Ueno Park: Museums, Cherry Blossoms and What to Do

For about ten days each spring, roughly two million people walk under the same thousand cherry trees. Blue tarps go down at dawn, junior employees get sent to hold the spot until the rest of the office arrives, and by evening the main avenue of Ueno Park is a single continuous party.

The rest of the year it is Tokyo's museum district with a lake in it. Ueno Park is free, open from 5:00 to 23:00, and holds four major national museums, a zoo, several shrines and around 1,200 cherry trees on 133 acres, five minutes from Ueno Station.

Ueno Park in spring season with Cherry Blossom

What is Ueno Park?

Ueno Park was Japan's first public park, opened in 1873 on land that had been the grounds of Kaneiji, a vast Tokugawa family temple complex destroyed in the Battle of Ueno in 1868.

That history explains the layout. The museums occupy the northern half on former temple land, the southern half holds Shinobazu Pond, which predates the park entirely, and a handful of shrines and temple halls survive scattered between them.

The park itself is free to enter and there are no gates. Individual attractions inside charge separately.

Ueno Park cherry blossoms

Tokyo Crowd enjoying Cherry blossoms festival in Ueno Park.

Around 1,200 cherry trees line the central avenue and the pond, and Ueno is one of the three or four most popular hanami spots in the country. Blossoms usually open around March 25 and peak in the first days of April, though it shifts a week either way.

Practical notes for the season:

• Reserve your spot early. Groups lay out sheets from dawn. Designated tarp areas are marked, and you cannot spread out wherever you like

• The avenue is one-way during peak weekends, with staff directing foot traffic

• Lanterns are lit in the evening until around 20:00, which is the best time to walk it

• Alcohol is permitted in the picnic areas, unlike many Tokyo parks

• Expect crowds measured in hundreds of thousands on a fine weekend

People picnicking during Cherry Blossom Festival at Ueno Park in Tokyo, Japan.

Yasukuni Shrine, ten minutes away by train, holds the official sample tree that Tokyo's blossom declaration is measured against. Our guide to cherry blossoms in Tokyo covers the alternatives when Ueno is full, which on a Saturday in April it will be.

Museums in Ueno Park

This is the densest concentration of museums in Japan, and the reason to come outside blossom season.

Fossil in National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno park

Tokyo National Museum holds the national collection of Japanese art and archaeology, around 120,000 objects including 89 National Treasures. Admission is ¥1,000 for adults, ¥500 for university students, and free for anyone under 18 or over 70. Allow two hours minimum for the main Honkan building alone.

National Museum of Nature and Science is the best one for children, with a blue whale outside, dinosaur skeletons, and a full exhibit on Japanese natural history. Adults pay ¥620, and under-18s and over-65s are free.

National Museum of Western Art occupies a 1959 building by Le Corbusier, itself a UNESCO World Heritage site, holding the Matsukata collection of European painting and a courtyard of Rodin bronzes. Permanent collection entry is ¥500, free for under-18s and over-65s, and free for everyone on the second Sunday of each month.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the Ueno Royal Museum host touring exhibitions and charge by show.

If museums are the reason for your trip, several of Japan's best museum collections are within this one park.

Ueno Zoo

Panda statue at the entrance to Ueno Zoo at Tokyo.

Japan's oldest zoo opened in 1882 and is best known for its giant pandas. Admission is ¥600 for adults, ¥200 for junior high students, and free for children under 12 and Tokyo residents over 65. It closes on Mondays.

The zoo is split into east and west gardens linked by a monorail line and a footbridge. Give it two to three hours, and check the panda viewing arrangements before you go, since they change and sometimes require a same-day ticket. A full guide to Ueno Zoo covers the layout and the feeding times.

Shrines and temples

Tosho-Gu shrine in Ueno, Tokyo, Japan.

