Tachikawa Parks Guide: Things to Do Beyond Showa Kinen Park, a Walk

A railway line, a coppice, and the city’s only district park

From the south-east edge of Sakaecho, a green path runs north-west through the neighbourhood as far as the Imokubo Kaido road. This is Sakae Ryokuchi (Sakae Green Path), about 1.6 kilometres long. According to the city, in the days of the Tachikawa base this was a spur line used to carry supplies; it was laid out as the first step in reusing the former base land and completed as a footpath in 1980. Another article in this series covers the line’s history in detail, so I’ll add just one thing. The city’s history newsletter tells the same story in a little more detail: a freight-only spur line was laid when the airfield was built in 1922 (Taisho 11), it was used by the US military after the war too, and when the base was fully returned to Japan in 1977 (Showa 52) the track was removed and in 1980 (Showa 55) it was reborn as a footpath. Until near the end of the Showa era, this was an iron road. According to the city’s list, there is outdoor fitness equipment on this path too, north of Minamisuna Elementary School. On a route where freight wagons once ran, adults now do sit-ups.

Fujimicho has an example of a park that was “the work of a Showa-era neighbourhood.” It is Fujizuka Park in Fujimicho 1-chome. According to the city history’s folklore survey, after the war, to protect young people from the moral disorder that came with the US military presence, the neighbourhood association took the lead in building a children’s hall here. A shrine to Sengen (the deity of Mount Fuji) was enshrined on top of the mound (a “Fujizuka” is a miniature Mount Fuji built for worship), which prompted a plan to turn the surroundings into a park, completed in 1952 (Showa 27). The park is still the base for the neighbourhood association’s festival, it says. Not the authorities but the people of the neighbourhood made a park for their children. Tachikawa had an age like that.

Outdoor fitness equipment, in the city’s words, is equipment for adults to exercise casually under the open sky and build up their bodies. The list as of 1 December 2025 shows 69 pieces in 28 places. Cross-shaped pull-up benches, wall traverses, flying rings, acupressure foot paths, training towers. There is even one called “Choi-tore Pyon-pyon” (“a bit of training, hop hop”) in Nishisuna-roku Minami Park. Just reading the names aloud warms you up a little.

If you want to see coppice woodland, go to Kawagoe-michi Ryokuchi (Kawagoe-michi Green Space) in Saiwaicho. It is a dense grove beside the Heisei Shindo road, north of the Itsukaichi Kaido, and from a distance it looks like a little forest. It is mixed woodland where konara oak, sawtooth oak, zelkova and Japanese snowbell grow wild, and the city describes it as a place that still strongly preserves the old face of Musashino, the plateau on which western Tokyo stands. Topographically it lies on the boundary between the Musashino Terrace and the Tachikawa Terrace, and the area slopes. The city also writes that here you can touch at first hand the process by which fallen leaves pile up and turn into leaf mould. Inside the green space is an old-house garden to which the Kobayashi Family House and the Suzaki Family Storehouse, both city-designated cultural properties, were moved, and it can be visited free of charge.

The area around Saiwaicho, where Kawagoe-michi Ryokuchi is, is also where the city has concentrated on protecting Musashino woodland. Read the city’s protection system and you learn that a tree is designated a protected tree if, among other criteria, its trunk measures at least 1.5 metres round at 1.5 metres above the ground and it is at least 10 metres tall, and the owner then receives a subsidy of 4,500 yen per tree per year. The city focuses on protecting the zelkovas left along the Itsukaichi Kaido and had designated 448 trees as of 1 April 2023. Protected woodland, centred on the Saiwaicho area, covers about 1.55 hectares. Four thousand five hundred yen a year. The great zelkovas don’t collect it themselves, but Tachikawa’s old trees do have a modest pension.

The Twelve Green Views include “the great zelkova of Wakabacho,” part of a homestead windbreak along the Itsukaichi Kaido, introduced as a tree that has kept out the dry winter winds. Number twelve is the zelkova avenue at the Matsunaka housing estate, its highlight “the tunnel of zelkova, the city tree.” Tachikawa’s trees do sterling work by the roadside, outside the parks too.

