is a district in Taitō,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The area extending from Ueno to

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

is part of the historical

Shitamachi and are traditional names for two areas of Tokyo, Japan. Yamanote refers to the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo west of the Imperial Palace.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version While citizens once considered it as ...

(literally "low city") district of Tokyo, which is often associated with working-class traditions and culture as well as their distinct accent. The district's name roughly translates into "Upper Field" in english. The Ueno area, in the strict sense, centres around

Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other ...

, which has historically been the terminus for long-distance trains bound for northern Japan, such as the Blue trains and the

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...

. To the north, Ueno Park stretches to the area just behind the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

's Hongo Campus. Ueno Park houses some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō wards of Tokyo, ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the , is considered the oldest national museum and the largest art museum in Japan. The museum collects, prese ...

, the

National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was established on June 10, 1959 ...

, the

National Museum of Nature and Science The is in the northeast corner of Ueno Park in Tokyo. The museum has exhibitions on pre-Meiji period, Meiji science in Japan. It is the venue of the taxidermied bodies of the legendary dogs Hachikō and Taro and Jiro. A life-size blue whale mod ...

, and a major public concert hall. Numerous Buddhist temples can also be found in the park, including the Bentendo, dedicated to the goddess

Benzaiten is an East Asian Buddhism, East Asian Buddhist Dharmapala, goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mai ...

, on an island in

Shinobazu Pond The is a pond within Ueno Park (a spacious public park located in the Ueno, Tokyo, Ueno section of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan), and a historically prominent Shitamachi feature often appearing in history and works of art. The park occupies the site of t ...

. The

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Nihon ...

, a major temple for the Tokugawa shōguns, also stands in this area, with its pagoda now located within the grounds of

Ueno Zoo The is a zoo, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and located in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is Japan's oldest zoo, opened on March 20, 1882. It is served by Ueno Station, Keisei Ueno Station and Nezu Station, with convenient access from ...

. Nearby is

Ueno Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in the Taitō Special wards of Tokyo, ward of Tokyo, Japan. First established in 1627 by Tōdō Takatora and renovated in 1651 by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shrine has remained mostly intact since that time, ma ...

, a Shinto shrine dedicated to

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

. The

International Library of Children's Literature The is a branch of the National Diet Library in Japan, which provides library services specializing in children's books. It was established in 2000 as Japan's first national library specializing in children's books. It is the center and internat ...

is also in the area. To the south of the station lies Ameya-yokochō, a street market district that evolved from an open-air black market that sprang up during the privation following the Second World War, leading towards Okachimachi. Part of Ueno has also been known as a

gay village A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay vil ...

since the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, when the area had a large number of gay brothels.

History

On 4 July 1868, during the

Battle of Ueno The was a battle of the Boshin War, which occurred on July 4, 1868 (''Meiji 1, 15th day of the 5th month''), between the troops of the Shōgitai under Shibusawa Seiichirō and Amano Hachirō, and Imperial "Kangun" troops. Prelude Though the Sh� ...

of the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

, pro-Imperial "Kangun" forces defeated remnants Shōgitai troops near the

temple. Most of the temple was destroyed and the

Ueno Park is a spacious public park in the Ueno, Tokyo, Ueno district of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. The park was established in 1873 on lands formerly belonging to the Buddhist temples in Japan, temple of Kan'ei-ji. Amongst the country's first public parks, i ...

was later built there.

Economy

Ueno is the hometown of Yoshida Watch Shop, established in 1901 by Shogoro Yoshida. It is the origin of Orient Watch Co., Ltd.Orient Watch History
, . Retrieved 3 October 2014

Education

Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...

Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. * Taito City Board of Education operates public elementary and junior high schools. Ueno 1-4 and 6-chome and part of Ueno 5-chome are zoned to Kuromon Elementary School ( 黒門小学校). Ueno 7-

chome The Japanese addressing system is used to identify a specific location in Japan. When written in Japanese characters, addresses start with the largest geographical entity and proceed to the most specific one. The Japanese system is complex, th ...

is zoned to Ueno Elementary School (上野小学校). A portion of Ueno 5-chome is zoned to Heisei Elementary School (平成小学校). Ueno 1-2 chome is zoned to Ueno Junior High School ( 上野中学校). Ueno 4 and 7-chome and portions of 3 and 5-6-chome are zoned to Shinobugaoka Junior High School ( 忍岡中学校). Parts of Ueno 3 and 5-6 chome are zoned to Okachimachi Taito Junior High School ( 御徒町台東中学校). Private schools: * Kuromon elementary school ueno.JPG, Kuromon Elementary School ( 黒門小学校) - 1-chome

Public transport

* Okachimachi Station * Ueno-hirokoji Station * Ueno-okachimachi Station * Naka-okachimachi Station * Yushima Station *

Keisei Ueno Station is a railway station in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keisei Electric Railway. It is the terminus of the Keisei Main Line and is a short distance from JR Ueno Station. Layout The station is underground bene ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Ueno / Official Tokyo Travel Guide GO TOKYO
{{Authority control Districts of Taitō