Author: Naoko Takano

Naoko Takano 高野直子 / Globalizer at Automattic / 🏠 Tokyo, Japan

A Day in Ueno Zoo & Children’s Library

It was a sunny Saturday yesterday and we went to the Zoo & the International Museum of Children’s Literature in the Ueno Park area.At the Zoo, Lisa and her friend Hayato enjoyed a monorail ride as well as watching elephants and monkeys.

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Ueno Park, full of lotus leaves

We had lunch at Park Side Cafe, then walked to The International Library of Children’s Literature. The reading room on the first floor had a section of transportation-related books, where both of the kids spent some time opening several books one after another.

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The International Library of Children’s Literature

After saying goodbye to Hayato and his parents, Lisa went on playing at a playground across the zoo. Then we walked by the Shinobazuno-ike pond and head home. She fell asleep on the way back – it was a fun day!

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#上野公園 #紫陽花

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Sagamiko, June 2017

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Last weekend, we went to the Sagamiko (Lake Sagami) area in Kanagawa prefecture with my friend’s family and some of her coworkers.

We stayed overnight at Sagamiko Pleasure Forest, where an amusement park, campground, and hot spring are all on one site.

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キャンプ場の朝。 #breakfast #相模湖

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Since Lisa is two-year-old, there were many rides at the park she wasn’t able to ride. But she had plenty of fun with the merry-go-round, mini-coaster, and several coin-operated car/bus/bike rides (she was really into those).

Picaso-no-tamago was also fun. It’s a giant obstacle course with 27 different types of stuff. It wasn’t easy for us to keep up with her!

Before driving back to Tokyo, we stopped at the public park surrounding the lake to ride a swan/duck boart.

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ピンクのあひるボート #相模湖

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Kamakura, May 2017

We took a day trip to Kamakura, which is a town in Kanagawa prefecture 1-hour train ride away from Tokyo Station.

First, we arrived at Kamakura Station around 11:10 and had lunch before it gets crowded. ROOFTOPS near the station was a hit (though you need to be prepared to get really messy!).

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Avocado & grilled tomato burger at ROOFTOPS

Then, we strolled Komachi Dori Street to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu (鶴岡八幡宮) Shrine.

From there, we walked more to see the bamboo grove in Hokokuji Temple (報国寺). The quiet zen garden was a nice contrast to the vivid shrine. Some bamboo shoots and young stalks

We took a local bus and Enoden train to the Great Buddha, then walked by the Yuigahama beach.

Kamakura has so many places you can easily visit within a day. We picked some of the major spots to visit since it was my first time there (Keita’s second), but it felt like I only saw a small portion of this old town. We kept walking around until it’s time to go home.

It’s a great destination to take a short trip to while in Tokyo. So much closer than Kyoto but you still get to see & learn the historical parts of Japan.

Kamakura Travel Guide (japan-guide.com)