Now, there was one row in the statistical yearbook’s table that had bothered me to the end. District park: 1 site, 15,000 square metres. Location: Izumicho. Look for Izumicho on the city’s park map and only one park is shown: Izumicho Nishi Park. So that must be Tachikawa’s one and only district park. Izumicho is a neighbourhood of new facilities, Showa Kinen Park and a fire station among them, on the site of the former Tachikawa Airfield and US base. On the map, Izumicho Nishi Park is marked with an accessible toilet and separate men’s and women’s toilets, and its name also appears on the list of parks with outdoor fitness equipment.

A traveller’s detour quiz

At Tachikawa Park Athletics Stadium, which throwing event can individuals practise on Mondays? (A) Shot put (B) Discus (C) Javelin. The answer comes at the end.

Having crossed the middle of town, I went on to the western edge. In the highest part of Tachikawa, parks with water names were lined up.

Polka dots in Nishisuna, numbers in Sunagawa: reading park names

Tachikawa’s park names have a clear habit. Take the district name and its chome (block) number, add a compass point, and if that isn’t enough, add “No. 2,” “No. 3.” Sunagawa Nana-higashi Park, Sunagawa Nana-higashi Park No. 2, No. 3, No. 4. Fujimi-roku Park, Fujimi-roku Higashi (East) Park, Nishi (West) Park, Minami (South) Park, Kita (North) Park: there is even a block with the whole set of compass points. If you get lost, the park name tells you where you are. A thoroughly practical naming system.

In that orderly register, every now and then the names suddenly soften. Kashiwa-go Sakura (Cherry) Park, Fujimi-go Himawari (Sunflower) Park, Saiwai-yon Soyogo (Longstalk Holly) Park, Ichiban-yon Clover Park. And the three in Nishisunacho 1-chome: Mizutama, Shizuku and Uzumaki: Polka Dot, Droplet and Swirl. On the map, Nishisuna-ichi Mizutama Park is marked with an accessible toilet, and the fitness equipment list shows a balance beam there. The map even has a park called Enoshima Park. Enoshima is a famous little island off the beach in Kanagawa. An Enoshima in Tachikawa. The sea is a very long way from here.

The city’s documents say the area around Nishisunacho 4-chome is the highest ground in the city. The western edge of the city is high, and lined with water-named parks. Nishisuna-roku Minami Park, with its “Choi-tore Pyon-pyon,” is in this district too. The sports ground inside the general recycling centre in Nishisunacho even has a step-up fitness station. Inside a facility that turns rubbish into resources, people try to turn their own fat into something else.

Back in Sunagawacho, Sunagawa Park has a set of four: a back-stretching bench, a side stretcher, an acupressure path and a hanging bar. Mikagebashi Park in Sunagawacho 3-chome has an athletics stadium that doubles as a baseball ground. The city’s park FAQ says there are no car parks at parks managed by the city. And yet the Sports Promotion Division’s page for Mikagebashi Park Athletics Stadium says “parking available.” Same park name, different answer depending on which counter you ask. Comparing the city’s various guides is one of the small pleasures of a park tour.

Parks in the north-west of the city are also close to the Tamagawa Aqueduct. The aqueduct upstream and downstream of Mikagebashi is covered in detail in this series’ article on the Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa.

Once you have read the names of 260 parks, it is time to read the park rules. The city’s rulebook for parks is, in its way, rather good reading.

Reading the park rulebook: fireworks, mushrooms, skateboards

Tachikawa City’s “Frequently asked questions about parks” lists 16 questions. Nearly all the answers are “prohibited.” Barbecues and anything else using fire: prohibited. Drones and radio-controlled planes: prohibited. Riding bicycles around inside parks: prohibited. Fishing and catching fish: prohibited, and releasing fish is prohibited too, whether they are introduced or native species. And city-managed parks have no car parks and no dog runs.

But not everything ends in “no.” To the question of whether you may catch insects, the answer asks you to take only as many as you can keep yourself, to let them go after catching them, and so on. Taking large numbers is prohibited. To the child with a butterfly net, the city says “in moderation.” A gentle answer, very much a park in the summer holidays.

