is a district in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to 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 ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...

, 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 museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was es ...

, and 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 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 model and a ste ...

, as well as a major public concert hall. Many

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

s are in the area, including the Bentendo temple dedicated to goddess

Benzaiten Benzaiten (''shinjitai'': 弁才天 or 弁財天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence"), also simply known as Benten (''shinjitai'': 弁天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯天 / 辨天), is a Japanese Buddhist go ...

, on an island in

Shinobazu Pond The is a pond within Ueno Park (a spacious public park located in the 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 the former K ...

. 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 .Ni ...

, a major temple of the Tokugawa

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

s, stood in this area, and its

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

is now within the grounds of the

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 ...

. Nearby is the

Ueno Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in the Taitō 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, making it a great example ...

, a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...

dedicated to

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

. Near the

there is The International Library of Children's Literature. Just south of the station is the

Ameya-yokochō is an open-air market in the Taito Ward of Tokyo, Japan, located next to Ueno Station. The market is approximately 164,227 square feet in area, starting just behind the Yodobashi Camera building and following the Yamanote Line The Yaman ...

, a street market district that evolved out of an open-air black market that sprung up after World War II. Just east is the Ueno motorcycle district, with English-speaking staff available in some stores. Ueno 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, a working class area rather than where the aristocrats and rich merchants lived. Today the immediate area, due to its close proximity to a major transportation hub, retains high land value but just a short walk away to the east or north reveals some of the less glitzy architecture of Tokyo.

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 othe ...

is the nearest train station and is operated by JR East. Ueno Park and Ueno Station are also home to a large percentage of Tokyo's homeless population. Though nearly invisible in other parts of Tokyo, the homeless population in Ueno can be found sleeping or communing in large numbers around the "ike" (ponds) of this district.

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 the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

Public high schools are operated by the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education (東京都教育委員会 ''Tōkyō-to Kyōiku Iinkai'') is the board of education in Tokyo, Japan. The board directly manages all of the public high schools in all 23 special wards, the Wester ...

. * 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. When written in Latin characters, ad ...

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 is a railway station in Taito, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Okachimachi Station is served by the circular Yamanote Line and also the Keihin-Tohoku Line. Although not physically connected, on the T ...

* 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 beneath ...

References

External links

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

Economy

Education

Public transport

See also

References

External links