Shakujii Park (石神井公園, ''Shakujii Kōen'') is a public park in the Japanese town of Shakujii, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

's Nerima ward. It is one of the larger parks in the metropolis. As of April 2006, the site is managed directly by the Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association, an arrangement which ended in March 2011. The park contains within it two ponds, Sanpō-ji Pond and Shakujii Pond, several small

Shintō shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

s, and the remains of Shakujii castle. The

Shakujii River The is a river which flows through the northwest quadrant of central Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the tributaries of the Arakawa River. With a total length of and a drainage basin of , it is categorized as a Class A river by the Japanese govern ...

runs east-west a short ways south of the park. The ponds are said to have formed naturally from the gushing up of underground water from the Musashino-dai Pond a short distance away. Over the years, however, the ponds have slowly shrunk, and so, in order to preserve the park's scenery and its recreational use, manmade systems have been installed to pump water into the ponds. The castle ruins date from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

(1185–1333), or earlier, and thus it is known that the site was in use, and regarded as strategically important, for many centuries. The castle was the residence of the Toshima clan of samurai, who ruled over the surrounding area in the 14th–15th centuries. The clan's destruction came largely at the hands of

Ōta Dōkan , also known as Ōta Sukenaga (太田資長) or Ōta Dōkan Sukenaga, was a Japanese ''samurai'' warrior-poet, military tactician and Buddhist monk. Ōta Sukenaga took the tonsure (bald scalp) as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted t ...

, who was responsible for the construction of Edo castle; many of the ruins and shrines in the area are associated with him. In the twentieth century, it came to be a popular site for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, strolling, and relaxation, and was formally established as a public park in 1959. In addition to being popular with local residents, the park is fairly well known throughout Tokyo. Shakujii Pond is a popular location for TV programs and films to shoot boating scenes, and the park, or its ponds, is often seen in manga, anime, and other productions of popular culture.

Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with '' Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, Takahashi is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are popular worldwide, where they have ...

's ''

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from August 1987 to March 1996, with the chapters collected into 38 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The s ...

'' takes place in Nerima ward, and there are a number of episodes of the manga/anime in which the characters visit the park. In addition,

Kazutoshi Sakurai is a Japanese musician. He composes and writes almost all of the songs for his band Mr. Children, in addition to writing lyrics and singing for his solo project group Bank Band. In 2006, Sakurai ranked No. 8 in HMV's "Top 30 Best Japanese Sing ...

, of the Japanese band

Mr. Children , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname , are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of t ...

, is said to have conceived of the lyrics to the band's song "''Tomorrow never knows''" while jogging there.

References

*''The content of this article is largely derived from the corresponding article on the Japanese Wikipedia.''

External links

Tokyo Met. Park Assoc. Official Site (Japanese)
{{Authority control Parks and gardens in Tokyo