Geba Central Park in Fukui

Spacious green park adjacent to Fukui City Museum

Takako Sakamoto May 17, 2015 - 1 min read

<p>Jungle gym in the shape of a phoenix, a bird symbolic of Fukui, which resurrected from ashes of WWII and the following big earthquake, like a phoenix.</p>

<p>Spacious green lawn in the park. You can see that nobody is enjoying this space!</p>

<p>A line of trees that surround the spacious lawn</p>

<p>Signboard explaining how to play in the park. It's written in Hiragana for children (Hiragana is the primary Japanese letters that children learn at elementary school).</p>

<p>A mother and daughter picnicking on the lawn</p>

<p>Lone Japanese dogwood flower in the shadow. I didn't know it could bloom directly from a tree trunk!</p>

<p>A pavilion with tables and benches providing shade inside the park</p>

<p>The train car Moha-161-2, another symbol of resurrected Fukui, displayed in the park. It was built in 1933, and was burnt by fires that followed the big earthquake which hit Fukui in 1948. Although badly damaged, it was restored later and kept working until 1968.</p>

<p>A small patch of radiant green in the woods</p>

<p>Small plants unbeknownst to me...but they look pretty!</p>

<p>Lit-up plants seen through the shadow of trees</p>

<p>Japanese dogwood flowers feeling happy under the blue sky</p>

One day when I was driving home, I stumbled upon a spacious park in my neighborhood. I wondered about it because I'd never heard of it. Later, I leaned that it was Geba Central Park, which is adjacent to Fukui City Museum.

The fact that there had been a city museum and a big park just under my nose without my knowledge rattled me...it is a humiliation to an alleged travel writer, isn't it? Therefore, as soon as I learned that I checked it out!

There, a spacious, green, beautiful park welcomed me with open arms and no charge. As usual, almost nobody was there on a sunny weekday and I enjoyed the space and fresh air all to myself. Hallelujah!

Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...