Yatsu no Sato

The Musashi-Kyuryo National Government Park was built to commemorate the 100 years of the Meiji era. Musashi-Kyuryo is Japan's first national park and is located in a hilly area of 304 hectares stretching between Hiki district, Namegawa town, and Yagii in Kumagaya of Saitama Prefecture. The park has plenty of forested areas, but the environment is diverse with ponds, swamps, marshes, and grasslands, making it a place where precious flora and fauna can grow and thrive. Also, it's one of the few places within the metropolitan area where you truly can feel in contact with nature.

The observatory at Mt. Ninomiya is the highest point in town, with an altitude of 131.8 meters. And needless to say, it offers a spectacular view! From this observatory, you can enjoy the far-off Mt. Asama, Mt. Tanigawa, Nikko Mountain range, Mt. Tsukuba, and the Chichibu mountains. If you go up to the top floor, you can overlook the skyscrapers of Shinjuku by using the free telescope. If you're lucky, you can even see the Tokyo Skytree! Besides, there are flowers such as the azalea planted, making it a lovely route for a stroll.

The nature and the culture of Namegawa town is structured to resemble a museum, with the Eco-Museum Center acting as a hub that provides a wide range of information about Namegawa town. The Tokyo bitterling, a freshwater fish native to Japan, is designated as a national treasure. Research related to its artificial breeding and ecology has been taking place in order to re-introduce the Tokyo bitterling to the wildlife.

This fishing pond is very accessible, located approximately 9 kilometers (about 15 minutes) from the Higashi Matsuyama Interchange of the Kan-Etsu Expressway and roughly 5 kilometers (about 10 minutes) from the Ranzan-Ogawa Interchange. The pond is encircled by beautiful nature and has a surface area of roughly 11,600 square meters. On Saturday and Sunday, you can enjoy handmade udon made with local flour and buy locally grown vegetables at the farmer’s restaurant.

The park opened in 1990 as part of spreading “Botan (peony)”, the city’s flower. This is a prominent peony park in the Kanto region with roughly 30,000 square meters of colorful peony blooming from the middle of April to early May, with a “Botan Matsuri (Peony Festival)” taking place at the prime of the peonies blooming. Furthermore, Hydrangea, Japanese maple, Chimonanthus, a large playground complex, an open lawn, and an observatory can be enjoyed throughout the year.