Fireworks are changing a little too. The city had banned fireworks of every kind in all parks, but from fiscal 2026, on a trial basis, it is allowing handheld fireworks in some parks. Check the city’s information for which parks and how. The tiny glowing bead of a senko hanabi (sparkler) has long been shut out of the parks; now it has come back, just a little.

On 25 September 2026 the city put out a short warning page. Mushrooms thought to be the poisonous “Oshiro-karakasatake” (Chlorophyllum molybdites, the green-spored parasol) had been found in parks and elsewhere in the city. It is a poisonous mushroom that grows on park lawns and grassy areas from summer to autumn, and eating it by mistake can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach pain. If you find white mushrooms on a park lawn, do not pick them up and take them home. Tachikawa’s parks are not for mushroom hunting.

Skateboards, inline skates and BMX are also banned in city parks. What is provided instead is the Tachikawa Chuo Park Skate Park in Midoricho. It is just south of Takamatsu Station on the Tama Monorail and measures about 560 square metres. You can use it once you register as a user at the counter of the Izumi Citizens’ Gymnasium. What’s interesting is how it is run. According to the city, the park is a facility managed and run voluntarily by its users, centred on a management committee made up of user representatives.

The rules, too, read as if you can see the committee’s faces. Always wear a helmet and protectors. Children in the third year of primary school or younger must be accompanied by a guardian. No eating or drinking alcohol; drinks for hydration must be in containers with lids. Pick up rubbish, even rubbish other people threw away. And this: “People not wearing clothes (including half-naked people) may not use the park.” What happened at the skate park one summer is not recorded. Imagining what is not written is also a form of reading.

Places where everyone can play, whatever their size or ability, are slowly increasing too. In November 2024 the city put inclusive play equipment in Nishiki Chuo Park in Nishikicho 3-chome: equipment anyone can use regardless of disability or differences in ability. There are two kinds, a combination play structure and a swing.

One more story of sport in an unusual place. On the grounds of the Local Autonomy College in Midoricho there are four sand-filled artificial-turf tennis courts, which groups of five or more people who live, work or study in the city can hire, on Saturdays only. On the day, you show your approval form at the security office at the college entrance and write your name in the register to go in. To play tennis, you pass the security office of a government college. Every so often, Tachikawa opens a curious door like this to its residents.

Rules read, it is time to return to the first question. Is Tachikawa’s green one giant, or 260 little parks?

The answer: 260 little gardens on a giant’s shoulders

The answer was: both.

Over 60% of Tachikawa’s urban park area is carried by one giant, Showa Kinen Park. According to the statistical yearbook, about 3.51 million people visited Showa Kinen Park in fiscal 2024. The busiest month was November, with about 590,000, and the quietest was August, with about 100,000. People flock to the autumn leaves and stay away from the blazing heat. The giant’s popularity is honest about the seasons.

But even without the giant, park space per Tachikawa resident beats the 23-ward average. Eighteen hectares in the river, a stadium where you can throw the javelin on Mondays, lawn at 6 yen a square metre, a green path on an old railway line, great zelkovas with a pension. Parks numbered up to No. 4, parks called Polka Dot, Droplet and Swirl: each does its own job in its own neighbourhood.

Looking over the park names, I noticed one more thing. Many of Tachikawa’s parks were the sites of something else. The site of a shrine forest, of a learning centre, of a spur line, of a base. In 1952 a neighbourhood association made a park to protect its children. In 1980 the track used by the US military’s freight wagons became a footpath. The riverbank of pleasure boats became a youth baseball ground. And the one and only district park is in a young neighbourhood built on the site of an airfield. Perhaps this town, each time something comes to an end, has turned the place into a park.

The people who chose the Twelve Green Views wrote in their closing words that they did not consider these to be all there is, and that they hoped residents would choose their own twelve views with their own eyes. With 260 parks, you can make 260 different sets of twelve.

Evening, in some small park: someone is leaning back on a back-stretching bench.

Answer to the detour quiz

The answer is (C), javelin. According to the city, individual use of Tachikawa Park Athletics Stadium for throwing events is set as javelin on Mondays, discus on Tuesdays and shot put on Wednesdays. No equipment is lent to individual users.

Before you go

• Tachikawa Park (Nekawa Green Path, Ganigara Plaza): Shibasakicho and Nishikicho, Tachikawa. About 15 minutes’ walk from the South Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, or about 1 minute from Shibasaki-Taiikukan Station on the Tama Monorail (according to Tachikawa City). https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002924/1003007.html
• Free individual use of Tachikawa Park Athletics Stadium: only at days and times with no group bookings. Always check the city’s page for what each day is used for, how to sign in and what happens in rain. https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002923/1002944/1021320.html
• Suwa no Mori Park and Suwa no Mori Plaza: Shibasakicho 1-chome, Tachikawa. From stop 3 at the South Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, take a bus bound for “Haijima Eigyosho” and get off at “Shibasaki Gakushukan”; the park is right there (according to the city). It combines well with the route in this series’ article on Fusai-ji Temple and Suwa Shrine. https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002924/1003004.html
• Tachikawa Chuo Park Skate Park: 105-3 Midoricho, Tachikawa, just south of Takamatsu Station on the Tama Monorail. Advance user registration is required. Check opening times on the city’s page. https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/shisetsu/1008063/1002958.html
• Kawagoe-michi Ryokuchi (old-house garden): 4-65 Saiwaicho, Tachikawa. Check opening hours, closing days and admission on the city’s page. https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002924/1003005.html
• Where the parks are: the city publishes an outline map of the parks it manages (Tachikawa City Park Map). Locations and areas are given as approximate. https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002924/1022863.html
• Park rules: for the fireworks trial, ball games, pets and so on, see “Frequently asked questions about parks” (Japanese). https://www.city.tachikawa.lg.jp/kanko/sports/1002924/1002999.html
• From Shinjuku: take the JR Chuo Line to Tachikawa. For the parks served by the Tama Monorail, change at Tachikawa-Kita or Tachikawa-Minami; an IC card such as Suica or PASMO works on both.
• Etiquette in brief: no ball games outside the designated places, no barbecues, no drones, no fishing, no cycling around inside parks, and take only a few insects and let them go. The Suwa forest is next to an active shrine.
• To combine: Tachikawa Park overlaps with the route in the article on the Nekawa Green Path and the Tama River, Suwa no Mori with the article on Fusai-ji Temple and Suwa Shrine, and Kawagoe-michi Ryokuchi with the article on the Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa. With children, this series’ article on Oni Park in Nishikicho will come in handy too.

A park-walked body, at the North Exit

How many of the 260 parks you manage is up to you, but each one you go round, you notice you have walked further than you thought. If you feel like arching your back on a back-stretching bench, that may be your body sending you a signal.

A one-minute walk from the North Exit of JR Tachikawa Station, on the 3rd floor of the Etoile Building at 2-14-10 Akebonocho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, is On the Shore Tachikawa (オンザショア立川店), a hot yoga studio where classes are held on heated lava stone. There is also room-temperature yoga, Pilates, women-only kickboxercise, boxercise, HIIT and personal training, with more than 25 kinds of yoga lessons.

It is open every day from 8:00 to 23:30. Whether you are coming back from watching the javelins on Monday or from kicking a ball on Thursday, there is time to drop in.

A trial yoga lesson costs ¥1,980 (tax included), with two bath towels, one face towel and a mat included as rentals, so you can come straight from the park with nothing but yourself. Pregnant guests cannot join the lava-stone hot yoga, but room-temperature maternity yoga is available. Many of our yoga instructors speak English, and the studio’s owner, Naomi Fujita, who holds Japan’s top English qualification (Eiken Grade 1) and a perfect TOEIC score and once worked as a translator and overseas interpreter at Nomura Securities, and who lived in Alaska for three years, often helps guests from the US bases in English herself (visitors from abroad have even left Google reviews about the care they received in English); if you would like an English-friendly lesson, just say so when you book.

Studio information: https://ontheshore.jp/ ; trial booking: https://site.locaop.jp/C0aVK?_src=hp

A back-stretching bench in the park, a mat on the 3rd floor of a building by the station. In Tachikawa, you are never short of places to stretch your back.

Cover photo: The Tachikawa Chuo Park Skate Park, its skating surface beyond a fence, with the monorail viaduct on the left. (Photo: 運動会プロテインパワー / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons)

Information as of October 2026.

More Tachikawa Walks

• Tachikawa Air Raids: WWII History and a Memorial Walk Guide
• Tachikawa Autumn Leaves Guide: Ginkgo, Zelkova and Where to Walk
• Tachikawa Base Town History: Cola Bottles, Yuming, the Laundry Gate
• Tachikawa Air Base History Walk: The Sunagawa Struggle and After
• Tachikawa Sento Guide: Public Baths, Their History and Bath Etiquette
• Tachikawa Disaster Base and Life Safety Learning Center: A Guide
• Tachikawa Bridges Walk: ‘Nameless Bridge’ to a Double-Deck Crossing
• Tachikawa Cinema City Guide: Tokyo’s First Multiplex and Its Big Sound
• Tachikawa Museums Guide: Art, 2,558 Instruments and Things to Do
• Tachikawa Cycling Guide: Showa Kinen Park’s 14 km and the Tama River
• Tachikawa Festivals Guide: Bon Dances, Flamenco, Nebuta and Yokai
• Tachikawa History Walk: Famous People, from Seiji Ozawa to a Comet
• Tachikawa History Walk: Famous People Who Passed Through the Town
• Tachikawa Public Art Walk: A Guide to the 109 Works of Faret Tachikawa
• Tachikawa Farms Guide: Farm Stands, Harvest Days and Tokyo’s Fields
• Tachikawa History: Japan’s Firsts, from Electric Cars to Sazae-san
• Tachikawa Folktales and Legends: A History Walk Through Old Stories
• Tachikawa Walk: Fusai-ji Temple’s National Treasure and Suwa Shrine
• Tachikawa Business Guide: Where West Tokyo Works and Starts Up
• Tachikawa Culture Guide: Ballet, Ice, Anime and Art Near the Station
• Tachikawa’s Green Future: Zero Carbon, Farmland and Springs Guide
• Tachikawa for Foreign Visitors: Haneda Bus, Things to Do, Future
• Tachikawa Population and Family Life: A Guide to the Town’s Future
• Tama Monorail Extension: When It Opens and Tachikawa’s Future Guide
• Tachikawa and Tokyo’s Next Big Earthquake: Disaster Base Guide
• Showa Kinen Park Guide: The Future of Tachikawa’s Unfinished Park
• Tachikawa Station Redevelopment: A Guide to the Future Station Area
• Tachikawa’s Next Decade: Tachihi, GREEN SPRINGS and a New Hotel Guide
• Tachikawa GREEN SPRINGS Guide: Goats, a Rooftop River, Things to Do
• Tachikawa Travel Guide: Things to Do, Walks and History West of Tokyo
• Tachikawa Walk: Slopes, River Terraces and a Flat City’s Hidden Tilt
• Tachikawa History Walk: How a Mulberry Village Became Tama’s Hub
• Tachikawa Airfield History: The 2:12 a.m. Flight to London, 1937
• Tachikawa Was Once in Kanagawa: A History Walk to the 1893 Transfer
• Tachikawa Keirin Velodrome: History, Guide and the Grand Prix’s Home
• Tachikawa Childhood History: Candy Shops, a Base Christmas, Showa Kids
• Tachikawa Aviation Shrine History: The First ‘Tokyo Airfield’ Walk
• Showa Kinen Park Guide: Komorebi Village, Japanese Garden and Bonsai
• Tachikawa Libraries Guide: Raccoon Dogs, Lucky Cats, Local History
• Tachikawa Live Music Guide: Basement Venues and Where TM Meant Tama
