Omiya Park

Beautiful trees such as approximately 1,000 cherry trees and a magnificent red pine forest over 100 years old provide seasonal changes.

There is also a rare old “akashide” tree in the park. Its appearance looks as if it is moving and screaming like a tree in a fairy tale.

At Omiya Daini Park, about 500 ume (Japanese apricot) trees bloom from early February to mid-March. Red ume, white ume, weeping ume, and wild ume all bloom in turn, attracting many people.

In mid-April, dogwoods bloom, and in June, water lilies, dogtooth violets, hydrangeas, and various other flowers can be enjoyed. Omiya Daisan Koen is a human- and nature-friendly park that preserves the original landscape of Minuma Field.

The “Minuma Swamp” provides a habitat for waterfront plants such as reeds and water bamboo, as well as small fish that live in harmony with them.

The park also has an official baseball field, a cycling course that doubles as an athletic field, a soccer field, a swimming pool, an archery range, a small zoo, a children’s playground, and other facilities.

The park has been selected as one of the 100 best cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan and one of the 100 best urban parks in Japan, and is the most popular prefectural park in Saitama Prefecture.

Hikawa Park and Omiya Park

The origin of Omiya Park is Hikawa Park, which was created in 1885 in response to local requests.

Omiya Park” is the oldest of the current prefectural parks, having been opened as Hikawa Park in 1885 on a portion of the grounds of Hikawa Shrine, following a proclamation from the Grand Council of State in 1873.

Later, the park was developed based on the “Hikawa Park Improvement Plan” proposed by Honda Shizuroku, a doctor of forestry and the father of parks in Japan.

A rest facility called “Gansuiro,” arches, benches, and a promenade were also built.

The prefectural government’s Kangyo Division initially managed the park, and in order to raise funds for management, 20,000 carp were raised, a ryotei restaurant was leased, and trees were cut down and sold, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

Hikawa Park and Meiji Era Writers

In the Meiji era, Hikawa Park was covered with beautiful pine trees and thickets, giving it a Musashino atmosphere. The park was popular for its elegant pleasures, such as firefly hunting, listening to insects in the fall, and viewing hagi (Japanese hollyhock) flowers and silver grass, and was visited by many writers and artists.

The area from the small zoo to the children’s amusement park was once the site of a high-class ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) called “Manshoro.

In 1894, the haiku poet Masaoka Shiki visited Manshoro when he was a student at Tokyo Imperial University, and was so fascinated by the restaurant that he invited his friend Natsume Soseki to visit, according to Shiki’s essay “Sumi Shiru Ichidrop” (A Drop of Sumi Ink).

The writer Higuchi Ichiyo also had a great interest in Hikawa Park and visited the park in 1872. Other writers such as Kafu Nagai, Doppo Kunikida, Ogai Mori, Shiratori Masamune, and Tekkan Yosano also used Hikawa Park as a setting for their own works. Kafu Nagai’s novel “Ambition” is set in Hikawa Park.

Establishment of Children’s Amusement Park and Sports Land

The children’s amusement park was developed on the site where the upscale restaurant “Manshoeru” had withdrawn and opened in 1933. It was initially planned as a small playground for children to exercise and play, but in 1950, a sports land was also opened.

The current flying tower was installed by the Saitama Prefecture Sports Association when the Sports Land was opened. At the time, flying towers were rare, and they were widely advertised and used for school excursions and other events.

The Secret Story of the Establishment of the Small Zoo

The zoo was built around 1949, when the governor of Saitama Prefecture at the time was on a business trip to Hokkaido, and a bear cub he had seen in Chichibu Gorge was sent to the governor’s mansion. It was decided to keep the cub in the park and a small cage was built, and that was the beginning of the zoo.

The opening ceremony of the zoo was held on April 5, 1953, at the same time as the Cherry Blossom Festival, with a variety of events including an animal carnival. On the day of the opening ceremony, it is said that about 200,000 people visited the zoo under the cherry blossoms in full bloom, weather permitting.

When the park opened, there were six animal houses where monkeys, cranes, pelicans, small ducks, and ohms were displayed. Today, the park is equipped with flying bird cages and other facilities, and exhibits 300 animals of about 60 species.

Although the zoo’s main exhibits are small animals and birds, the ravenous bears are on display because of this background.

Omiya Park Small Zoo

The Omiya Park Small Zoo opened on April 1, 1953. Although small in size, the zoo is home to small animals, fierce beasts, birds, and reptiles.

Breeding Animals

Squirrel and pheasant house: Japanese pheasants, white-fronted mountain lions, Japanese squirrels, white-bellied pigeons, Australian spotted woodpeckers, great horned owls, great horned owls, European buzzards, etc.
Goat piggery: Miniature pigs, Yakushima goats.
Peccary house: Kubiwa peccary
Parrot house: Taikyak cockatoo, tawny parrot, blue-eyed parrot, etc.
Rabbit and guinea pig house: rabbits, guinea pigs
Squirrel house: Common squirrel monkeys
Monkey house: Japanese macaque, shishio macaque, flying lemur, brown spider monkey
Small animal house: red coati, striped skunk, Japanese badger
Crane house: White owl, red-crowned crane, red-crowned crane
Capybara house: capybara, leatherback turtle, Mississippi leatherback turtle
Ravenous animal house: Buchi hyena, Japanese black bear
Flying cages: Great flamingos, white ibis, white-fronted ibis, Indian geese, Canada geese, Hawaiian geese, Indian peacocks, white-fronted peacocks, white-winged blackbirds, white-fronted doves, red-winged teal

List of facilities in Omiya Park:.

Saitama Omiya Park Baseball Ground
Saitama City Omiya Park Soccer Field (NACK5 Stadium Omiya)
Omiya Bicycle Racetrack (and Track & Field Stadium)
Omiya Park Children’s Sports Land
Saitama Omiya Park Swimming Pool
Saitama Prefectural Omiya Park Gymnasium
Saitama Prefectural Omiya Park Kyudojo
Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore
Boat pond (boat operation was discontinued in 2000)
Japanese Garden

List of facilities in Omiya Daini Park

Saitama Prefectural Omiya Daini Park Tennis Ground
Saitama Prefectural Omiya Daini Park Softball Ground
Tea ceremony room “Shorai-an
Omiya Park Gallery
Shibakawa No.7 Regulating Pond

List of facilities in Omiya Park No.3:.

Minuma Plaza
Gathering Plaza
Minuma Swamp
Minuma Forest