Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park

Yesterday we ventured again to our local train station, the almost unpronounceable Takadanobaba, aka “baba” to me. There we achieved the major feat of buying our tickets and finding our platform without Johanna’s expert guidance. Our goal was Ueno station, a magnificent new station facing the fabulous Ueno Park. It was Sunday and the place was buzzing with excitement- all kinds of people and their dogs were out for the day. This is because Ueno Park had a huge hot food market happening as well as being home to art, cultural and science museums and galleries, a huge zoo, a lake, a festival hall, walks and so on (see the photo I took of our map from the Park Information Booth). Our goal was the Tokyo National Museum, also inside the park.

We learned as we toured the two huge floors of the main building at the Tokyo National Museum (there are several huge buildings) that upper class Japanese people would change their style and colour of robes and lutensils for tea ceremonies etc with the seasons. This awareness of the aesthetic qualities of the changing weather was reflected in their style of painting and their keen interest in representing animals, trees, and flowering plants, especially pairings of birds and flowers. We read: “Fascinated by the splendor of the four seasons, Japanese audiences also enjoyed landscapes depicting mountains and streams colored by seasonal blooms.” The exhibitions at the museum mirrored this seasonal responsiveness by often presenting autumn items. Overall the items presented begin 13,000 years ago, when people built the first permanent settlements, and end with the 17th-19th centuries, when cities grew and urban culture flourished. We thus viewed items from the earliest Neolithic excavations, through to religious iconography over time, as well as the development of Japanese pottery (especially for the traditional tea ceremony), clothing and textiles, screen painting, metal work, furniture and manufacture for warfare (helmets, swords, armour etc). It was huge - and hugely informative.

We had coffee before we started and had a lovely conversation with an Australian couple, then later lunch at the Museum restaurant. Graham the traditional menu, with delicate little bits of raw tuna, prawns, pork etc. He is a brave gourmand. I had two spring rolls, a small bowl of fried rice and noodle soup - I mistakenly thought I was in China!
A great day ended with a light meal at home, and a charming free YouTube video called “The Peanut Butter Falcon” ( 2019). All’s well that ends well.Read more