Within the quiet, tree lined paths of Ueno Park in Tokyo lies one of Japan’s most elegant yet often overlooked historical treasures, Ueno Tōshō-gū. Built in 1627, this shrine was constructed to honour the memory of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the formidable figure who unified Japan’s fractured feudal domains and established the Tokugawa Shogunate, a regime that would rule Japan in relative peace and stability for over two and a half centuries.

The spacious Ueno Park was established on the grounds of Kan'ei-jiin Temple after the Battle of Ueno, in 1873. Amongst Japan’s first public parks, Ueno now showcases a number of museums and several historically significant monuments which weren’t otherwise destroyed during times of war. In 1924, Ueno Park was presented to the city by Emperor Taishō, receiving the official name that lasts to this day (Ueno Onshi Kōen), the Ueno Imperial Gift Park.