Kyu-Kaneiji Five-Storied Pagoda

The park, currently about 10 hecters (a tenth of what it used to be) in Ueno, was formerly the temple grounds of Toeizan Kan'eiji Temple. The Buddhist temple, founded to pray for security both for the Tokugawa Shogunate and its people all over Japan, had a lot of buildings in its prime and the five-story pagoda is one of the remaining buildings. First built in 1631 and rebuilt in 1639, the pagoda is 36 meters high from the ground to the hoju (uppermost spherical part) and has a five-tiered structure. The roof of the fifth and uppermost floor is covered in copper sheets while the rest of the roofs are in Japanese traditional ceramic tiles. In each corner of the first floor, Buddha, Bhaisajyaguru, Amitabha, and Maitreya statues are enshrined. The sight of the wooden pagoda towering over the woods thriving in Ueno, the emblematic beauty of Japanese traditional architecture and the weight of the long-standing history of Japan can be felt. It is an eight-minute walk from JR Ueno Station.