A Garden Hidden In Plain Sight

We walk a lot in the neigborhood with our kids, which is easy since this is an area with many parks and fairly few cars. The local government has made a superior effort to create a green walkable corridor along the Myoshijigawa river.
​The Tetsugakudou Kouen was recently featured in Bebevoyage as a hidden gem worth visiting. It is certainly worth it. But there are so many other parks in Tokyo that you do not have to go out of your way to find hidden gems, although this is the only
park built as a philosophy lesson.

Part of this green corridor is one of the oldest public parks in Tokyo. The Tetsugakudou Kouen (哲学堂公園) is located in the northwest corner of the Nakano sub-city, and it was created already at the end of the 19th century. Most of the staturs - many of them hidden thoughout the park - are there since the creation of the park. Ask your children to tell stories about them.

If you are bringing a stroller, be aware that the gravelled paths are really bad for stroller wheels. And if you want to change the diapers, there are changing tables in the toilets, but there are no toilets at the southeast entrance. You have to cross the main road to the next door Nishi-Ochiai Kouen, which is a level below the baseball field and tennis courts. If you have toddlers, that is where you want to go, since that is where the playground is.
Tetsugakudou Koen is not unique in Tokyo. Many other gardens have hidden agendas. This was one of the premises of Japanese garden design for many hundreds of years: what the garden is showing you is not just what you see, it is also what you learn about yourself by walking there.