to feed the birds. The ducks were all little beggars.
After my walk around the marsh and a brief McDonald’s break for ….. a diet coke, I headed back to the hotel. When I got off the train at Yurokocha Station and was waiting for the light to turn so I could cross the street, here comes a young Japanese man saying, “Sorry!” and carrying an earthquake donation container. I just said no thank you – in English and he kept moving on.
Well, Gary and I are going to Kyoto today and I have to stop now. We’ll be spending the night there. We’re not taking the computer as we aren’t checking out of this hotel so, it will be a while before I make another post. Sayonara!
Tags: diet coke, Hibiya Park, Ueno Park
