ARISUGAWA PARK / 有栖川宮記念公園
Location: 5-7-29 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0047
Access: 3 min walk from Hiroo Station (Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line)
Hours: Open 24 hours, year-round
Admission: Free
Arisugawa Park sits on the corner of Minami-Azabu, dropping from a high eastern ridge down to a pond on the lower southwest side. It was once the residence grounds of the Arisugawa-no-miya family, opened to the public in 1934.
What makes Arisugawa meaningful to nearby residents are the useful facilities embedded amidst the natural greenery. A steady stream runs down through dense trees into the pond, and the paths fold back on themselves like a maze. Walking by the stream leads visitors to a spacious public library where students and office workers frequently visit
Photo Essay
A visual documentation of Arisugawa Park; nature embedded within the dense urban fabric of Tokyo.
Arisugawa Park, Tokyo • 05:00 PM
Arisugawa Park, Tokyo • 05:00 PM
Arisugawa Park, Tokyo • 05:20 PM
Arisugawa Park, Tokyo • 05:35 PM
Arisugawa Park, Tokyo • 05:10 PM
Arisugawa Park, Tokyo • 06:10 PM
Characteristics
The Slope
The whole park is built on a hill that tilts from the library on the high ground down to the pond. You are always walking up or down, never flat. It turns a short visit into a small hike, and it means every part of the park looks different depending on where you stand.
The Stream and Pond
Water moves through the center of the park, from a small waterfall down to a pond where ducks sit. The sound of the water flow follows you along every path. In such a dense city like Tokyo, the running water allows people to slow down and appreciate a layer of it that remains calm.
A Foreign Neighborhood
Because of its location sitting on Hiroo, the park draws a lot of international families. Often, the afternoon you visit will surround you with several languages at once. It is one of the few places in Tokyo where the crowd itself feels mixed rather than uniform.
Reflection
Arisugawa park is one of the places I find myself in the most often. Adjacent to my school location, my friends and I frequently brought ourselves to Arisugawa park after a long day of school, especially during testing season. Sunlight shined through the green branches of trees and soon everything had its own shade of warmth to it. As students, we lingered around the trails to let mother nature heal our minds and bodies before we entered the library to resume our studying. As we basked in the sunlight and enjoyed the presence of nature surrounding us, other visitors sat near the pond without their phones, having their own conversation. I soon realized my friends and I had been doing the same thing without deciding to. I think that is what the park is for, just a place where the city lets you stop for a while.