Yoyogi Park

You are walking through what was, until nineteen sixty-four, an off-limits American military base. For eighteen years, Japanese citizens were not allowed to set foot on their own city's land. From nineteen forty-six to nineteen sixty-four, this nine hundred and twenty-four thousand square metre site was called Washington Heights — a fenced compound of eight hundred and twenty-seven housing units for US Air Force families. It had its own schools, churches, officers' clubs, and recreational facilities. A self-contained American suburb in the middle of Tokyo.

Getting the Americans to leave required the nineteen sixty-four Olympics. Japan needed the land for athletic facilities, and the US military agreed to relocate — but Japan had to pay all the relocation costs. The barracks were converted into housing for Olympic athletes, then demolished after the games. One building supposedly survived for years — a house used by the Dutch Olympic team — though it too was eventually torn down.

Before the American occupation, this site had its own complicated history. It was an army parade ground during the Imperial era. Japan's first successful powered aircraft flight took place here in nineteen ten. And in the final days of the war, officers used the parade ground for ritual purposes that nobody talks about anymore.

Today Yoyogi Park is one of Tokyo's most beloved public spaces. On weekends, you will find rockabilly dancers in leather performing choreographed routines, drum circles, cosplayers, dog walkers, and picnicking families. It is pure joy. The idea that Japanese citizens were banned from entering this exact ground within living memory is almost impossible to reconcile with the scene in front of you.