The Yushima Shrine (also known as the "Shrine of Literature") was just a few blocks from our ryokan, on the way to Ueno Park. I love how it's wedged in right alongside modern buildings (I think those are apartments you can see behind the small outbuilding).
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Ueno Park was very green, with several ponds (some filled with lotus plants). In the distance, you can see paddle boats for hire, including ones shaped like swans. This was also one of the very few places that we saw homeless Japanese (sleeping on some park benches).
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Great little shrine or monument inside Ueno Park.
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Kiyomizu Kannon-do, a Buddhist temple apparently constructed in the image of Kiyomizu in Kyoto (which we would later visit as well). While we were there, a monk appeared in an orange robe and began chanting and burning incense.
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Every temple we visited had a small spring where you would ritually wash your hands. I particularly liked this dragon version at Kiyomizu Kannon-do.
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Kate and I had just finished washing our hands at the dragon's mouth.
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An unnamed inari (fox) shrine; it didn't appear in my guidebook but was nestled along with all of the other great sights in Ueno Park.
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One of the inari (foxes) at the shrine. The fox is believed to be a helper of the harvest gods.
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Tosho-gu (shrine) was dedicated to Ieyasu Tokugawa. We went inside (no pictures allowed, sadly!) and saw the beautiful paintings and the final Chinese Gate.
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