Zenpukuji park

"The current of the flowing river does not cease, and yet the water is not the same as before. The foam that floats on stagnant pools, now vanishing, now forming, never stays the same for long. So, too, it is with the people and dwellings of the world."

– Hojoki (An Account of My Hut), 1212

In the early twentieth century, railroad companies laid tracks through the forests west of Tokyo into the city proper (the “sugi” in “Suginami” means cedar). They built housing developments along the way–bedroom communities for those with jobs in the city.

The roots of Zenpukuji Park trace back to this period in Tokyo's history–when the city was trying to manage its expansion with “garden city” developments.

But the story of Zenpukuji goes back over 700 years earlier, to the 12th century.

According to legend, Minamoto no Yoritomo and his troops stopped for water at Zenpukuji Pond in 1189. They were on the warpath against the rulers of northeastern Japan. Yoritomo dug seven holes around the pond with his bow, but it took several minutes for water to well up from of them. That’s why there’s a small well in the park called “Osonoi,” or “The Slow Well.” The Zenpukuji River is sometimes called the Osonoi River for the same reason.

The name “Zenpukuji” traces back to a buddhist temple of the same name, which existed in the area up until the mid-19th century. It is believed that the temple was destroyed in an earthquake. It isn’t clear if it was rebuilt elsewhere under a new name. Either way, the Zenpukuji Temple gave its name to the surrounding neighborhood, the local river, pond, and the park.

There is, oddly enough, a temple named Zenpukuji near the park today. But this temple is fairly new--it was founded in 1942. It is a branch temple of nearby Kansen-ji, and takes its name from the surrounding neighborhood (not the other way around).

In 1930, the Japanese government declared the area around Zenpukuji Pond a scenic district (it gave four other scenic areas in Tokyo the same designation). Much of the scenic district was privately owned. So, the government funded local preservation associations made up of residents living around each of the districts to help enforce prohibitions on real estate development and logging.

But it’s important to understand that the goal of creating these scenic districts wasn’t necessarily to create public park space. Rather, it was done with the anticipation that wealthy conglomerates might use them to build green belt suburbs.

The industrialist Shibusawa Eiichi started the trend in 1918, when he founded the Den-en Toshi Company (literally: “The Garden City Company”). Shibusawa set out to build suburban “garden cities” connected to central Tokyo by commuter rail. His company was the forerunner of the present-day Tokyu conglomerate, which created planned communities like Den-en Chofu and manages the rail lines connecting them to Tokyo (i.e. the Den-en Toshi Line).

This investment paid off significantly in the aftermath of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake, which destroyed much of the city’s historic east side, driving mass migration westward. The Odakyu railway-real estate conglomerate mounted similar initiatives based on Shibusawa’s model elsewhere on Tokyo's southwest side.

The key force in preserving the Zenpukuji scenic district for use as a public park was Uchida Shogoro, a local politician who represented the Suginami area in the city assembly. He chaired the Zenpuku-ji Preservation Association, which installed electric lights, a bridge, and a boating house around Lake Zenpuku-ji.

In 1940, the various scenic districts formed a Tokyo Federation of Scenic District Associations. Tokyo’s governor served as president, and Uchida served as vice president. From that position, Uchida implemented tax exemptions for landowners in scenic district-designated areas; expanded water lines within the scenic districts, and arranged for compensation for those adversely affected by logging restrictions.

In 1940, the Zenpuku-ji scenic district Association created a new pond downstream from the original one.

In 1943, wartime legislation nullified the government’s scenic district laws, and Tokyo’s governor resigned his post as president of the Federation of Scenic District Associations. Uchida became president, and continued the group’s work on a local level through the end of the war without the national government’s help.

After World War II, Uchida worked to transform what had been the Zenpuku-ji scenic district into a public park. To that end, he donated his own land to the city and convinced neighboring landowners to do the same.

Zenpuku-ji Park opened in 1961.