Tokyo Vista and the Cats of Ueno Park

We had a full day to explore Tokyo before heading to Kyoto. After visiting the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, we took in sweeping views of the city from the 54^th floor of Mori Tower. Here is Tokyo Tower that frequently gets trampled by Godzilla and/or its affliates.

It was a grey, fickle weather-kind of day so we rode the JR train around the city and wound up at Ueno Park in the early evening. By then, the museums in the area were closed but to avoid the rush hour trains, we wandered through the park, stopping at a couple of its shrines.

At this shrine, only the face is left of the Buddha image – it fell off at some point and the rest of the body was donated as scrap metal during the Second World War.

This other shrine is devoted to scholars and as dusk approached, it evoked a sense of eeriness. It was cold and no one was about its multiple vermilion gates...

In more open areas, there seems to be a sizable feral cat population. There aren’t many birds (apart from giant-sized crows) around. Although one had cuts on its face, these specimens appear well-fed, sitting around and looking fairly self-assured. They were a good distraction from thoughts of Japanese haunts in the near-desolate park.