Location
Yoyogi Park is a great getaway from the city noise and huzzle. It is one of Tokyo's largest city parks, featuring wide lawns, ponds and forested areas. It is perfect for jogging, picnicking and any other outdoor activities. Obviously the best time to visit Yoyogi is spring, during the cherry trees blossom period. Although it has relatively few cherry trees compared to other sites in Tokyo, it makes a nice cherry blossom viewing spot in spring. In the autumn time Yoyogi turns golden as the ginko tree forest changes colours. Yoyogi is also a good place for people watching as it draws all sorts of talent. The horn players, hip-hop dancers and rockabilly gangs, complete with poodle skirts and Elvis-inspired pompadours, usually gather by the park's east side entrance on Sundays to jam to American pop music from the '50s. The costumed fans of Japanese manga and anime characters and the gothic lolitas are hanging out on the Harajuku bridge. Before becoming a city park in 1967, the area where Yoyogi Park is located served as the site of the Olympic Village for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Before that it was a residential area for US military personnel.
Take the JR Yamanote line to Harajuku, Omotesando exit, or the Chiyoda line to Yoyogi-koen, exit 4. Opening times: 5:00 to 20:00 (until 17:00 from mid October through April)
Free park to all.