Ueno Toshogu, built in 1627 and rebuilt in 1651, enshrines Tokugawa Ieyasu and survived both the 1868 battle and the 1945 air raids intact, which makes it one of the few genuinely old buildings left in the middle of Tokyo. The approach and grounds are free, the gold-leafed inner precinct costs ¥700, and a combined ticket with the peony garden is ¥1,100.

The peony garden runs two seasons, winter peonies from January to late February and spring peonies in April. It is small, carefully staged, and almost empty compared to the rest of the park. The shrine itself is a five-minute walk from the museum plaza.

Kiyomizu Kannon-do, from 1631, is modeled on Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera and is one of the oldest buildings in Tokyo. Bentendo, on an island in Shinobazu Pond, is octagonal and dedicated to the goddess of music and fortune.

If you want the full version of the Tokugawa mausoleum style, Nikko Toshogu two hours north is the extravagant original.

Shinobazu Pond and boating

Swan boats for rental on Shinobazu Pond, Ueno Park in Tokyo, Japan

The pond fills the southern third of the park and is divided into three sections: a lotus pond that turns into a solid sheet of leaves and pink flowers from July to August, a cormorant pond attached to the zoo, and a boating pond.

Rowboats rent for around ¥800 an hour, swan pedal boats for about ¥800 per 30 minutes, and the boathouse opens around 10:00. It is the best cheap hour in the park, particularly in fall when the trees around the water turn.

Bird life on the pond is substantial, with herons, cormorants and large numbers of Eurasian tree sparrows, which are the common sparrow across Japan.

Picnics, festivals and things to do nearby

Picnicking is allowed in marked areas, and convenience stores and the Ameyoko market next door supply everything you need. Ameyoko is a 400-meter strip of stalls under the railway tracks selling food, spices, clothes and cheap seafood, and it is the best value lunch in the area.

The Ueno Summer Festival runs through most of July, with a lantern display on the pond, open-air concerts and an antiques market on weekends. The park also hosts a cherry blossom festival in spring and a chrysanthemum display in fall.

For a hands-on afternoon nearby, a washi paper making workshop is a short trip from the park, and the area's craft shops are part of the same old-Tokyo district. Ueno also connects easily to other Japanese cultural experiences on the eastern side of the city.

How to get to Ueno Park

Ueno Station is served by the JR Yamanote, Keihin-Tohoku and Joban lines, the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hibiya lines, and the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen. The park entrance is directly outside the Park Exit.

Keisei Ueno Station, two minutes away, is the Tokyo terminus of the Skyliner from Narita Airport, which takes 41 minutes.

From Tokyo Station it is 8 minutes on the Yamanote Line, and from Shinjuku about 25. If you are traveling on a Japan Rail Pass, all the JR approaches are covered.

When is the best time to visit Ueno Park?

Panda No Mori

Late March to early April for cherry blossoms, which is the headline and the most crowded.

Late November for fall color around the pond and in the temple grounds, which is quieter and nearly as good. Our guide to fall foliage across Japan covers how the season moves.

July and August for the lotus flowers, which open in the morning and close by early afternoon, and for the summer festival.

January and February for the winter peonies at Toshogu and for empty museums. The park in Tokyo's January is cold, clear, and almost to yourself.

Mornings before 9:00 are the best time on any day. For the broader question of when to visit Japan, Ueno rewards the same months as the rest of the country.

Is Ueno Park worth visiting?

Yes, and for more reasons than most first-time visitors realize. It is free, it is five minutes from a major station, and it holds the best museum collection in Japan alongside a zoo, a lake and a genuinely old shrine.

Half a day covers the park and one museum. A full day covers two museums, the zoo and the pond. During blossom season, go early and treat it as an event rather than a walk.

It also sits at one end of the older, low-rise side of the city, which makes it a natural start to a day that continues into Yanaka, Asakusa or the natural history of Japan on display in the science museum. A week-long route around the capital usually has a morning spare for exactly this.

Start at 9:00 with the museums, break for lunch in Ameyoko, and spend the afternoon on the water.