Hello, and welcome to Japanology Plus.
I'm Peter Barakan.

Today I'm in Ueno,
on the eastern side of Tokyo.

If you say, “Ueno,” most Japanese
people are immediately

going to think of a Shopping area,

which gets deluged with people
at the end of every year.

Just before the New Year's holidays,
people come here bargain hunting.

Ueno also used to be the terminal station

for everybody coming in to Tokyo
from the north of Japan.

Coming here for the first time
in a little while,

I could hardly recognize the area
around the station

because it's changed so much

with all of the redevelopment going
on in recent years.

What hasn't changed
is the other part of Ueno,

which has a lot of Tokyo's best-known
museums, art galleries,

there's a famous university, concert hall,
the zoo, all kinds of cultural artifacts.

There's a lot of interesting places to see
in Ueno, lots of walking to do,

and on today's program we will be
walking around a lot, so let's get going.

The district of “Ueno”
is roughly circular.

It's around one kilometer across,
and centered on a train station.

It consists of the upscale “Yamanote”
area, known for cultural facilities,

and the down-to-earth “Shitamachi” area,
which is full of shops and stalls.

The impressively expansive Ueno Park
is packed with museums and art galleries.

The National Museum of Western Art

was designed by the
renowned architect Le Corbusier.

In 2016 it was registered
as a World Heritage Site.

The attractions
at Ueno Zoo include giant pandas,

and hundreds of other types of animal.

It was actually Japan's first ever zoo.

During the peak cherry
blossom-viewing season in the spring,

over 3 million people may visit the park.

Shinobazu Pond is a great place
to see lotus flowers and water birds.

One way to enjoy it is
to rent a rowing boat.

Ueno Tosho-gu was dedicated
to the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu.

The Tokugawa family temple, Kaneiji,
is here too.

Ueno Station is situated between
the Yamanote and Shitamachi areas.

It originally served
as Tokyo's main terminal

for trains from Japan's northeast.

In the boom years
after the Second World War,

Ueno was a gateway
for middle school graduates

pouring into Tokyo
from the northeast to begin work.

In the Shitamachi zone is Ameyoko,

a district that once catered
to temple visitors.

Now it is a street market
that preserves the energy of days gone by.

Ueno also has hundreds of jewelry shops,

some of which evolved from workshops

where ornamental hairpins and other
accessories were made in centuries past.

Ueno offers a multifaceted appeal
in a surprisingly compact area.

- Igarashi-san, good morning.
- Good morning.

- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to see you.

Our guest is Professor Igarashi Yasumasa,
from the University of Tsukuba.

He's an urban sociologist

who has been conducting field work
in Ueno since his student days,

and is now involved
in its continuing evolution.

What do you yourself notice about Ueno?
What stands out?

The part that I know best is probably
up the top of the hill,

where all the museums are.

I go there...not all that often,
but relatively often.

If there's a good exhibition on, I'll go.

So it tends to be that part of it,
not perhaps the shopping area.

The museums and art galleries in
that part of Ueno are truly world class.

But elsewhere in Ueno
is a down-to-earth shopping district

with an authentic hometown Tokyo appeal.

There's a lot of variety here.

Within a radius of 500 meters
of Ueno station,

you see many different faces.

There aren't many places
in the world like Ueno.

Today, we're going to see
the cultural and historical facilities,

and visit Ueno's
busy shopping streets too.

That's the plan, so let's get going.

Our first destination is Ameyoko,
a street market in the Shitamachi area.

It's an enduring symbol of Ueno,
and a popular tourist spot,

with over 400 shops and stalls selling
a huge variety of different items.

This place has really changed as well,
hasn't it?

It feels a lot more international.

Ameyoko is constantly changing.

The evolution never stops.

But in fact, it's one of the
newer shopping streets in Ueno.

Really? It feels like it's the oldest,
somehow.

Indeed.

This area was in ruins
after the Second World War.

All kinds of merchants set up stalls.

The name, “Ameyoko,”
actually has two meanings.

Oh yeah, because I've heard
various theories about that.

I'm curious which one's right, if any one.

After the war,
people craved sweet things to eat.

Candy shops popped up.

In Japanese, candy is “ame.”

“Yoko” is short
for “yokocho”: side street.