• Tachikawa Manga Park Guide: 40,000 Manga in a Former City Hall
• Tachikawa Fireworks Festival Guide: History, Tips and Things to Do
• Akishima Day Trip from Tachikawa: Whale Fossil, Wisteria and History
• Fussa Day Trip from Tachikawa: Yokota Air Base History, Route 16 Walk
• Fussa Sake Brewery Walk: Day Trip from Tachikawa, Water and History
• Hachioji Castle Ruins from Tachikawa: History Walk and Silk Town Guide
• Mount Takao Day Trip from Tachikawa: Hiking Guide, History and Forest
• Hino Day Trip from Tachikawa: Shinsengumi History Walk and Guide
• Kokubunji Walk from Tachikawa: Otaka-no-Michi Springs and History
• Kunitachi Walk from Tachikawa: Daigaku-dori, History and Yaho Tenmangu
• Mount Mitake Day Trip from Tachikawa: Wolf Shrine, Valley Walk Guide
• Ome Day Trip from Tachikawa: Showa Retro Walk, Things to Do, History
• Tachikawa Walk: Nekawa Green Path to the Tama River, a Riverside Guide
• Tachikawa Cat-Return Shrine Guide: History, Ema and Suitengu
• Tachikawa Night Views and Mount Fuji at Dawn: A Walking Guide
• Tachikawa at Night: Bar Alleys, Black Markets and Cinema History Walk
• Tachikawa Ramen and Udon Guide: Ramen Square and Noodle History
• Tachikawa vs. Central Tokyo: Why the West Side Wins on Space and Sky
• Tachikawa Old Villages Walk: History Guide, Shibasaki to Nishisuna
• Tachikawa Oni Park Guide: A Red Demon Slide and Trains for Kids
• Tachikawa Place Names: A History Walk Through Its Town-Name Origins
• Tachikawa Antarctic and Arctic Science Museum: Free Guide and History
• Tachikawa on a Rainy Day: Indoor Things to Do, a Local Guide
• Tachikawa History Museum Guide: Local History and Folklore, Free
• Tachikawa Cherry Blossoms Guide: Where to See Sakura, and the History
• Tachikawa Schools Walk: History of Night Classes, Bells, Antarctica
• Tachikawa Filming Locations Guide: Anime Pilgrimage and TV Dramas
• Tachikawa Silk History Walk: Japan’s No.1 Mulberry Village, Sunagawa
• Tachikawa Shopping Guide: Why It Has Everything, a History Walk
• Showa Kinen Park, Tachikawa: A Walking Guide to Highlights and History
• Tachikawa and San Bernardino: The History of Tokyo’s First Sister City
• Tachikawa Souvenirs Guide: What to Buy, from Tokyo Sake to Paper
• Tachikawa Sports Guide: Things to Do for Fans, Runners and Walkers
• Tachikawa Station Guide: The History Walk of Tama’s Busiest Station
• Tachikawa in Summer: Things to Do, Water Play and Heat Tips Guide
• Tachikawa Sun Sun Road Walk: History, Festival and Winter Lights
• Tachikawa Tachihi History Walk: Aircraft, a Beach and Things to Do
• Tachikawa History: The Samurai Clan Behind the City’s Name, a Walk
• Tama Monorail from Tachikawa: A Guide to Views, Mt. Fuji and History
• Tachikawa Tama River History Walk: Floods, Ferries and Bridges
• Tachikawa Walk: Tamagawa Aqueduct and Sunagawa History Guide
• Tachikawa Udo Guide: History of Tokyo’s Underground White Vegetable
• Tachikawa Trains Guide: Railway History and Where to Watch Trains
• Tachikawa Water History: Where the Tap Water Comes From, and Wells
• Tachikawa History: Why Tokyo’s First IKEA and Cinema Complex Came Here
• Tachikawa Wildlife Guide: Birdwatching, Fireflies and Tanuki Walks
• Tachikawa Yagawa Green Space Walk: Springs, Hake Cliffs and History
• Tachikawa from Yokota Air Base: A Weekend Guide and Things to Do

All Tachikawa Walks (English)