A "pocket park" in the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's smallest, measuring only 0.24 square meter with space for just one person to sit on a wooden seat on a rock.
Located in a corner of a residential area in the town of Nagaizumi, the park consists of small square raised bricks, small plants next to the stool and two stone monuments including one with a carving of the town's symbolic flower.
The park had been dubbed by locals as the "world's smallest park" and cherished as a resting space for more than 30 years, before it was officially recognized by Guinness in December.
Approximately 300 meters away from the town hall, the park was built in 1988 using land left over from road construction work.
A former official of the town proposed the idea of creating the tiny park after being inspired by Mill Ends Park in Oregon, the previous record-holder with an area of 0.29 square meter.
With local support, the town decided to challenge the world record in 2023. For expenses related to registering for the Guinness World Records, the town secured about 2.5 million yen, through its budget, online fundraising and private sector donations.
The town then hired a surveyor to measure the land and submitted a certificate that proved the park had existed for over five years. The space was also recategorized from being a part of a road to a park.
Since earning Guinness recognition, the park has become a popular tourist attraction, drawing visitors from outside Shizuoka.
"We hope this park will serve as an opportunity to promote our town," said Shuji Koyama of the town's construction management division.
© KYODO
21 Comments
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TaiwanIsNotChina
I guess it is good to be known for something...
TaiwanIsNotChina
The artist should have put in a miniature garbage can as well.
Desert Tortoise
The quirkiness that I love about Japan.
diagonalslip
the next UNESCO site? （＾＿－）
GuruMick
Fairies can picnic there
factchecker
It's not a park. It's a trip hazard.
InspectorGadget
It was created so the town hall workers could tell their wives that their personal excercise regieme includes "running 20 laps of the park"
kohakuebisu
This reminds me of Spinal Tap's Stonehenge. Where a man is a man, and the children dance, to the pipes of Pan.
Negative Nancy
This would be amusing if it didn't serve to highlight the fact that a lot of urban parks are absolutely inadequate rubbish. They are scrap land with maybe a bench and a slide.... simply not a park!
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Imagine the overtourism this park will get.
Expect yellow tape surrounding it and making it off linits in 3.2.1......
Dale Spenser
Guinness sure likes Japan a lot.
garypen
Then it wouldn't be a genuine Japanese park.
Negative Nancy
I used to like reading the Guiness Book of Records when I was a kid, I'm talking about before it was full of glossy pictures- just facts and figures in black and white!
Anyway, what ruined it for me was realizing that , with the exception of the headliners (tallest, fastest, heaviest people etc.), people apply to Guinness for the publicity, rather than Guinness being all over the place seeking out records. Guinness, meanwhile, is a commerical company, not some kind of voluntary organization.
rainyday
I get that its a publicity stunt, but still in a country where actual green space is in extremely short supply in urban/suburban areas it feels kind of dystopian that this kind of money is being spent on something this useless as a park.
grc
So, copied from America, like so much Japanese
Peter14
One seat means one visitor at a time. Take a number please.
Yarnaby
“I guess it is good to be known for something...”
Nagaizumi is also known for the Clematis no Oka art facility, the Waku Waku Festival, a cancer hospital and being an attractive place to raise a family due to free healthcare for children until they finish junior high, if I remember right. And now, I guess, this tiny park.
TokyoLiving
Only In Japan !!..
I love those freak Japan news..
Kumagaijin
How long before foreign tourists start flocking there to take selfies and the locals start complaining about it?
albaleo
A quick check in a dictionary tells me a park is "a large public green area in a town, used for recreation".
Jim
It surely contradicts the very definition of the word “ Park “! Nowadays anything and everything can be considered for these sorts of Guinness records. I surely miss the 1980-90’s when life was so much simpler and straightforward…