JAPAN TRIP# DAY 9 PART 2 MEET UP WITH HACHIKO

the well preserved remains of Hachiko at the National Museum of Nature and Science. 

Entrance of Ueno Park. 

Beautiful bonsai plant 

The Kiyomizu Kannon Temple built in 1631. As you can see it has a wooden balcony extending from the hillside, its design is similar to the Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto.  It has the image of Kosodate Kannon, the goddess of conception and is popular among women hoping to conceive.  

Ueno Park is Tokyo's most popular and liverly cherry blossom spots.  There are more than 1000 cherry tress lining the park and  attracts many hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties. 

this is a very long branch and instead of cutting it, they supported it

autumn maple among the greenery... 

There is a life-size sculpture of the Blue Whale at the entrance of the museum.(did not photo)

the pair of "love birds" 

the spherical 3-D theater showing movies about nature and space from the Expo in 2005. 

the foyer... 

The dinosaur's skeleton in the Global Gallery.. 

dropping down in the central hall is the Fourcaults Pendulum which demonstrates the Earth's rotation. 

Stained glass windows

This museum is quite an interesting building itself. 

The taxidermy of animals on the second floor, including of course the stuffed body of Hachiko. 

More souvenirs of Hachiko for sale in the reception area and 

We "made this  "gold coin" of Hachiko at the vending machine on the ground floor.  

Right next door to this museum,  is a historically important building designed by the internationally renowned 20th century French architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965)... the Museum of Western Art.  The building was completed in March 1959 as a symbol of the resumption of diplomatic ties between Japan and France after World War II.  The building was recommended on the world list of cultural heritage sites in May 2016. Sometimes you were just near an important building and yet missed taking a photo of it...sign! 

the shady park for romping  

Looking towards Ginza district  from the Yurikamome train station. 

The Yurikamome is automated transit train, entirely controlled by computers.  It was open on November 1995 and since then the daily commuters exceeded 20,000 people!  This train links Tokyo with the man-made island of Odaiba, a popular shopping and entertainment area. 

amazing panoramic views along the train line.. skyscrapers (some awesome architectural buildings) upwards ..

looking downwards, beautiful ornamental landscaped gardens.

The Aqua City is a shopping mall and on the  5th floor is the ramen food theme park (which we miss!) while the Fuji TV Building is the headquarters of Fuji Television, one of Japan private TV station.  The sphere in the center is the observatory deck. 

the "life size" giant Gundam robot in front of Diver City Plaza. 

Hip Hip Hooray.... we did it....

This Statue of Liberty is a replica of the original Statue of Liberty from Paris, France (mind you, its not USA) which was erected at this place during the 1998 to May 1999 for the occasion of "The French Year in Japan".  Due to its popularity, a replica was constructed at the same place in 2000.   You may be surprise to know that there are a couple more in Japan. 

In the background you can see the Rainbow Bridge.   This is a really huge suspension bridge that connects Tokyo with man made island of Odaiba.  The bridge has 2 decks; the Shuto Expressway on the upper deck and the Yurikamome train on the lower deck. There are also pedestrain walkways on both sides of the bridge as well as a regular road....just brillant.   The bridge is illuminated nightly and the lights change seasonally and for special occasions and they are lit by solar energy.    

After walking around the wooden promenade on Decks Tokyo Beach and seeing families coming out together to enjoy themselves, its time for coffee. A toast for the happy times together on this trip. 

We took the train to the hotel before we said goodbye to our guide in Tokyo.  

Following the Japanese culture... standing to eat ramen..

Ramen eating "contest"  ...guess who won?

Last bowl of Japanese ramen before departing tomorrow...

That ended our Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo trip.   It has been a wonderful time together with my family and seeing and experiencing Japan for the first time was so much fun, joy  and memorable.  Definitely there are so many places more to see and experience and hopefully, God willing we will be back soon.  A big round of applause to my sister,  May for sponsoring all our meals even though she is vegan most of the time!