Ueno Toshogu

The approach from the park runs between rows of stone lanterns, more than 200 of them, most given by daimyo in 1651. That was the year the third shogun Iemitsu rebuilt the shrine his grandfather's memory deserved, a smaller Nikko for Edo people who could not make the trip north. The first shrine went up in 1627 as part of Kan'ei-ji. The Konjiki-den, the gold hall, still stands: the Battle of Ueno in 1868 passed it by, the 1923 earthquake did not topple it, and an incendiary bomb that fell just behind it in the Second World War failed to go off. The hall, the Karamon gate and the sukibei fence, with more than 250 carved birds, fish and animals, are Important Cultural Properties. The hall interior is not open. You can pray at the front for free, but to walk inside the fence and see the gold close up you pay 700 yen. On the gate, look for the dragons attributed to Hidari Jingoro; legend says they slip out each night to drink from Shinobazu Pond. The giant Obake lantern, 6.8 meters, is beside the stone torii. The peony garden charges its own 700 yen in season.