Ohori Park
Reclaimed castle moat turned lake park, its pathways and islands financed by selling off waterfront house plots.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Ohori Park in Fukuoka traces how a stagnant old castle moat became a lakeside park, starting with a trade exposition that drew over a million and a half visitors in 1927. You'll hear how the city turned a mosquito-breeding eyesore into a real-estate scheme, dredging the water and selling off the new western shore as house plots to fund the work. It follows the officials who staged a blockbuster fair on the eastern shore before the concrete had even cured, and the landscaping, loosely modeled on Hangzhou's West Lake, that came after.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Ohori Park Japanese Garden
Miniature engineered mountain valley of waterfalls and streams built on a reclaimed castle moat.
Momochi Seaside Park
Engineered white-sand beach on reclaimed harbor land, backed by tens of thousands of planted pines.
Yusentei Park
Strolling pond garden built for a feudal lord, with a teahouse staged to look older than it is.
Yanagawa Canals
Slow canal punt rides past a centuries-old warren of moats, banked by eel restaurants guarding secret sauces.
Rakusuien
Pond-stroll garden ringed by an earthen wall studded with charred roof tiles from a razed merchant town.
Daimyo
Winding former samurai lanes, once built to confuse invaders, now lined with boutiques and cafes.