Tokyo - Day 3 (Ueno Zoo, Yanaka)

For the third day we decided to visit the Ueno Zoo. After arriving at Ueno Station we were a bit lost as to what exit to take and therefore had to ask someone. The women we asked shortly delegated us to a Japanese family who came by and which was headed to the Zoo, too. So all we had to do was to follow.

They were very friendly and when we got to the zoo entrance the grandparents paid the entrance fee for everyone - including us (no chance to "argue" with them on this). The first enclosure we visited was also the main attraction of the Zoo, two Giant Panda (or "Panda-san" as they are called here). We even arrived on time to see them getting fed with yummy bamboo.

Panda-san ;-)

What we can say about the Zoo visit?
1k: For the most part it is quite a normal zoo, so nothing special or extraordinary to say about it. Only that the Pandas are everywhere, even in the food. Another great view was the lake in the western part of the zoo, with most of the surface covered by lotus.
4k: I disagree with 1k here. I think that visiting Ueno Zoo is a great chance to see some animals from Japan that you usually do not get to see at a German zoo, e.g. a Japanese Black Bear, a Japanese Badger (obviously sleeping and not to be seen when we passed its compound.. ;___; ) and different kinds of birds, among others They also have at least four Aye-ayes, which in Asia can only be found at the Ueno Zoo. They also have a few really great compounds - I liked the one for the Otters best: It was a round compound covered on top with a roof of wire fence (not so good) at about man's height. From this compound let a glass water tube filled with water to a glass cubicle outside the compound, which was 3/4 full of water and had a platform in it - where the two otter played around.

Lotus field on the lake

We also met the friendly family at the western zoo shop and repaid their favor by buing two Panda cuddle toys, for their young twins. After that they wanted us to take a picture.

After leaving the zoo we turned to visit Yanaka, an area in Ueno that is said to have mostly survived World War II and the big earthquakes that destroyed a lot of old Tokyo. So we expected to see some nice old buildings and temple. Well, we did not see some temples, we saw a LOT. You could throw a stone in any direction and you were bound to hit a temple 80% of the time.
The small narrow alleys and the old buildings offer a totally different experience than the modern Tokyo we saw for example in Shibuya. It almost felt like we were in another city all together. If you are ever in Tokyo, be sure to take trip through Yanaka.

Some impressions from Yanaka