Komazawa Olympic Park

A free public park in Setagaya built as the secondary venue for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics — and still centered on the strangest structure most visitors to the city never hear about: a 50-meter modernist reimagining of a pagoda, rising straight out of a reflecting pool.

Why It’s Interesting

Before the 1964 Games, this land was the Tokyo Golf Club, where Emperor Hirohito once played a round with King George V. Redevelopment for the Olympics started in 1962, turning the site into the Games’ secondary park after the National Stadium, hosting football, wrestling, volleyball, and field hockey. At its center stands the Olympic Memorial Tower — nicknamed “the control tower” while it was under construction — a 50-meter concrete spire designed by architect Yoshinobu Ashihara (who also designed the adjacent Komazawa Gymnasium) as a modernist take on a traditional wooden pagoda, painted white and set rising out of a shallow reflecting pool. More than sixty years later, the gymnasium still hosts real competitions, the stadium still hosts football and rugby, and the whole park — tower included — is free and open around the clock, no ticket required.

Best Time to Visit

Any time of year works; the park’s outer loop is lined with cherry trees that bloom in spring and plane trees that color in autumn, and the plaza around the tower is lit and open after dark. Weekday visits are quietest — weekends bring joggers, families, and a busier parking lot.

Getting There

About a 15-minute walk from Komazawa-Daigaku Station on the Tokyu Denentoshi Line, or a direct bus from Shibuya Station in around 20 minutes.