Kasai Seaside Park is a Tokyo Metropolitan Park located in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, facing Tokyo Bay. It is adjacent to Kasai Kaihin Park via the Kasai Nagisa Bridge.
Overview
Managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Construction, it has an area of approximately [provide the specific area if available], making it one of the largest parks alongside Mizumoto Park and Koganei Park in Tokyo. Within the park, you can find various attractions, including one of Japan’s top aquariums called “Kasai Rinkai Suizokuen,” dining facilities, and a large Ferris wheel. Additionally, visitors can enjoy bird exhibits and a wide variety of plants, making it a bustling recreational destination, particularly on holidays.
Park Layout
The park is located to the south of Kasai Rinkai Park Station and is divided into several zones. Heading south from the station, there is a main street called the “Promenade to the Sea,” with branching paths leading to the aquarium zone and bird exhibit zone on either side. Continuing straight, you’ll reach a large plaza. This plaza includes the entrance to the aquarium zone, and further along the sea, you’ll see the entrance to the Japanese garden. The path ends at the “Shio Kaze no Hiroba Zone” observation rest house, but from the large plaza, a second main street extends southwestward, leading to Shio Kaze no Hiroba and Kasai Kaihin Park.
In the central-eastern part of the park is the aquarium zone, home to Kasai Rinkai Suizokuen, which boasts the highest annual number of visitors and is the most popular aquarium in eastern Japan. Its rooftop serves as an observation deck, featuring an illusion that makes it appear as though domes and yacht sails are floating on the sea.
In the eastern part of the park is the bird exhibit zone, where two large ponds, “Upper Pond” (freshwater) and “Lower Pond” (brackish water), are surrounded by a vast forest. There are facilities for bird watching scattered along the pond’s edge, including the “Watching Center.” The bird exhibit and the eastern shore of Kasai Kaihin Park serve as a resting place for migratory birds, attracting various waterfowl and raptors hunting for prey in the shallow offshore waters.
In the northwest part of the park, the “Grass Square Zone” features the Seaside Hotel Edogawa, “Hasu Ike” (Lotus Pond), and Japan’s second-largest Ferris wheel, known as the “Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel.” Although it briefly held the title of Japan’s largest Ferris wheel upon opening, it was surpassed by the Sky Dream Fukuoka in Fukuoka City. However, it regained the title after Sky Dream Fukuoka closed in 2009. Nevertheless, on July 1, 2016, it relinquished the title once more to the “REDHORSE OSAKA WHEEL” in Suita, Osaka, and has held the second-place position since then. It is the tallest structure in Edogawa Ward, surpassing the Tower Hall Funabori (115m).
Near the Ferris wheel, there is a “Grass Square” with flower fields planted with daffodils, rapeseed flowers, cosmos, and more. The park boasts a total of 200,000 daffodils planted throughout, and an annual “Daffodil Festival” is held from January to February. Hasu Ike, located near the first parking lot, has a bridge in its center. Crossing this pond and ascending a steep hill will lead you to a “Barbecue Square.”
The “Shio Kaze no Hiroba Zone” (southwestern to south-central part of the park) faces the sea and includes the glass-walled observation house called “Crystal View,” which offers a panoramic view of the sea. This hill extends toward Ashigaseki, playing a role in protecting the low-lying Edogawa Ward from high waves as a seawall.
In the area between the observation square and Shio Kaze no Hiroba, there is a second main street. Crossing Kasai Nagisa Bridge at the end of this street takes you to “Nishi Nagisa” in Kasai Kaihin Park.
Nature
Kasai Seaside Park was developed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to restore the natural environment that had been degraded by pollution and land reclamation along Tokyo Bay. Today, the park is home to a variety of flora and fauna that are increasingly rare to find in the urban areas of Tokyo. Notable species include the Akashijimi butterfly, designated by the city as an important wildlife species for conservation, as well as various species of butterflies like the Kiageha, and five species of frogs including the Tokyo Daruma Gaeru and Nihon Akagaeru. The park is also a haven for bird enthusiasts, with around 170 species of waterfowl and birds of the mountains and fields, making it a stopover point for migratory birds.
On the southeastern side of the park, across the river, near the mouth of the Edogawa River overlooking Tokyo Disneyland, there remains a natural shallow area called the “Mikazuki Higata.”
On the way from the bird exhibit zone to the aquarium, in the direction of the Kasai Rinkai Suizokuen, you’ll find the Edogawa Seaside Regional Weather Observation Station operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency.