Yoyogi Park

Location

Tokyo
Japan
35° 40' 24.2688" N, 139° 41' 52.1952" E
JP
General info: 

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.

Getting there: 

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)

Costs: 

Free park to all.

You might be interested in

Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas is one of the most picturesque places in the city.

This exotic botanical garden is one of the great tropical botanical gardens in the world. It has over 6,500 species from Brazilian and foreign flora distributed throughout an area of 54 hectares.

When you think about Miami, you’re probably thinking about the Lummus Park, as the area has been featured in hundred TV shows, commercials, and music videos.

Originally built as a residence of Catalonian upper class, the Park Güell is one of the most popular parks in Barcelona.

The Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden has to be the most beautiful park in Tokyo. There is not so much going on as in Yoyougi Park, rather Shinjuku Gyoen is about calmness and beauty.

Cala Barca is a small but pretty bay on the edge of Mondrago Park in the south east of Mallorca. It's 35 metres long by 25 metres deep and has golden sand.