So Ame-yoko has that meaning.

The second meaning is linked
to the Korean War.

That started in 1950.

All sorts of surplus US military supplies
ended up in this area.

Jeans, military fatigues, and so on.

“Ame” can also be thought of
as short for “American.”

That's the second meaning
of “Ameyoko”: American side street.

So the name has two meanings.

OK. It all starts to make sense now.

Right.

The shops here have changed frequently
over the years.

The merchants take pride
in selling exactly what the age demands.

Items that are popular right now.

Not many shops have
been selling the same thing for years.

There's a real energy here.

Shall we look around?

Yeah, sure. Let's have a look.

First, a stall that has become quite
a well-known tourist attraction.

The stall sells chocolate in many forms.

Let's see how much you can get
for one thousand yen.

1,000 yen?

I'm a chocolate junkie.

I think anybody that grows up
in London is a chocolate junkie.

All made in Japan. Welcome to Tokyo!

Fabulous. I'll take all of those.

Whatever I can get for a thousand yen.

Welcome to Tokyo.

Great. One more?

OK!

One more!

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Oh boy.

Face-to-face interaction has always
been a key part of the Ameyoko experience.

It's not just about shopping.

It's about having fun, too.

OK.

Happy to meet you.

I don't know how many I got in here.
It's quite a lot though.

All of these for a thousand yen.

That's...

Wow.

What else can we find?

Long-established shops are mixed in

with a constant stream
of new shops and products.

That's part of the street's character.

And this next shop is a good example.

It sells edible insects.

Insects as food
is a global topic these days.

It's actually my first time, too.

The drinks, too, are made using insects.

What will you order?

What shall I go for?

Something not too radical.

What's good for first-timers?

OK. How about a cricket skewer?

The taste is pretty mild.

The chosen skewer is cooked on the spot.

What about seasoning?

Oh, salt and pepper, sriracha sauce...

Thai chili sauce.

Ah OK. Maybe let's try the honey mustard.

Please enjoy!

Try one.

Yeah. OK.

It's actually OK.

You probably don't want to see it,
but it's fine to eat.

A little bit like small prawns, shrimps.

And basically, I mean,
it's probably the same kind of thing.

Insect-based food
has a low environmental impact.

And it may be an important food source
as the global population grows.

Right, right.

And so a shop like this appears
in Ameyoko.

And I'm sure most people

will have a little bit of resistance
to eating them at first.

I mean, I...absolutely like I did.
But yeah, it's fine.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The market gets extremely busy
at the end of the year.

Right.

In the past, workers from the northeast
would return home at that time.

They'd get to Ueno early,

and come here to do a bit of shopping.

It became something of a tradition.

Salted salmon, tuna,
and other special new-year foods

came to be sold here in great quantities.

It turned into a big occasion.

And a shop like this contributes to it.

This is all dried stuff here though,
isn't it?

This is our regular stock.

At the end of the year, many shops in
Ameyoko switch to selling fresh seafood.

Octopus, crab, salmon roe.

We sell the food a lot of Japanese people
eat on New Year's Day.

Why do you do that,
just for like two or three days a year?

In the last three or four days
of December,

people want food for the New Year.

Mainly on those days.

So we switch our stock to meet
that temporary demand.

If you look at your profits
over a whole year,

what percent do you actually manage to
sell in those last few days of the year?

Around 20 percent.

Oh, OK.

This standing bar also switches to selling
fresh seafood at the end of the year,

and it draws crowds of seasonal shoppers.

Ohashi Mashu established
the business 10 years ago.

What made you want to open a place
like this, in this street?

This street has a unique atmosphere.

All sorts of different people
are mixed together.

I really like that, and so I always wanted
to open a shop here.

It almost feels like you're not in Japan.

First and foremost,
we're right on the street.

People may come here as sightseers.

But once they sit down for a drink,
they're more than customers.

They themselves become part of the scene.

It's like having members of the audience
come up on stage.

Now let's turn our attention
to the Yamanote area.

The temple Kaneiji was founded
by a prominent Buddhist priest: Tenkai.

It was built in 1625,
on the higher ground in Ueno.

This is the entrance.

This is actually the first time
I've ever come to Kaneiji.

