Komazawa Park
Komazawa Park is a park near Komazawa University in the Setagaya Ward of Tokyo. I recently moved near the park so shortly after my arrival I had to explore it. Unlike its public image in the West, Tokyo is actually a quite green city with most wards having parks. Many of those also serve as evacuation areas, like Nakano’s Heiwanomori Park. Komazawa Park is neither for relaxation nor is it a popular cherry blossom spot. This park exists to make you sweat.
Where other parks have a big pond, a temple or a museum, Komazawa Park has stadiums, an area to hone your skateboard skills, Tennis courts and other sports facilities. It’s an excellent place to go cycling or jogging with special lanes separating those two. Besides the ubiquitous vending machines, tap water is available at certain spots in the park.The park is split by a road, you can use the overpass or underpass to cross it. The only real “sight” in the park is the Olympic Tower, but to me it looks more like a memorial. It doesn’t look like a place of happiness.
Unlike Korea, Japanese parks usually don’t have free outdoor gyms. That’s something I liked about Korea. There’s an indoor gym at Komazawa Park though.
