Ueno-mura Sky Bridge and Fall Colors
| Travel Reports by scarreddragon | view profile of scarreddragon |
| previous post |
| next post |
| Note: The opinions and views expressed in this user report are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of japan-guide.com. |
November 15, 2014 - Ueno-mura Sky Bridge and Fall Colors
Most people, when you say "I went to Ueno this weekend," assume you visited Tokyo. But there's another Ueno in the Kanto region, the tiny village of Ueno-mura waaaay up in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture. There isn't much here if you aren't a fan of nature, mountains, or hiking, but surprisingly Ueno has its own tourist attraction: the Sky Bridge.
Built after a newly commissioned Dam in the area flooded (haha) the village tax coffers with money, someone somewhere decided to build a bridge to nowhere. It's a tiny footbridge across a gorge that link two restaurant/parking areas up on the mountain. And it blows bubbles! (In the summer. On weekends. At certain times only.)
We came hoping to see some nice fall colors, but alas, it's a little late already this year, plus the mountains mean the sun goes down around 2pm, which is way early.
Speaking of Wild Boar, if you're wanting to try this delicacy, Ueno is the place to do so! Not only does the above restaurant serve wild boar hot dogs, others have gotten into the action to give you dishes ranging from ramen to curry to tonkatsu.
Anyway, Ueno-mura is one of those places FAR off the beaten track, if you go for that sort of thing. It can be reached by taking a train to Shinmachi Station on the Takasaki (or Shonen-Shinjuku) Line, then an infrequent bus to Ueno-mura. It takes probably about 2 hours from Shinmachi station, passing through rural Japan and mountain roads. If you're in the area and have some time on your hands, why not visit?
But I'd go in summer. I hear the bubbles off the bridge is not to be missed.
| previous post |
| next post |
