ASAKUSA Underground > Ueno, the entrance for North Japan
Basho, one of the greatest Haiku poets in the history, wrote a travelogue called "The Narrow Road to the Deep North".
Somehow the Japanese associate the word "north" with melancholy, mysticism, and being defeated.
Being beaten, samurais like Minamoto no Yoshitsune sought refuge in the north: the country of "No longer human" Osamu Dazai and a mystic Japanologist, Kunio Yanagida.
The Japanese adore underdogs especially when they are chased away by the arrogant dwellers of its capital, Tokyo or Kyoto.
-Ueno station
When you come from the north of Japan by train, you arrive at Ueno station.
You try to leave your nice and kind country attitude in the coach and to put on the air of sophistication in vain.
If you are a visitor from abroad, you are lucky because you don't have to go through this fruitless transformation.
You are allowed to be yourself.
Walking around in Ueno is fun.
They have Ueno Park with national museums and a renowned shopping district "Ame-yoko".
Around Ueno station, you see various kinds of street business people in action.
They can be vendors of expensive encyclopaedia, men soliciting potential customers to their Kyaba-kura (cabaret-club; a bar with young barmaids who sit next to you and entertain you), and all kinds of religious activists who want to convince you that it is the end of the world.
Some members of a pseudo-religious group might tell you that they are learning fortunetelling and want to read the lines on your hand.
If you show some interest, you will end up buying an outrageously expensive vase, which is supposed to protect you against evil power.
Or, an elegant young lady will charm you on the street and, if you follow her to the office, you will be forced to buy a replica of an Impressionist’s masterpiece for several thousand dollars.
You can say that you have no money, but they will nicely inform you that they are happy to arrange a 12-months loan on your credit card.
It is true that it is not just at Ueno.
It is the same anywhere in Tokyo.
Having to go through this kind of annoying encounters everyday, girls in town (or boys; according to your preference, please replace the word "girl[s]" with "boy[s]" in the following passages) are not friendly.
It is not easy to hunt romance in Tokyo, particularly at Ueno.
You have to be ready to confront difficulties.
It is wiser to take a Zen attitude of no expectation.
Where there is no expectation, there is no disappointment.
Just keep on saying hi to an infinite number of girls.
At first, rejection may hurt your ego.
Once you get used to it, it will not bother you.
There is a Zen teaching.
心頭を滅却すれば火もまた涼し
Shin to wo mekkyaku sure ba,
hi mo mata suzushi.
(Suppress yourself, and even a fire becomes cool again)
Don't approach this nampa perfunctorily.
Take it seriously, and you will learn something.
-The character of Ueno girls
Ueno girls tend to wear too much make-up, and somehow look less sophisticated than girls at Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Ikebukuro.
In these areas, the inhabitants earn more than those do in the eastern part of Tokyo, which includes Ueno and Asakusa.
The difference of their incomes could be one of the reasons why Ueno girls would look more suitable in National Geographic's picture than in Vogue's one.
Besides, the gentle folks from the provincial areas like Gunma pref., Tochigi pref., or Tohoku region prefer settling near Ueno station.
This could be another reason.
Although Ueno girls are not so fashionable, many of them are good-looking.
The terminal station attracts many people, so does pretty girls.
Both good-looking girls and not-so-good-looking ones alike, girls in Ueno do not seem to know how to say no gently and politely.
They are very aggressive and show that they are offended, as if saying, "I know what you are doing. I am not so stupid".
Can you bear constant refusal?
It is like a waterfall that an ascetic receive on the crown.
These verbal beatings nearly drive one crazy.
One day at Ueno, the author of this article said hi to sixty-seven girls and was refused to talk as many times.
<Caution>
Sunday is the worst day of the week because they have much fewer people there.
In addition, girls there are more often married than usual.
An extramarital relationship was illegal and liable to a capital punishment among samurais.
On the contrary, among the aristocrats at the Heian period, it was not unusual.
These days, the Japanese are like more the Heian aristocrats than the Edo samurais.
Going out with a housewife is nothing wrong, but some women say, "Sorry, I am married. I cannot go to the hotel with you." after you have spent several hundred dollars for dinner and entertainment.
Is it the price to pay?
Probably, yes if you judge your own achievement by the number of the partners that you have conquered.
Plenty of Japanese housewives seek a romance simply because they are not satisfied emotionally and physically.
