东京第八天 Day 8 in Tokyo

2023年6月3日，星期六，东京之行第八天

Saturday, June 3, 2023, the eighth day of our trip to Tokyo

早上还在下雨，我去附近的一个零食店买了一些小零食，11点多雨停了。今天打算去上野公园看看，坐地铁先到了著名的购物一条街，阿美橫丁。来了之后发现，这里的商家和饭店很多都是中国人，经营中国菜和那些便宜货，一时像是回到了国内的某个大市场。随便找了一家不是很忙的饭店吃了午饭，就去了上野公园。

It was still lightly raining in the morning, so I went out by myself to some shops to buy various Japanese snacks. The rain finally stopped at 11am. Today we plan to visit Ueno Park. We took the subway to the famous shopping street, called Ameyoko which is short for “Ameya Yokocho”, meaning candy store alley. After we came here, we found that many of the merchants and restaurants were run by Chinese. There was a mix of Japanese and Chinese dishes and also many shops selling cheap goods. It seems that they cornered a big domestic market here. We randomly picked a restaurant that was not very busy for lunch, and then went to the nearby Ueno Park.

我俩点的煎饺，猪肉串和鸡肉串 – We ordered fried Gyoza, pork and chicken skewers

上野公园是日本最著名的公园之一，也是东京市内最大的公园之一。它前身可以追溯到1873年，当时它是日本第一座现代化的公园之一。在樱花季节，公园内的樱花树开满了粉色的花朵，每年都会吸引许多人前来欣赏和举办赏樱活动。可惜现在已经过了樱花季节，只能去看看樱花盛开后的樱花树了。

Ueno Park is one of the most famous parks in Japan and one of the largest parks in Tokyo. Its roots date back to 1873, when it was one of the first modern parks in Japan. During the cherry blossom season, the cherry blossom trees in the park are full of pink flowers, attracting many people to enjoy and hold cherry blossom viewing events every year. It’s a pity that the cherry blossom season is over now. It’s tough to catch the short blossom season, so on this visit we will just admire the trees.

公园里有一座神社，叫做“上野东照宫”，建于1627年，是为了纪念德川家康而兴建的。德川家康在日本历史上扮演着重要的角色，他统一了日本并建立了江户幕府，为日本的稳定和发展做出了重要贡献。上野东照宫的建筑采用了富丽堂皇的宝塔式风格，结合了日本传统和中国元素，展现了德川家康的尊贵和权威。

There is a shrine in the park called the “Ueno Toshogu Shrine”, which was built in 1627 to commemorate Ieyasu Tokugawa who played an important role in Japanese history. He unified Japan and established the Edo Shogunate, making important contributions to Japan’s stability and development. The architecture of Ueno Toshogu Shrine adopts a magnificent pagoda style, combining Japanese tradition and Chinese elements, showing the dignity and authority of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

晚饭找了一家专做天妇罗的饭店，队伍不是很长，还是第一次尝试一套天妇罗做晚餐，体验和味道都还不错。

For dinner, we found a restaurant that specializes in tempura. It was the most fancy restaurant on the trip. The line was not very long. It was the first time I had tried a set tempura dinner. The experience of the watching the chefs preparing our food was awesome and the taste was pretty good.

我俩点了两套叫做“江户前膳”的套餐，包含明虾，墨鱼，两种鱼贝，青椒，茄子，星鳗，炸虾，配有小咸菜，米饭，和味增汤 – The two of us ordered a set dinner called “Edo Maezen”, which included Japanese tiger prawns, squid, two types of seafood, green peppers, eggplants, sea eel, deep fried shrimp all served with small pickles, rice, and miso soup with various dipping accompaniments.

明天就飞回家了，8天很快就过了， 东京真的是一个现代化、繁忙，充满活力的，多元文化的大都市，在美国安静的大农村呆久了的我，有时候感觉到了眼花缭乱，头晕目眩，我很高兴明天就要回归安静了。PJG也是done with Tokyo :).

We will fly home tomorrow, and the 8 short days will soon pass. Tokyo is really a modern, busy, vibrant, and multicultural metropolis. After staying in the relatively quiet cities of the United States, this huge place sometimes makes me feel dazed and dizzy. I’ll be glad to be back to my quiet life tomorrow. PJG is also done with Tokyo 🙂

现在我们可以开始计划我们的下一次旅行了，希望包括牡丹江！

And now we can beginning planning our next trip, hopefully including MuDanJiang!