Heiwa No Mori Park

«The Forest of Peace» Park is located only a few minutes away from the Seibu Numabukuro station. Ever since I moved from Kichijoji to Numabukuro, I’ve felt as if everything around me became so crowded and narrow – which is completely understandable, because you’re living in the smack middle of the Nakano ward where 320,000 people live within 15.59 km².
Then again, there are areas in Tokyo like this one; trees of overwhelming sizes loom over you as you walk through the park. Even though there are trees, small dog parks, ponds and small kiddie playgrounds, everything feels so empty. Hollow. Dank. Dirty. Any negative feeling that comes over you when you enter a dark and old room with nothing left but dust fluttering around. The ponds are filled with mysterious foam and rainbows, and the rusty old panels – which direct people to: keep their dogs on leashes, to keep dogs out of the grass, to not feed the cats, to not use fireworks, to not enter certain areas within the park with your dog… and so on – decorate the park like swinging doors of a saloon creaking in the wind blowing through a ghost town.
Ahem, excuse me for the negativity and terrible simile! Just wanted to give everyone who visits here a heads up of the following–
1. You cannot take your dog into certain areas of the park.
2. There are certain people who feed the stray cats aND IT’S SO TROUBling because the cats keep on growing in number
3. Homeless people congregate under the ONLY shade in the entire park, and they’re there ²⁴⁄₃₆₅. Nothing you can do about it. (Not saying they’re bad people, it’s just that they smell which will repel you away from the area even if you’re dying from a heat stroke during the summer)
4. A great place for runners!
5. With TWO dog parks that are about the size of a kiddie pool!
Alright! You’re good to go!