Aristocrats, farmers, soldiers, pilots, Olympians, crows and bums -- Yoyogi Park has seen them all. From posh feudal abode to farm field, runway to international welcome mat, this park has had a variety of visitors and inhabitants.
Opened in 1967, this lush patch of greenery embraced by Shinjuku, Harajuku, Yoyogi and Shibuya is certainly at the center of things. Originally a spacious playground for feudal lords and their kin, come the Meiji Restoration it was confiscated by the new national government.
At the beginning of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), much of Yoyogi Field, as it was known, was mulberry and tea fields. But early in the 20th century, with Japan on the brink of military forays abroad, war-makers needed a place to practice their craft, so in 1909 the Yoyogi Military Ground was opened. The following year, this training ground witnessed the first Japanese flight.