is a park located in

Minami-Azabu is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "Southern Azabu", Minami-Azabu was named so because it was situated in the southern portion of the former Azabu Ward. The area's postal code is 106–0047. Tokyo Metropolitan Library, Tok ...

Minato, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits th ...

, Japan. It covers an area of 67,131 square metres.

History

During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the park belonged to Minonokami Nambu, a feudal lord from the former

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

who used it as an urban villa. In 1896, it was acquired by the Arisugawa-no-miya line of the Imperial family, and then in 1913 it was passed on to the

Prince Takamatsu was the third son of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako) and a younger brother of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). He became heir to the Takamatsu-no-miya (formerly Arisugawa-no-miya), one of the four ''shinnōke'' or branches of ...

line. Out of a great personal interest in promoting children's health and education about nature, Prince Takamatsu donated 36,325 square metres of land to Tokyo for use as a park on January 5, 1934, the anniversary of the death of

Prince Arisugawa Taruhito was a Japanese career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, who became the 9th head of the line of '' shinnōke'' cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan on September 9, 1871. Early life Prince Arisugawa Taruhito was born in Kyoto in ...

. The city immediately began construction and the Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park was opened on November 17, 1934. After having expanded to include Azabu Baseball Field and tennis courts, the park's total area is currently 67,131 square metres. In 1975, administration for the park was given over to Minato ward where it remains today.

Features

The park is built into a hill so it has several tiers. The park's cascading hills and valleys, ponds, and densely wooded areas have been arranged in harmony with the natural terrain. There is a heavily wooded area at the bottom with streams, waterfalls, bridges and ponds. On a tier above, there is a large plaza with an adjacent children's playground. The plaza is dominated by an equestrian statue of Prince Arisugawa Taruhito. There are also the little statues of the Newspaper Delivery Boy and the Youth Playing a Flute. On the other side of the plaza is the

Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library is the metropolitan public library system for Tokyo, Japan. Libraries The Tokyo Metropolitan Library has two branches. The Hibiya Library, a third branch, was closed on April 1, 2009. Both branches provide access to free public Wi-Fi, printing an ...

. Rising above the landscape is a golden trumpet-blowing

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

at the top of the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

of the Tokyo Mormon Temple across the road, adding another aspect to many of the landscapes available within the park. Arisugawa2.jpg, Pond of Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park Arisugawa back hills may 2014.jpg, The hills behind the pond Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park more July 18 2021 various.jpeg, Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park - summer view - 2021 7 18.webm, Summer in Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park, 2021

Location

The park is located approximately 2 minutes' walk from

Hiroo Station (officially Hiro-o Station) is a subway station on the in Minato, Tokyo operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro. The station is named after the adjacent Hiroo neighborhood in Shibuya ward, though the station is entirely located in M ...

and is adjacent to various buildings such as the Aiiku hospital to the north, the National Azabu grocery store to the south, and the German Embassy neighboring National Azabu.

External links

Private guide to Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park
{{Authority control Parks and gardens in Tokyo