2-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Daily: 24 hours
One of the largest city parks in Tokyo, Yoyogi Park is located adjacent to Harajuku railway station and not far from
Meiji Jingu. Before turning into a park, the site had seen a few recorded historical events, beginning with the first successful powered aircraft in the Land of the Rising Sun taking flight on 19 December 1910.
After leaving the premise of Meiji Jingu from the southern wooden
torii (Shinto shrine gate), my BFF and I crossed the road via an overhead pedestrian bridge to reach Yoyogi Park.
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| Yoyogi means generations old trees. |
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| Thanks to COVID-19, Tokyo 2020 was but a dream. |
The premise officially became Yoyogi Park in 1967.
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| The park covers an area of approximately 54 hectares. |
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My hope was almost dashed when I hardly saw any pink at the park.
I unreasonably grumbled about the banner being put up too early. |
There are shallow ponds at the park, which I believe are man-made.
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| Such serenity and nice temperature below 20 degree Celsius... What else could I ask for? |
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| Looking fierce there! |
Enjoy the one and only panorama shot that I took at the park.
We finally found one short sakura (lit. cherry blossom) tree.
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| Up close and personal with sakura for the very first time in my life! |
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| Waiting for the right time to bloom~ |
I was so excited when I spotted another one in a distance. We briskly made our way to the bigger tree, almost to the point of skipping like little kids.
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| Even the little kids were delighted to see the sakura tree. |
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| Sakura is considered to be the national flower of Japan, along with chrysanthemum. |
Pikachu and Melon were enjoying the beauty of the
sakura too as much as I did.
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| Under the spreading chestnut... I mean sakura tree! |
Tokyo experienced one of its worst dengue fever outbreaks in 2014. Using genetic sequencing techniques, scientists determined that the outbreak originated at the park, leading to its closure in early September 2014 for close to two months.
The premise was once a parade ground of the Imperial Japanese Army. It was customary for the emperors of the respective eras to stand next to one particular black pine tree, which has survived till date, when the troops were doing their salute.
We saw two sculptures: Quetzalcoatl and what seems like a family.
Would someone like to enlighten me what these white flowers are called?
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| “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” ~ Audrey Hepburn |
Last but not least, we saw a group of unbloomed trees planted by Americans as a symbol of friendship.
Did you know that Yoyogi National Gymnasium, which is located somewhere within the park, was the proposed venue for the handball events for Tokyo 2020?
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