is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the city of

Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, located in the eastern part of the city. Major features of the park include a public beach on

Aomori Bay The is a bay located north of the island of Honshu, in Japan. It is considered to be part of the larger Mutsu Bay. Geography Aomori Bay is an inner bay located to the west of Natsudomari Peninsula that protrudes in the center of the southern coa ...

, various decorative trees, and the Aomori City Baseball Stadium.

Description

The northern border of the park is

. A public beach lines the coast of the park along the bay. To the east of the park is the neighborhood of Tsukurimichi, a road divides the park from the neighborhood. The southern boundary of the park is flanked by shops and a shrine within the neighborhood of Gappo, National Route 4 lies just beyond the park's southern boundary. Various public buildings lie to the west of the park.

Design and layout

The park is centered around a 400-year-old black pine that grew alongside the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

road, the

Ōshū Kaidō The was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect the ''de facto'' capital of Japan at Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Mutsu Province and the present-day city of Shirakawa, Fukushima, S ...

. The tree is the

origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

point for wide paved pathways that run towards the edges of the park. The park preserves the routing of the road in its east to west paved path as well as its boundary markers. The pine trees line the paved pathways of the park. These trees were planted as a memorial to the Japanese casualties of the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

. The park also includes a small zoo, playground space, a tennis court, an unpaved jogging course, and a tea pavilion. The park also has 670 Yoshino cherry trees. These trees make it a popular venue for ''

hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always mean those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around the s ...

''.

History

The park was designed by the former official gardener of the

Hirosaki Domain file:Hirosakijo.jpg, Hirosaki Castle, the seat of the Hirosaki Domain , also known as , was a ''tozama'' Han (Japan), feudal domain of Edo period JapanRavina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 It is located in Muts ...

, Eisaku Mizuhara, and his brother Mijuro Kakizaki in 1881. The land they built the park on was the site of the

, an

road, and Eisaku's private land. In 1885 Eisaku died of

karoshi , which can be translated into "overwork death", is a Japanese language, Japanese term relating to occupation-related sudden death. The most common medical causes of karoshi deaths are myocardial infarction, heart attacks and strokes due to ...

(death by overwork) while building the park, after which Mijuro took full control of the park's construction. Mijuro's efforts ran into financial difficulty in 1890, so the then-town of Aomori provided subsidies to help complete the park with the goal of having it eventually designated as a public area. This happened in 1895 when the park, given the name Aomori Park, was donated to Aomori, officially creating the first public park in

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

. It was given its current name, Gappo Park, in 1901 when the park was expanded to the beach. Train services to the park began on 15 January 1924 with the establishment of , though the only public transport to the area today is the

Aomori City Bus is the bus public transit system in the city of Aomori in northern Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of J ...

since the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

was realigned away from the park in 1968. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the park was

occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

until it was returned to the city of Aomori in 1954.

References

{{reflist 1895 establishments in Japan Urban public parks Urban public parks in Japan Parks and gardens in Aomori

Description

Design and layout

History

See also

References