Sakura-dori in Ueno Park was deserted without cherry blossoms

Deserted Sakura-dori in Ueno Park — Sakura-dori in Ueno Park

As you walk up Sakura-dori Avenue in Ueno Park from Ueno-Hirokoji, you will see a small mountain on your left called Daibutsu-Yama. Climbing up the mountain, which looks like an ancient burial mound, you will find a pagoda on top of it. A pagoda is originally used to enshrine the relics of Buddha. In Myanmar, pagodas often stand in the center of Buddhist temples, but in Japan, it is often a supporting role rather than a mainstay of Buddhist temples.

Next to the pagoda sits only the face of a large Buddha statue that looks like a death mask. Only the face of the Big Buddha remains after it was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake. The mask has a strange fate. In 1647, 16 years after it was built, it collapsed for the first time in the Shoho-Sagami earthquake. It was rebuilt but collapsed again in 1649 in the Keian-Kawagoe Earthquake. It was rebuilt again but damaged by fire in 1841, and then damaged in the Ansei-Edo Earthquake in 1855. Finally, the head of the Buddha fell off in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and has remained there to this day.

It is said that many students come to pray for success in entrance exams, and even though the time has passed and the body has been dismantled, it is still a powerful figure that continues to attract visitors.

When I arrived, there were no students there, probably because the exam season had already ended. It was not the cherry blossom season, so Sakura-dori, which is usually crowded with people during the cherry blossom viewing season, was deserted. Looking at Sakura-dori from Daibutsu-Yama, I could only see a few people poking around among the trees.

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