The Ueno Onshi Kōen (上野恩賜公園) is a park which covers the western side of the JR Ueno train station. It is also called “Ueno Forest” and “Ueno Mountain.”

Ueno Park is home to many cultural facilities, such as the Tokyo National Museum (東京国立博物館), the National Museum of Western Art (国立西洋美術館), the National Museum Of Nature and Science (国立科学博物館), the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (東京都美術館), and the Onshi Ueno Zoo (恩賜上野動物園), among others. Next to Ueno Park rests the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (東京藝術大学), which adds to the strong image of Ueno being a center of culture and art. Furthermore, Ueno Park is also famous for cherry blossoms, bringing many sightseers every spring.

History

The place where Ueno Park stands was originally home to Ueno’s Kan’ei-ji Temple (寛永時), built by Edo period’s third Tokugawa Shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa, where the shogun’s family were buried. However, in the Boshin War at the end of the Edo era, the temple became part of the war field and had a large portion burnt down due to loyalist forces. After this event came a Dutch man named Anthonius Franciscus Bauduin who worked to restore the area into a park. In 1873, Ueno Park became Japan’s first park, where a statue of Bauduin inside honouring its founder now stands. In 1879, the Kan’ei-ji temple’s reconstruction was approved, and was rebuilt on the same spot it had stood.

The statue of Anthonius Franciscus Bauduin

In 1973, in celebration of Ueno Park’s 100 year birthday, a statue of its founder was erected. Due to a misinterpretation, however, instead of Bauduin, the statue bore his younger brother’s face. This mistake was later corrected in 2006.

Facilities

・上野動物園（Ueno Zoo）
・旧東京音楽学校奏楽堂Sogakudo Concert Hall
・東京藝術大学Tokyo University of the Arts
・寛永寺Kan’ei-ji Temple
・東京国立博物館 Tokyo National Museum
・国際子ども図書館 International Library of Children's Literature
・東京都美術館 Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
・国立科学博物館 National Museum Of Nature and Science
・国立西洋美術館 National Museum of Western Art
・東京文化会館 Tokyo Bunka Kaikan
・上野の森美術館 The Ueno Royal Museum
・不忍池  Shinobazu Pond
・西郷隆盛像 Statue of Saigo Takamori