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is a municipal park in
Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. It has playground equipment, outdoor sports fields, and objects that are designed by
Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...
, a
Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
artist. Visitors can enter the park and use the parking lot for free. Construction began in 1988; the park opened in 2005. It won a number of awards including the Good Design Award in 2002.


History

Before the construction of Moerenuma Park, the place has been used as a garbage reclaimed ground since 1979.Moerenuma Park and Isamu Noguchi - The entire park is considered to be a sculpture
/ref> Under the Sapporo Circular Greenbelt Concept, a
city planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
project that aims at developing the urban areas of Sapporo with
greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ha ...
s and parks, construction began in 1982. Sapporo asked Isamu Noguchi to design the park. Noguchi's first visit to Sapporo was in March 1988, when the place was still used as a reclaimed ground in part. Impressed with the landscape and the northern skyline, Noguchi contracted the offer from Sapporo government and made the master plan of the park, which includes the concept of "park that is considered to be one complete sculpture." On December 30 in the same year, however, right after making a miniature model of the planned park, Isamu Noguchi died of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, an ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, and the park was constructed with his master plan from 1989. In 1990, land reclamation of garbage was totally closed. It had 71.2 ha and 2,736,000 tons of garbage carried to the place until 1990.About Moerenuma Park
/ref> In 1997, Moerenuma Park made a park twinning agreement with the Bayfront Park in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. The park won the Good Design Award in 2002, 11th Sapporo Urban Scenery Award in 2003, and Hokkaidō Red Brick Architectural Award in 2004. The park was partly open during construction, and on July 1, 2005, the entire construction was completed (although it was initially planned to be complete in 2004). The Sapporo international art festival was held in 2014 and 2017.


Outline

The name "Moerenuma" (Moere marsh) is derived from the word "Moyre pet" in
Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...
, which means "a slowly flowing river."Moerenuma Park FAQ
/ref> Moere marsh was in the place long before the park was constructed. The official name of the marsh is Shinoro New River. It is said that river was made because of perpetual flood in the past. It currently connects to the Kariki New River. The Moere marsh is surrounding the whole area of the park ground. The entire area of the park is 1,888,000 m² including the Moere marsh, coming to a total cost of 27 billion yen. The park has 120 pieces of playground equipment, about 3,000
cherry tree A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
s, and the parking lots holds 1,500 vehicles.Access to the Moerenuma Park
/ref> The construction is mainly supervised by Isamu Noguchi Foundation and George Sadao. The biggest symbol of the park is a glass pyramid near the eastern entrance. The pyramid has the nickname "Hidamari", which means "sunny spot" in Japanese. The nickname was given in 2002 and selected from 2,340 applications. With a floor space of 5,328 m², the pyramid has three floors and a roof overlooking a large part of the park. The top floor houses the gallery of Isamu Noguchi and the miniature model of the park. A restaurant and museum shop are on the ground floor. The pyramid has an air conditioning system to cool down inside in summer, using snow stored in a neighbouring storage building during winter. Hidamari is also used for
workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
s and events including the Prestigious International Conference on Music and Perception with a concert by John Kaizen Neptune in 2008 in the rooms on the ground and second floors. The Tetra Mound, an object with triangle stainless steels (one of the creations of Isamu Noguchi) is placed in the western side. Several events have been held in the square close by. The Mt. Moere occupies large part of the park. It is 62 metres high, which enables visitors to overlook the landscape of the park and northern part of the Sapporo city. More playground equipment is near the Forest of Cherry Trees and the Moere Beach, which is a shallow pond open during summer. A 150-metre canal, the Aqua Plaza, is in the centre of the park, and the Sea Fountain is constructed near the canal. The fountain reaches 25 meters high when it jets out, and it is closed during winter. The monument called Music Shell is used as the musical venue. It is shaped to imitate two shells swelling up from the ground — as the name indicates. The park contains sports grounds such as a
tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...
,
baseball field A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
and athletic field. These are opened from April to November. Registration to use these facilities is required at the management office. Visitors can rent bicycles. In winter, as some facilities in closed; people can enjoy
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...
in the park instead. Courses are set up, which enable visitors to view objects in the park whilst skiing. Cross-country skiing equipment is lent at the office in the glass pyramid.


Nearby

Close to Moerenuma Park, there is the Sapporo Satoland — a theme park focusing on agriculture and one of the venues of the
Sapporo Snow Festival The is a festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over seven days in February. Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival. In 2007 (57th festival), about two million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds ...
. The Sapporo Community Dome, an indoor stadium which is often used as a venue for some sports events, and the
Okadama Airport is an airport located in Okadama-chō, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, north of the city center of Sapporo. Its scheduled airline service is limited to turboprop flights to other cities in Hokkaidō; larger aircraft use New Chitose Airport, ...
are close to the park.


Access

*
Hokkaido Chuo Bus The is a Japanese bus company operating local and long-distance buses in Hokkaido prefecture, Japan. The company operates routes connecting cities within Hokkaido, as well as local city and chartered bus services. Overview Besides providing bu ...
(''Higashi69'' or ''Higashi79''): 25 minutes from Kanjō-Dōri-Higashi Station (
Tōhō Line The is a rubber-tyred metro line in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Sapporo City Transportation Bureau. It is part of the Sapporo Municipal Subway system. It runs from Sakaemachi Station in Higashi-ku to Fukuzumi Station in Toyohira ...
) to 'Moere Koen Higashiguchi' bus stop, then a 10-minute walk to the Glass Pyramid.


Sources


External links


official site

Moerenuma Park - Land + Living
{{in lang, en
Moerenuma Park - Images
Higashi-ku, Sapporo Parks and gardens in Sapporo