IntroductoryWalk2

Where does this tour end?

Tour ends near Ueno station on the JR Yamanote line.

What should I bring with me?

1-Sturdy, comfortable walking shoes!

Winter - over the ankle boots or rainboots.

Summer - walking shoes or sturdy and supportive sandals.

2-Change for bus and subway fares, snacks and vending machines

3-Hat and sunglasses for sun protection

4-Water.

5-Remember to check the latest weather forecasts:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/Weather/default.aspx

6-Extra yen for your personal needs.

How do I find out more or make my reservations?

E-mail Mr. Oka mroka@w9.dion.ne.jp

Telephone Mr. Oka in Tokyo between 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Japan time.

81-42-251-7673 (from outside Japan) or 042-251-7673 (inside Japan)

Sizing Up Tokyo

"Introductory Walk 2 has become truly promising. Especially given a good day, you really wish you had more time and after it is over you will have indeed covered a lot of sights," says Mr. Oka.

This tour features the bookstore and university area of Jimbocho to the Ueno complex. The other tour (Introductory Tour 1) takes you from Yoyogi through the seats of power and influence governmental area, the stately Imperial Palace and into the shopping mecca of Ginza.

Highlights

Notwithstanding a humble birth to a Kyoto greengrocer's daughter, by a quirk of fate a lady captures the fanciful eye of the mightiest in the land and gives birth to one of his sons. She is overzealous in the boy's upbringing, and succeeds in making him a shogunate heir. In turn, he develops the top state academy in an area next to JR Ochanomizu station. The adjacent Kanda Surugadai and Kanda Jimbocho area leading to Ochanomizu station has been likened to the Quartier Latin of Paris.

Thus, a young Kyoto lady begot a shogun, who begot a newly-located Confucian temple, which in turn begot a school, which was destined to beget the mighty University of Tokyo (Todai), eventually begetting the printing and publishing industries and the justly famous bookseller's streets of Jimbocho.

The Confucian Hall was first located in Ueno, which holds dearly and deeply to its bosom the works of Japan's finest artistic achievements. Surely this is part of what keeps the character of Ueno as it is in spite of all that has tried to obliterate it.

Introductory Walk 2 taps into the wealth of the Ueno complex, where the past lives on: squashed and neglected, largely hidden or even buried below ground. It is safe now from tampering, we shall hope. Regrettably, the time to explore will be far too short and you may be inspired to revisit on your own another time.