The Picture Book of Japan

No.8 Parks(2)

About Hibiya Park

Let’s go further along Hibiya Dori from Shiba Park. Hibiya Park is about 1,5 km from Shiba Park, just before the Imperial Palace. Hibiya Park is a place that combines the beauty and fun of a park in the center of a big city The area around the park is a government district, where gather the people working at nearby offices, students and working people using the library. The neighbors are enjoying a walk in the park and many families enjoy playing tennis on the court. On weekdays, many people smoke here. It’s basically a laid-back place except when there are some events here. Facilities in the park include the City Hall, Hibiya Public Hall, large and small outdoor music halls, Hibiya Library Cultural Hall, tennis courts, and Matsumoto-ro, a historic restaurant. Many events and exhibitions such as local products, culture / music, gardening, and sports are held in this park. The items exhibited in the park are diverse in a good sense. Statue of the leader of Philippine independence movement Jose Rizal, Rupa Romana (Roman wolf which was said to have raised Romulus and Remus in Roman founding myths), Ancient Scandinavian monument imitating a rune stele, Antarctic stone, haniwa., etc. The monuments or the museum things which don’t have a unified meaning have been donated and installed in various places in the park. In addition, many trees and large and small flower beds in the park entertain the eyes of visitors with seasonal flowers and greenery. As an urban oasis, it is a place where you can easily enjoy various things.

(Facilities in the park)

Outdoor music hall

The park has an open-air concert hall where concerts are held every week, mainly on rock and pop music. There are a lot of people out there, and it makes you excited. The rain may fall on you sometimes because it’s not an indoor concert hall, but it is prohibited to use an umbrella when it rains, and rain gowns are a necessity at this event. The seats are bench type and hard. But this is not so bad because you don’t need to sit down at the casual rock’n’roll concert. Of course, smoking is prohibited. However, you can eat and drink and alcohol is also sold.

Restaurant Matsumoto-ro

This park has a famous Western-style restaurant called Matsumotoro that has been running since 1903. It’s been in the center of Tokyo for over 100 years and has existed with history. In 1923, it suffered the first burn in the Great Kanto Earthquake that attacked Tokyo, and in 1971, it suffered the second burn in the flame bottle used in the demonstration of the radical student movement. Many foreign celebrities who visited Japan and many literary people favored this restaurant. The hibiya park truly is an urban oasis that has a nice old restaurant like this in the corner of it

Hibiya Library & Museum

At the corner of this park there is the Hibiya Library & Museum. At one time, it was called as the Tokyo City Hibiya Library, and later as the Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Library. It was the center of library activities in the old Tokyo City and the present Tokyo Metropolitan. It is a unique triangular building in the rich greenery of Hibiya Park. This is also a facility with a history of more than 100 years.

Why do you smoke so much?

I am not a cigarette lover who might have recently lost his place to smoke. But I don’t hate the smell of cigarette smoke. Recently, smoking is banned in public places wherever you go in Japan, and occasionally smoking places are installed outdoors. And sometimes there is a crowd of people there of a particular atomosphere. If there are place where people with different impressions gathered together outdoors , it may be a spot where characters of video games on mobile phones appear or a smoking place. One afternoon I felt like taking a rest in this park, I passed through a place where there were people who smoked. At that time, although it was smoky for a moment, I felt a faint sweet scent. I always remember that nostalgic feeling. Half a century ago, especially when men grew up, all smoked. Along with liquor, cigarette was an adult prop for pretending to be a man. Whether it is good or bad, there is no doubt that the world has become healthy.