In Memory of Ling Ling

We regret to announce that our favorite Panda, Ling Ling passed away on April 30,2008 of heart failure.
Ling Ling was 22 years and 7 months old, the equivalent of 70 human years.

We had the honor of seeing the great Panda on our trek through Ueno in 2008. Here is picture of Ling Ling cruzing in his den.


Learn more about Ling Ling at wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ling_Ling_(panda)

Dai Tokugawa Ten at the National Museum

After our trek through the park, we realized that we had a full day. We met the local celebrity (Panda) and saw the local temple and shrine. We decided to cap the day by broadening our horizons at the National Museum.

This turned out to be a special trip to the Museum. The National Museum in Ueno's regular exhibits are spectacular and extensive in itself. The buildings that comprise the National Museum are of marvelous western architecture. Roaming their regular exhibits can last a day or longer as it is easy to get yourself lost in the many treasures.

However, we were fortunate to be able to see the Dai Tokugawa Ten. This is a special exhibit that for the first time brought together the treasures of the Tokugawa family from various private and public collections from around Japan. Awesome, this word does not do this exhibit justice.

We saw the armor worn by the Shogun from various periods. They ranged from silk and leather to western influenced chain mail. The sword collection was spectacular The detail and quality of the swords on display were breathtaking.

Being in the exhibit sent a chill through my body as I realized that what I was seeing were things that were over 500 years old.

We saw a scroll of the ten commandments translated in Japanese. We saw many great Chinese works on scroll.

There was also an impressive display of NOH masks and kimono used by the shogun to entertain guests. These were over 300 years old but preserved to look almost new. The robes were made of silk.

Check out the National Museum website for more details.

The exhibit is from October 10 to December 2, 2007. Note that the museum closes early.

This is a major exhibition. As such, there are literally hundreds of people viewing. The rooms are crowded. We learned that the best time to go is early morning or at lunch. Do not go in the afternoon, we were dodging people.


http://www.tnm.jp/en/guide/index.html

There is also a special website www.daitokugawa.com it is only in Japanese.

Definitely worth seeing It is a once in a lifetime event.

My friends being fans of the Tokugawa shogunate as they were raised watching KIKU's jidaigeki and Japanese movies were left impressed.

I got a discount with my grutto pass.


Sorry, no cameras were allowed in the exibit.

Ueno Part 4

Our next stop in Ueno was the Tokyo branch of the Toshogu Shrine. The shrine was built around 1650 as a shrine for the Tokugawa Shogunate. Honestly, this shrine is not nearly as grand as the Nikko shrine. However, since this is the shrine in edo, it is an important historic monument.

Located along the path to the Toshogu Shrine is the Hiroshima / Nagasaki Peace Memorial home of the eternal flame. This flame has been burning since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. This memorial is relatively new.

The torii gate leading into the shrine area. It is always humorous and at time re-assuring to see vendors near major temples and shrines. Especially, when you are thirsty after doing some major walking. Many times, uphill or stairs. Good time to grab a can of Mitsuya Cider or cold tea.

Ueno Part 3 Fugu You

Ok bad pun. Fugu (blowfish) in Japanese sounds like fuku, which means good fortune. Fugu is often associated with good fortune and this statue is intended to be just that.

Note that there are no fugu that live in these waters. Fugu is a saltwater species.

Fugu You too.

Ueno Part 2 Bentendo

We walked across a bridge to view the Bentendo. The Bentendo is a temple in honor of the goddess Benzaiten. Benzaiten is the goddess of everything that flows. She is the protector of the people and state of Japan.

Ueno Part 1 Shinobazu Pond

After Tokyo Sea Life Park, we ventured to the venerable town of Ueno. Ueno is one train stop away from our favorite pupu smorgasboard, Okachimachi. Home to Ameyoko.

Ueno is an interesting town with a little of everything. It is the home to many of the major public museums. It is also home to the Tokyo branch of the Toshogu temple. There is also a major park. As well as a zoo.

Ueno station is a major rail junction. At one point, the Ueno station was the terminus for the Tohoku Shinkansen.

Our adventure in Ueno started with a hamburger. Seeing all that seafood in captivity made us sympathetic to their cause. As such, we dined on the most Japanese of burgers. The MOS Burger. Anyway, chili burgers for the Japanese palate. The actual motivation was to have a light meal so that we can feast for dinner. (more on the feast later)

After lunch, we walked the grounds of Ueno Koen.

Ueno Koen is the home to the Shinobazu no ike. When viewing the pond, it is hard not to notice the overgrowth of leaves on the pond. My fellow travellers from Hawaii thought that this was giant taro leaves and had ideas of trying to import if back to Hawaii. They had dollar signs in their eyes until I rained on their parade. These giant leaves are lotus leaves.

These leaves are huge. It seems as if you can walk across the pond on these leaves.

Do you smell what the Panda's Cooking???

We bought the Grutto pass on this trip. The Grutto pass costs 2000 yen and includes free admission coupons to many of the publicly owned attractions like the Tokyo Sea Life Park, Edo Tokyo Museum and the Edo Tokyo Open Air Museum. It also includes discounts to many other museums and special exhibitions. This is a great deal for 2000 yen.

We even saw a few things that we would not have paid to see but since it was part of the grutto pass, we decided what the hey!

One of the things that we did was go to the Onishi Ueno Zoo. Well, five guys traveling together do not have the zoo at the top of their list. We went anyway to see the Giant Panda. This is not a huge zoo but of pretty good size over 400 species on display. The main attraction is the Giant Panda exhibit.

Many of us have not seen a Panda in life. This was an opportunity for us to see one in captivity.

OK, we saw the Panda. It was sleeping we think. Or just putting on a show? Anyway, there was not much action. What did we expect? We don't quite know ourselves. We know that it lounges, all day??? It must eat sometime. We probably walked in on its afternoon nap.

The Panda's name is Ling Ling. It is a he. Apparently,he is the only one with Japanese citizenship. He was born in 1986.



Pandas are on lease from China. Zoos around the world contract with the Chinese government to lease the Pandas. Big bucks. Glad I had the coupon book.