If you want to see the Tokyo locals let loose, visit Yoyogi Park on a Sunday in the good weather. There, you will see the sidewalks lined with rock bands, 1950's era greasers break-dancing to boom boxes, martial artists fighting with sticks and other fun. The place will be crowded with families enjoying themselves or taking in the amusing sites. It's here where I saw my first robotic pet, in 1999.
...The crowd is a mixture of foreigners and Japanese, all taking advantage of the park's greenery to escape the noise and congestion of the city (in a relative sense, of course). There probably is no better people watching spot in Tokyo, the people-watching capital of the world.
Updated Oct 23, 2009
Yoyogi is a large city park featuring wide lawns, ponds and forested areas. Once you are in the park, you free your mind from all your troubles and just enjoy the peace of nature. Of course, Meiji Shrine located in Yoyogi Park just completes the scene. You can spend hours in the park walking around or jogging if you would like to.
Written Aug 29, 2009
Address: 2-1 Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
Phone: +81-3-3469-6081
Yoyogi park is a nice spacious green park near Shibuya. Like many such places it is particularly popular during Cherry Blossom season, but is worth a visit any time.
Nice place for a picnic if the weather is good.
Written Mar 30, 2008
Address: 2-1 Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
Phone: +81-3-3469-6081
This park offers a bit of peace & relaxation, even though it's only minutes away from a few subway stations. The park has well kept lawns & a few fountains. The park was full of couples & families enjoying the peace & the sunshine.
Written Oct 15, 2007
Address: 2-1 Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
Phone: +81-3-3469-6081
In spring, most probraly the first week of April, is the Sakura fully blooming period.
Make sure that you come at the right time for it.
During that time, younng and elderly come to the park for a 'picnic'.
Other seasons, Yoyogi Park is still a great place for a stroll.
A walk in the park on Sunday after your delicious brunch will be a good idea if you worries of nothing to do and noone to talk to.
Come to the park and you will have a chance to see me.
(My house is 5 minutes ride from here).
Written Jul 23, 2006
Address: 2-1 Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
Phone: +81-3-3469-6081
Every weekend, a large group of disaffected teens in fabulously OTT costumes gather at the gates to Yoyogi-Koen park - why, I do not know, but they seem to love being photographed.
My guide explained to me that this was a scene originally started by bullied teenage girls, but it seems now to have spread to include generally disaffected youngster.
They sport all manner of costumes, from sinister military uniforms complete with swastikas, to baby doll/lolita efforts, to fabulous sci-fi craziness.
Written Jan 15, 2005
Address: Entrance to Yoyogi-Koen Park
Throughout the `80s and `90s Yoygi Park was Tokyo`s pop culture ground zero. It was here that young people would gather, to listen to impromptu rock concerts and dance in the streets, wearing their most outrageous clothes.
Originally the site of the 1964 Olympic Village, the site was cleared as a recreational ground (and emergency earthquake evacuaiton area), before being taken over by the city`s youth.
Rave parties would hapen every weekend in the woodland thickets, reggae soundsytems would boom out from near the gate, and a chaotic market covered the footpath outside - selling everything from fake designer Tshirts to mountains of plastic Pokemon and Astroboy trinkets and porno magazines.
But sadly,due to the shortsightedness of the city authorites, the illegal vendors have been moved out and the illegal parties stopped. The grafitti that once covered parts of the park, giving it the nickname "Tokyo Bronx" has been cleaned off, leaving it neat..and characterless.
You should still come on a weekend to see the last remaining remnants of that time - there is till a biweekly fleamarket and all kinds of festivals and events. African drummers converge on Sundays by the fountain. Wildly dressed Goth teenagers still outside the MeijiJingu shrine ( although now often outnumbered by camera-toting tourists shooting them),. And the dwindling ranks of the 1950s style Japanese Elvis impersonators who have famously danced here for decades are still rockin...but the magic that once made this park unique in all the world is sadly disappearing, and it seems only a matter of time before Tokyo`s exuberant creativity will erupt somewhere else.
See also nearby attractions "The NHK Building" and "Harajuku".
Updated Dec 27, 2004
Address: In Harajuku
The park is opened through out the year. In winter, children practice baseball, in Spring, Sakura blossom, on summer young people lazing here for sun shine and in Autumn, young couple picnic here hoping to have closer relationship. How about spend a day for people watching?
Updated Aug 17, 2004
Address: Yoyogi Park
1 - 8 of 8
Sponsored Links
Park Hyatt Tokyo Tokyo
7 Reviews and 328 Opinions Most memorable
Grand Hyatt Tokyo Tokyo
4 Reviews and 229 Opinions This is a Grand Hyatt and while conventionally 'dependable' for a certain level of service, this...
Imperial Hotel Tokyo Tokyo
10 Reviews and 172 Opinions Can't honestly recommend this hotel to penny-pinchers as it can be very costly indeed, but quality...
2-1 Kamizono-cho, Shibuya-ku
Yoyogi Park tips and photos posted by real travelers and Tokyo locals.
Write a Review
The park is opened through out the year. In winter, children practice baseball, in Spring, Sakura blossom, on summer young people lazing here for sun shine and...
749 members live in Tokyo
Q: Im quite confused on whether to get a 7 day JR pass or not. I'll be in Japan for 5 days 4 nights. 3 nights in Tokyo and 1...

A: The JR pass only covers JR trains (including commuter trains in Tokyo), but not the subway (there are two independent subway lines in Tokyo). You will likely use these...
Read 8 Replies
2

After a 10-hour journey....finally reach the 1st stop at Hakone. A nice scene forest area.A cloudy sky. Taking my 1st lunch at Japan about 11am and proceed to the field of Lavender. From here you can...
3

Tokyo is a wonderful city, but March 2011 is not an ideal time for a visit. The 9.0 earthquake on 3/11/11 has been followed by hundreds of aftershocks. Although the devastating tsunami primarily...
4
Tokyo - I love this place ! Old, New, & Happening

My first visit in August 2004 How do I even begin to describe Tokyo? Let me start with my first impressions: Screaming neon lights & skyscrapers, Crowded Train Stations (clean, tidy, no graffiti to...
5

I love Tokyo. I can't say it enough, I love the place. Yeah it has its bad side. Being a gaijin (a foreigner, and specifically a white western foreigner) in Tokyo can be rough. There is a bit of...
Build your own Tokyo page
Sponsored Links