Their husbands are too tired to please them at home after having worked too much at office.
It was still acceptable in the final quarter of the last century because they got paid for their long hours of extra work.
After their companies were restructured, they have lost the financial benefits, but their long and tedious work still remains the same.
Now they are not only tired, but also have no money to entertain their wives.
How can you blame the bored and promiscuous Japanese wives?
Their hunting grounds seem to be rather on Internet dating sites than on the street.
Speaking exclusively to seemingly married women at Ueno doesn't make sense.
-Recommended hunting points
1, Inside Ueno station
It is very spacious inside, so you can try speaking to a girl both inside and outside the barrier.
If you do it inside the barrier, try a girl changing trains.
Since Ueno is a terminal station, a train gets in every three minutes at peak hours.
You can make it a rule to speak to a girl every time a train gets in.
If you do it outside the barrier, the subterranean passageway between JR Ueno station and Subway (Underground) Ueno station might be a good point.
2, Ame Yoko
Basically, it is not a good point.
There are too many people to talk to a girl on the street.
Nonetheless, you can find a girl from the countryside.
This old-fashioned shopping district is well known for low prices.
They have goods for younger shoppers and souvenirs for tourists.
These attract country girls on a day trip.
In general, they are more humane than inhumane Tokyoites.
3,Chuo-doori (Central Street: i.e. the pavement in front of Abu Abu and
Yodobashi Camera)
You should avoid the spot because you have to compete with hosuto (host: male equivalent to hosutesu [hostess]. A hosutesu is a modern-day geisha who entertains male customers with chats and smiles. A hosuto does the same service with Champaign and vintage wine for much higher charges. Logically, hosuto's clients are mostly girls working in the libidinous industry for men.
Most hosuto barmen have their quota.
They have to make their female clients spend a certain amount of money a month.
To reach the amount, they are obliged to increase the number of the customers.
Unless you want to compete against pros and to experience an unwanted and probably violent consequence, you'd better go somewhere else.
4, Around Matsuya department store (On the street near the exits from Ueno
Hirokoji station)
It is the best point in Ueno because there are neither too many nor too few people walking by.
Girls there are not on guard.
From Matsuya department store along Chuo-doori Street, you may walk south for the direction of Suehiro-cho and Akihabara.
It is a good choice because you will see many girls during the day.
But not after dark.
Since it is a business district, once it gets dark, the workers there are already on the way home.
There is one thing worth mentioning, which is the area's proximity to Yushima.
Yushima is well known for its love hotels.
After you hunt your romance, you can finish the business without calling a taxi. Yushima is within a walking distance.
Some may think that, if the number of the hunted trophies is the unique objective, there is no room to improve their skills in the bed, not to mention, to understand the mystic but fantastic profundity of human relationship.
That is absolutely right.
Nampa samurais are bad lovers.
It is because they don't go to the street for pleasure.
They hunt a romance on the street in order to suppress themselves.
Suppress yourself, and you will see that a fire is an illusion.
You will learn that so-called reality is in fact illusion.
The limited pleasure we might get during the reciprocal genital contact is just a by-product.
A samurai must not be fooled by it.
<Caution>
Unless you really seek enlightenment through the hardship of Ueno girls' constant refusals, the place is not recommended.
You should go to the countryside, where Shintoism and other animist worships are still practiced.
They respect and believe in the power of nature, more precisely the desire of fertility.
Nothing related to fertility must be wrong.
That is what all the Japanese believed before the introduction of Buddhism (538 AD) and Confucianism (513AD)
This spirit remains in the countryside though it is not particularly dominant.
Go to the countryside if you seek romance with the kind and gentle daughters of animism.
These days in Tokyo, it is difficult to be a samurai.
If you try hard to suppress yourself by speaking to as many girls on the street as possible, you might be taking the risk of being arrested by the police.
The city of Tokyo enjoys its laws of the protection against public nuisances.
With these laws, a police officer can arrest you simply because you try to speak to a girl and she gets annoyed.
In fact, some romance samurais have been arrested.
Use your discretion.
And lament what has become of Japan.
[Related articles]
・What is Nampa?
・2-shot Chat to hunt romance
・Confession of Nampa Samurai
・Nampa (romance-seeking) in Asakusa
・The best Nampa (romance-seeking) point in Asakusa
・Tobu Asakusa station Nampa
Ueno, the entrance for North Japan
Basho, one of the greatest Haiku poets in the history, wrote a travelogue called "The Narrow Road to the Deep North".
