is a Japanese

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

park associated with the

National Museum of Nature and Science The is in the northeast corner of Ueno Park in Tokyo. The museum has exhibitions on pre-Meiji period, Meiji science in Japan. It is the venue of the taxidermied bodies of the legendary dogs Hachikō and Taro and Jiro. A life-size blue whale mod ...

, located in the

Shirokanedai is a district of Minato, Tokyo. The district today is made up of 5 '' chome''. As of November 1, 2007, the population of Shirokanedai is 10,001. The former neighborhood of Shirokanedai (Shirokanedaimachi, 白金台町) consisted only of very nar ...

neighborhood of

Minato, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba, Tokyo, Shiba wards following Tokyo City's Local Autonomy Ac ...

, extending into the Kamiōsaki neighborhood of

Shinagawa, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population d ...

. It is a

Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...

and a National Historic Site of Japan.

Overview

The park is home to more than 200 species of plants that represent part of the former Musashino region, animals such as

Japanese raccoon dog The Japanese raccoon dog (''Nyctereutes viverrinus'', or ''tanuki'' ()) is a species of canid that is endemic to Japan. It is one of two species in the genus '' Nyctereutes'', alongside the common raccoon dog (''N. procyonoides''), of wh ...

mandarin duck The mandarin duck (''Aix galericulata'') is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is Sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic – the males are elaborately coloured, while the females have more subdued colours. It is a medium- ...

s, as well as many types of insects. It is located about a 10-minute walk from

Meguro Station is a railway station in the Kamiōsaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo, Kamiōsaki district of Shinagawa, Tokyo, close to the boundary with Meguro ward. Lines Meguro Station is served by the following lines: *East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Yamanote Lin ...

on the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

Yamanote Line The Yamanote Line () is a railway Circle route, loop service in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres ...

History

The area now occupied by The Institute for Nature Study has been occupied since prehistoric times, and mid-

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

shell midden A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...

s and

Jōmon pottery The is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" () means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay. Outline Oldest pottery in J ...

from about 2500 years ago have been found in the area. During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, the area was farmland, with rice paddies, and in the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

the area contained a number of fortified manor houses. The place name of "

" has been found in written records from 1559 AD. After the foundation of 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 ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the area was initially part of the holdings of

Zōjō-ji is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is the main temple of the Jōdo-shū ("Pure Land") Chinzei sect of Buddhism in the Kantō region. Its mountain name is San'en-zan (三縁山). Zōjō-ji is notable for its relations ...

, an important

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

. However, in 1664, it became part of the estate of

Matsudaira Yorishige The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

, the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Takamatsu Domain 270px, Matsudaira Yoritoshi. pre-1903 270px, Takamatsu Castle Tsukimi Yagura was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Takamatsu C ...

. Some of the oldest

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

in the Institute are thought to have been trees which were part of the

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

in the villa on this estate. Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the site was taken over by the Navy Ministry and

Army Ministry The , also known as the Ministry of War, was the cabinet-level ministry in the Empire of Japan charged with the administrative affairs of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). It existed from 1872 to 1945. In the IJA and the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

for use as a

gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications re ...

. It became property of the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family, and the keeping of the Privy Seal of Japan, Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century ...

in 1917, and was renamed the "Shirokane Imperial Estate". However, little was done with the land, and during

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 ...

, a number of fields were planted and

air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but ...

s were dug in its grounds. Following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

, the estate was transferred to the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in 1949, and was opened to the public as a national natural-education park. It has been designated The Institute for Nature Study as part of the

in 1962.

Gallery

File:Walkway - Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo - DSC02088.JPG, Walkway File:Promenade in the Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo.jpg, Promenade File:Pond - Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo - DSC02093.JPG, Pond File:Spring Pond in the Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo.jpg, Pond File:Crocothemis servilia mariannae - Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo.JPG, Scarlet skimmer File:Lychnis miqueliana, Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo 01.jpg,

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

File:Wild raccoon dogs in the Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo.jpg, ''Tanuki'' (

s) File:INSTITUTE FOR NATURE STUDY 20120803.jpg, Panoramic view in 2012

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Institute for Nature Study, Tokyo
Official home page
Gardens in Tokyo Museums in Tokyo Natural monuments of Japan Historic Sites of Japan Museums established in 1949 1949 establishments in Japan Buildings and structures in Minato, Tokyo

Overview

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links