Of course it's a very famous temple,

but I can't really say
that I know an awful lot about it.

So if you can give me some
of the basics...

This is the final resting place of some
of the Tokugawa shoguns,

who ruled Japan
from the 17th to 19th centuries.

The temple is northeast of Edo Castle,
the HQ of the shogunate.

Northeast was associated with bad spirits,

and so this temple was meant
to offer protection.

It was built by Tenkai,

a priest who was a political adviser
to the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu.

And this is the central hall.

Ueno first flourished as a town
that served the needs

of the temple and its visitors.

So you could say this hall
represents the starting point of Ueno.

Oh right.

Back then, Kaneiji was a vast complex.

It occupied one million
square meters of land,

and featured 36 sub-temples.

The impact on the local community
was significant,

and so in a sense Ueno's existence
is all thanks to Tenkai's hard work.

One of the buildings he constructed,
Kiyomizu Kannon Hall,

was a popular local gathering place.

This is one of Kaneiji's sub-temples.

When the shogunate fell,

unlike other such buildings,
it wasn't destroyed.

Take a look, and tell me if it reminds you
of a temple somewhere else.

Oh, the terrace.

Yes.

I noticed that
there's a sign there saying “Kiyomizu.”

Yes, it's modeled after the famous terrace
at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto.

This distinctive pine tree

features in Hiroshige's famous
woodblock print series,

“One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.”

This very spot.

And just as in Kyoto,

there's a terrace,
also referred to as a “stage.”

You can look out at the scenery.

The pine tree perfectly frames a structure
in Shinobazu Pond.

The structure's called Benten Hall.

Tenkai used the pond to represent
Lake Biwa—Japan's largest lake.

It's a recreation in miniature.

In Lake Biwa is a small island
where the goddess “Benten” is enshrined.

This pond's Benten Hall calls
to mind that island.

The aim is to invoke a view of Lake Biwa.

From Kiyomizu Temple,
you can't actually see the lake.

But here you can combine two views

that were once regarded
as being among the best in Japan.

They were reproduced here.

Back then, this was a new city,
built on undeveloped land.

It didn't have a cultural identity.

The highly advanced culture
of Kyoto was presented here.

And that helped to boost the prestige
and authority of the shogunate.

Ordinary people enjoyed it too.

It was a cultural strategy
that reinforced a perception

that the power of the Edo community
flowed from the shogunate.

For nearly 250 years, Ueno was a place

where the general public could come
to relax and enjoy the scenery.

That period came to an end in 1868,

when the Tokugawa shogunate was challenged
by forces loyal to the Emperor.

The Tokugawa samurai
in Ueno made a last stand

but were defeated after a bloody battle.

Most of Kaneiji's sub-temples
were burned to the ground.

After centuries
of little international contact,

Japan began to embrace Western culture.

In 1873,

Kaneiji's devastated grounds were turned
into Japan's first public park.

A museum designed by the British architect
Josiah Conder opened in 1882.

Japan's first zoo opened in the same year.

Then came an art school that went on
to become the most prestigious in Japan.

A music school opened, too.

Ueno became a beacon
of modern Japanese culture.

Is there a reason why the Meiji government

built all these cultural institutions
in the Ueno area?

This location,
with the pond at the center,

made Ueno a go-to destination
for the whole city.

It was a place where people went to relax.

It had flowers, and plenty of space.

There weren't many
other locations like it.

Around the turn of the 20th century,
expositions were held in Ueno.

Art and craft items from across
the country were displayed to the public,

helping to promote industry

and contribute to an image
of a rich and powerful nation.

There was a drive to showcase
increasingly impressive industrial goods.

So Ueno became associated with
cutting-edge expositions and exhibitions.

Uh huh.

One upshot was a tram.

A streetcar operated
on the higher ground in Ueno.

Steam trains existed,
but this was Japan's first electric train.

It's an electric train?

That's right.

Oh, OK.

Let's move forward a few years.

The displays started to focus more
on the theme of leisure.

Here's a waterslide.

The sort of thing you see
at a swimming pool.

It's a big one too.

Oh, that looks like fun.

It went into the pond here.

And a few years later,
an escalator was built just over there.

Escalator?

Yes. Japan's first.

It was installed during an exhibition.