Somehow the Japanese associate the word "north" with melancholy, mysticism, and being defeated.
Being beaten, samurais like Minamoto no Yoshitsune sought refuge in the north: the country of "No longer human" Osamu Dazai and a mystic Japanologist, Kunio Yanagida.
The Japanese adore underdogs especially when they are chased away by the arrogant dwellers of its capital, Tokyo or Kyoto.
-Ueno station
When you come from the north of Japan by train, you arrive at Ueno station.You try to leave your nice and kind country attitude in the coach and to put on the air of sophistication in vain.
If you are a visitor from abroad, you are lucky because you don't have to go through this fruitless transformation.
You are allowed to be yourself.
Walking around in Ueno is fun.
They have Ueno Park with national museums and a renowned shopping district "Ame-yoko".
Around Ueno station, you see various kinds of street business people in action.
They can be vendors of expensive encyclopaedia, men soliciting potential customers to their Kyaba-kura (cabaret-club; a bar with young barmaids who sit next to you and entertain you), and all kinds of religious activists who want to convince you that it is the end of the world.
Some members of a pseudo-religious group might tell you that they are learning fortunetelling and want to read the lines on your hand.
If you show some interest, you will end up buying an outrageously expensive vase, which is supposed to protect you against evil power.
Or, an elegant young lady will charm you on the street and, if you follow her to the office, you will be forced to buy a replica of an Impressionist’s masterpiece for several thousand dollars.
You can say that you have no money, but they will nicely inform you that they are happy to arrange a 12-months loan on your credit card.
It is true that it is not just at Ueno.
It is the same anywhere in Tokyo.
Having to go through this kind of annoying encounters everyday, girls in town (or boys; according to your preference, please replace the word "girl[s]" with "boy[s]" in the following passages) are not friendly.
It is not easy to hunt romance in Tokyo, particularly at Ueno.
You have to be ready to confront difficulties.
It is wiser to take a Zen attitude of no expectation.
Where there is no expectation, there is no disappointment.
Just keep on saying hi to an infinite number of girls.
At first, rejection may hurt your ego.
Once you get used to it, it will not bother you.
There is a Zen teaching.
心頭を滅却すれば火もまた涼し
Shin to wo mekkyaku sure ba,
hi mo mata suzushi.
(Suppress yourself, and even a fire becomes cool again)
Don't approach this nampa perfunctorily.
Take it seriously, and you will learn something.
-The character of Ueno girls
Ueno girls tend to wear too much make-up, and somehow look less sophisticated than girls at Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Ikebukuro.
In these areas, the inhabitants earn more than those do in the eastern part of Tokyo, which includes Ueno and Asakusa.
The difference of their incomes could be one of the reasons why Ueno girls would look more suitable in National Geographic's picture than in Vogue's one.
Besides, the gentle folks from the provincial areas like Gunma pref., Tochigi pref., or Tohoku region prefer settling near Ueno station.
This could be another reason.
Although Ueno girls are not so fashionable, many of them are good-looking.
The terminal station attracts many people, so does pretty girls.
Both good-looking girls and not-so-good-looking ones alike, girls in Ueno do not seem to know how to say no gently and politely.
They are very aggressive and show that they are offended, as if saying, "I know what you are doing. I am not so stupid".
Can you bear constant refusal?
It is like a waterfall that an ascetic receive on the crown.
These verbal beatings nearly drive one crazy.
One day at Ueno, the author of this article said hi to sixty-seven girls and was refused to talk as many times.
<Caution>
Sunday is the worst day of the week because they have much fewer people there.
In addition, girls there are more often married than usual.
An extramarital relationship was illegal and liable to a capital punishment among samurais.
On the contrary, among the aristocrats at the Heian period, it was not unusual.
These days, the Japanese are like more the Heian aristocrats than the Edo samurais.
Going out with a housewife is nothing wrong, but some women say, "Sorry, I am married. I cannot go to the hotel with you." after you have spent several hundred dollars for dinner and entertainment.
Is it the price to pay?
Probably, yes if you judge your own achievement by the number of the partners that you have conquered.
Plenty of Japanese housewives seek a romance simply because they are not satisfied emotionally and physically.
