Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A walking video of myself going around Ueno Park on the 18th and 19th June 2026. It had been raining the morning of the 18th and it was so incredibly humid; when I took my camera out of my bag the lens was instantly covered in condensation. The 19th was even hotter temperature wise, hitting about 29C, but nowhere near as humid so in some ways, more tolerable, though I was still drenched in sweat at the hottest point of the day.
I'm always loathe to go inside any temples or shrines while filming; many have signs about no photography and also about removing hats out of respect, and my camera is attached to my hat. These are places of worship that are important to people, not just tourist attractions for gaijin, so I don't want to bend or break any rules and cause awkwardness. If you want to see the insides, you'll have to visit yourself! The actual main hall of Ueno Toshogu is closed to the public, and you have to pay to get into the grounds, but those still don't count as the main hall where the object of worship is stored, so that was fine.
The same goes for the Tokyo National Museum, which actually doesn't have a strict no photography rule; in fact only a few exhibits and items ask for no photography, so as long as you don't use your flash you're fine. But the hat camera also gets quite warm when it's filming and it touches my forehead and I wanted to cool down finally, so I didn't film anything inside the museum. Once again, you'll have to come experience it for yourself.
I did however take some photos, with both my phone and my camera, some of which I've included at the end with some royalty free piano for your viewing pleasure. The quality varies, many of the exhibits are kept dark intentionally to preserve them, so it's a battle to get well exposed photos that look good. I took hundreds of photos so I've yet to edit them all but there's a nice selection here.
Enjoy!
0:00 From Ueno Station into the park entrance
3:00 Drink time, it was so hot and humid on this day
4:26 Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple
6:40 Shushiki Sakura tree
7:36 Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple side entrance and down the stairs
10:14 Gojōten Shrine
14:17 Shinobazu no Ike Bentendō, in Shibobazu pond on a different day
25:57 Statue of Prince Komatsunomiya Akihito on horseback
27:42 Ueno Toshogu Shrine entrance
29:19 Ueno Five-Storied Pagoda
31:22 Ueno Toshogu Kaguraden (a stage for sacred dancing)
31:33 Copper Lanterns
33:18 Karamon gate
33:55 Inside the Ueno Toshogu Shrine grounds
35:12 Sacred tree predating the shrine
35:57 O-Tanuki Sama statue
37:24 Entering the grounds of the Honden (main hall)
38:22 Sukibei Wall decorations
40:25 Rear of the Karamon gate
41:32 Haiden entrance
44:05 Exiting the grounds and shrine grounds
44:52 Ueno Daibutsu (pagoda and face of a statue which stood at the site from 1631, whose head fell off in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and now only the face survives, restored to its original spot along with a stupa)
50:04 Centre of Ueno Park public square
56:18 Tokyo National Museum entrance
57:15 Bonus photo gallery of photos I took inside Tokyo National Museum set to some royalty free piano music
Filmed with an Insta360 Go Ultra and Insta360 Mic Air. Photos taken with an iPhone 17 Pro Max and Sony a6700 with the 18-135mm kit lens.
A walking video of myself going around Ueno Park on the 18th and 19th June 2026. It had been raining the morning of the 18th and it was so incredibly humid; when I took my camera out of my bag the lens was instantly covered in condensation. The 19th was even hotter temperature wise, hitting about 29C, but nowhere near as humid so in some ways, more tolerable, though I was still drenched in sweat at the hottest point of the day.
I'm always loathe to go inside any temples or shrines while filming; many have signs about no photography and also about removing hats out of respect, and my camera is attached to my hat. These are places of worship that are important to people, not just tourist attractions for gaijin, so I don't want to bend or break any rules and cause awkwardness. If you want to see the insides, you'll have to visit yourself! The actual main hall of Ueno Toshogu is closed to the public, and you have to pay to get into the grounds, but those still don't count as the main hall where the object of worship is stored, so that was fine.
The same goes for the Tokyo National Museum, which actually doesn't have a strict no photography rule; in fact only a few exhibits and items ask for no photography, so as long as you don't use your flash you're fine. But the hat camera also gets quite warm when it's filming and it touches my forehead and I wanted to cool down finally, so I didn't film anything inside the museum. Once again, you'll have to come experience it for yourself.
I did however take some photos, with both my phone and my camera, some of which I've included at the end with some royalty free piano for your viewing pleasure. The quality varies, many of the exhibits are kept dark intentionally to preserve them, so it's a battle to get well exposed photos that look good. I took hundreds of photos so I've yet to edit them all but there's a nice selection here.
Enjoy!
0:00 From Ueno Station into the park entrance
3:00 Drink time, it was so hot and humid on this day
4:26 Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple
6:40 Shushiki Sakura tree
7:36 Kiyomizu Kannon-do Temple side entrance and down the stairs
10:14 Gojōten Shrine
14:17 Shinobazu no Ike Bentendō, in Shibobazu pond on a different day
25:57 Statue of Prince Komatsunomiya Akihito on horseback
27:42 Ueno Toshogu Shrine entrance
29:19 Ueno Five-Storied Pagoda
31:22 Ueno Toshogu Kaguraden (a stage for sacred dancing)
31:33 Copper Lanterns
33:18 Karamon gate
33:55 Inside the Ueno Toshogu Shrine grounds
35:12 Sacred tree predating the shrine
35:57 O-Tanuki Sama statue
37:24 Entering the grounds of the Honden (main hall)
38:22 Sukibei Wall decorations
40:25 Rear of the Karamon gate
41:32 Haiden entrance
44:05 Exiting the grounds and shrine grounds
44:52 Ueno Daibutsu (pagoda and face of a statue which stood at the site from 1631, whose head fell off in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and now only the face survives, restored to its original spot along with a stupa)
50:04 Centre of Ueno Park public square
56:18 Tokyo National Museum entrance
57:15 Bonus photo gallery of photos I took inside Tokyo National Museum set to some royalty free piano music
Filmed with an Insta360 Go Ultra and Insta360 Mic Air. Photos taken with an iPhone 17 Pro Max and Sony a6700 with the 18-135mm kit lens.