That's so impressive.

Yes.

A ropeway was constructed here
at the same time.

Is this a seaplane?

Yes, seaplanes were also displayed.

The Meiji government presented
cutting-edge Western technologies

as a show of power.

It also helped to erase memories
of the defeated ruling class.

That was the strategy.

They wanted to show the world
how modernized they were.

Yes, yes.

Ueno continued to be a cultural hub,
but also developed new identities.

At the time of the Great
Kanto Earthquake in 1923,

Ueno Park was an evacuation zone
for people who had lost their homes.

The Second World War
brought food shortages,

and so Shinobazu Pond was used
to grow rice and other crops.

After the war,

Ueno Park was restored and once again
became a leisure destination.

At present,

both the Yamanote and Shitamachi areas
are being redeveloped.

Ueno Station has been renovated,

new high-rise facilities have been built,

and more people are being drawn
to the area.

Or rather,
they are drawn to a specific area.

Because it seems that few people
move between Yamanote and Shitamachi.

They tend to visit one or the other.

Local people started to think
of ways to address that issue.

And one of the resulting initiatives
involves this restaurant.

Let's go upstairs.

OK.

This is the “yama” or “mountain” room.

The artwork reflects that theme.

I see. So private rooms with themes,
and their own art.

Yes.

The work of local art students
and other young artists

is displayed
in various Shitamachi businesses.

The idea is to tempt fans of art—

who might otherwise only visit Yamanote—
to come here too,

and explore the whole of Ueno.

The businesses pay a monthly rental fee
to the artists,

and visitors can also buy a piece
that takes their fancy.

This concept is breathing new life
into the local community,

and contributing to the development
of young artists.

The leader
of the initiative is Daidoji Yuto.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

It sounds like a really good idea.

And are there quite a lot of both artists
and restaurants and other shops

taking part in the project?

Well, it's been five years and now
we have over a hundred participants.

That includes both artists
and commercial premises.

We have around 50 of each.

People interested
in art are visiting more of Ueno,

in order to see the young artists' work.

So we're starting
to see the impact of the initiative.

The owner of this business
has also noticed a change.

This project helps the restaurant stand
out from the competition,

so I'm very grateful.

This piece was created by Sasaki Leo,

who was a graduate student
at Tokyo University of the Arts,

which is in Ueno.

Simply by displaying my work,
I can earn a bit of money.

In my case,
I use that income to buy materials

such as glass and plaster,

or to pay studio costs, or to buy
other things I need, like frames.

It really makes a difference.

This shop has been around a long time.

It dates back to the days when geisha
would often walk along this street.

Rather than simply
displaying an artist's work,

here they have collaborated
with an artist to create new products.

I thought you'd like
to see them for yourself.

Oh, OK.

The shop sells items used with kimono.

“Kumihimo” are braids
of silk or other material

that secure the sash,
or add a decorative highlight.

A talented artist
combined the traditional braids

with crafted metal objects
to make brand-new products.

A young artist

would normally never get a chance
to create original items like this!

I'm very happy that it was actually
possible to produce these products.

Creative ideas like this are contributing
to yet another new identity for Ueno.

We visited a lot of places today.

What did you think?

We did walk a lot, didn't we?

But what was interesting is that it is
all within fairly easy walking distance.

And there's a lot to see,
and an enormous variety.

And I feel like we've only really,
even so, just skimmed the surface.

There's an awful lot more
that we haven't seen, of course.

But even so, it was a really interesting,
entertaining and fun day today.

I would definitely be interested
to come back and do a lot more of it.

- Really? - Yeah.

Places like Ameyoko now have shops
with owners

who come from different countries.

Ueno always seems to be changing.

But it's still a place of the people,
rooted in everyday life.

That's a constant.

So perhaps there's also a lot
that hasn't changed.

Ueno seems to have a very strong identity.

And even if the people
who create that identity change,

there's a core Ueno essence that persists.

That's how I see it, at least.

It's like a band that has new members,
but has kept its musical identity.

Ahh.

It's innovating, but it's still Ueno.

The band still sounds the same.

I think Ueno will maintain its identity,
as it moves forward into the future.

OK, thank you very much.
It's been a nice day.

Thank you. My pleasure.