Their husbands are too tired to please them at home after having worked too much at office.
It was still acceptable in the final quarter of the last century because they got paid for their long hours of extra work.
After their companies were restructured, they have lost the financial benefits, but their long and tedious work still remains the same.
Now they are not only tired, but also have no money to entertain their wives.
How can you blame the bored and promiscuous Japanese wives?
Their hunting grounds seem to be rather on Internet dating sites than on the street.
Speaking exclusively to seemingly married women at Ueno doesn't make sense.
-Recommended hunting points
1, Inside Ueno stationIt is very spacious inside, so you can try speaking to a girl both inside and outside the barrier.
If you do it inside the barrier, try a girl changing trains.
Since Ueno is a terminal station, a train gets in every three minutes at peak hours.
You can make it a rule to speak to a girl every time a train gets in.
If you do it outside the barrier, the subterranean passageway between JR Ueno station and Subway (Underground) Ueno station might be a good point.
2, Ame YokoBasically, it is not a good point.
There are too many people to talk to a girl on the street.
Nonetheless, you can find a girl from the countryside.
This old-fashioned shopping district is well known for low prices.
They have goods for younger shoppers and souvenirs for tourists.
These attract country girls on a day trip.
In general, they are more humane than inhumane Tokyoites.
3,Chuo-doori (Central Street: i.e. the pavement in front of Abu Abu and
Yodobashi Camera)You should avoid the spot because you have to compete with hosuto (host: male equivalent to hosutesu [hostess]. A hosutesu is a modern-day geisha who entertains male customers with chats and smiles. A hosuto does the same service with Champaign and vintage wine for much higher charges. Logically, hosuto's clients are mostly girls working in the libidinous industry for men.
Most hosuto barmen have their quota.
They have to make their female clients spend a certain amount of money a month.
To reach the amount, they are obliged to increase the number of the customers.
Unless you want to compete against pros and to experience an unwanted and probably violent consequence, you'd better go somewhere else.
4, Around Matsuya department store (On the street near the exits from Ueno
Hirokoji station)It is the best point in Ueno because there are neither too many nor too few people walking by.
Girls there are not on guard.
From Matsuya department store along Chuo-doori Street, you may walk south for the direction of Suehiro-cho and Akihabara.
It is a good choice because you will see many girls during the day.
But not after dark.
Since it is a business district, once it gets dark, the workers there are already on the way home.
There is one thing worth mentioning, which is the area's proximity to Yushima.
Yushima is well known for its love hotels.
After you hunt your romance, you can finish the business without calling a taxi. Yushima is within a walking distance.
Some may think that, if the number of the hunted trophies is the unique objective, there is no room to improve their skills in the bed, not to mention, to understand the mystic but fantastic profundity of human relationship.
That is absolutely right.
Nampa samurais are bad lovers.
It is because they don't go to the street for pleasure.
They hunt a romance on the street in order to suppress themselves.
Suppress yourself, and you will see that a fire is an illusion.
You will learn that so-called reality is in fact illusion.
The limited pleasure we might get during the reciprocal genital contact is just a by-product.
A samurai must not be fooled by it.
<Caution>
Unless you really seek enlightenment through the hardship of Ueno girls' constant refusals, the place is not recommended.
You should go to the countryside, where Shintoism and other animist worships are still practiced.
They respect and believe in the power of nature, more precisely the desire of fertility.
Nothing related to fertility must be wrong.
That is what all the Japanese believed before the introduction of Buddhism (538 AD) and Confucianism (513AD)
This spirit remains in the countryside though it is not particularly dominant.
Go to the countryside if you seek romance with the kind and gentle daughters of animism.
These days in Tokyo, it is difficult to be a samurai.
If you try hard to suppress yourself by speaking to as many girls on the street as possible, you might be taking the risk of being arrested by the police.
The city of Tokyo enjoys its laws of the protection against public nuisances.
With these laws, a police officer can arrest you simply because you try to speak to a girl and she gets annoyed.
In fact, some romance samurais have been arrested.
Use your discretion.
And lament what has become of Japan.
[Related articles]
・What is Nampa?
・2-shot Chat to hunt romance
・Confession of Nampa Samurai
・Nampa (romance-seeking) in Asakusa
・The best Nampa (romance-seeking) point in Asakusa
・Tobu Asakusa station Nampa