Has anyone been on a guided volunteer tour of Ueno Park?
 

Seems like a good idea, but was wondering if you had been and found it enriching?
http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/en...topics_03.html
WIth time pressures, I don't want to go just for the sake of it but if it gave you a special insight it would be good to go.
Thanks in advance

Bonjour minto,

There's not much information about what the tour includes. IMO, with a good guidebook, you'd be better off visiting the museums you might be interested in on your own. Outside Hanami (cherry trees) season, the park itself is not very interesting, although it is an oasis of near calmness in the whole area.

IMO, the more interesting areas around Ueno are Yanaka-Nezu-Sendagi (see http://www.digi-promotion.com/tokyo-...rhoods/yanaka/ ), Shitamachi museum next to Shinobazu pond (shitamachi means "low city", the museum is devoted to the life of common folks in Edo/Tokyo and is full of artifacts donated by such people), and Ameya Yokocho, the shopping alley/market near Ueno station.

All can be enjoyed on your own.

Salut Florence, my thanks. We are going in February so I imagine that with the cold, :( we probably won't want to linger after a tour group in a park.

Minto, we went last February over President's day week- some of the cherry trees were blooming, and the weather wasn't that bad except when it was raining (my little sis said they average like 6 days of rain in the month, and we got 4 of them). Of course, we thought it wasn't bad compared to Indy and Detroit- so I was thrilled when I could wear a heavy sweater and no coat.

The Ueno Park Zoo was one of the most depressing I've ever seen- all of the carnivores looked like they were starving. The polar bears looked like they were brown bears in oversize white suits. It really, really broke my heart, and kind of left a bad taste in my mouth about the country as a whole.

We didn't know we were in Ameya Yokocho, but we loved it! Really, that sums up our trip- no idea where we were, or what we eating in most cases, but we liked it and were having a great time!

We were really disappointed with the National Museum- little sis said that the Edo-Tokyo Museum (I think it's the Shitamachi) was much more interesting- she thought that's where we were going in the first place, and was one of the few must-see places for her. Unfortunately, it was our last day there, so we didn't get to see it.

FYI, the Shitamachi and Edo-Tokyo are two different museums. Both show Tokyo as it was in the past though.

I don't really put Ueno Park on the priority list. If you want to see greenery, either Rikugien or Hamarikyu would be better (both are more calm traditionall Japanese gardens).
Ameyoko is a kind of funky market, though you just have to be careful about pickpockets.
Some part of the park used to get rather seedy, with homeless people (they used to have drug dealers hanging around the area, but I presume police cleaned this one up).

I agree with Florence. The place to go is the Nezu-Yanaka area. It's very charming and traditional. Ueno Park is pretty boring and depressing. I don't know why so many tourists end up there since there are so many nicer spots in Tokyo.

Many thanks for your considered replies :)