Hachikokuyama
Encyclopedia
Higashimurayama, Tokyo
is a city located in the western end of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 151,279 and a population density of 8,810 persons per km²...
and Tokorozawa, Saitama
Tokorozawa, Saitama
is a city in Saitama, Japan. It is located in the central part of the Musashino plain, about 30 km west of downtown Tokyo. Tokorozawa can be considered part of the greater Tokyo area; its proximity to the latter and lower housing costs make it a popular bedroom community.-Location:Tokorozawa...
. Its name translates literally into English as "Eight Country Mountain" since in times past, one could view eight surrounding "countries" or regions from its top.
Plain
In geography, a plain is land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or...
. The highest elevation is about 100 meters above sea level. Measured from North to South, the park is from 100 to 300 meters, the park having an uneven size. From East to West the park is about 1.5 kilometers, or about half of the length of the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
. The trail that runs the length of the ridge top is about 2.0 Kilometers and branches into many secondary trails. The total size of the park of is about 39 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s or about 96 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s.
Hachikokuyama in popular culture
It is famous for being an inspiration for parts of the cartoon My Neighbor TotoroMy Neighbor Totoro
, is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan...
. In Japanese it is known as a ryokuchi (緑地) instead of a park. Ryokuchi literally means "green land" and denotes land used more as a natural setting instead of a typical park.
Historical significance
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
general Nitta Yoshisada
Nitta Yoshisada
was the head of the Nitta family in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period, capturing Kamakura from the Hōjō clan in 1333....
raised his army's banner at Shogun Tsuka
Shogun Tsuka
thumb|right|200px|[[Nitta Yoshisada]] banner monument' is a mound on the north eastern end of Hachikokuyama where tradition holds that the famous Samurai general Nitta Yoshisada raised his army's banner in the year 1333.-History:...
Kōzuke-Musashi Campaign
Kozuke-Musashi Campaign
The Kōzuke-Musashi campaign was a rapid and direct assault during the Japanese Genkō War by Nitta Yoshisada that led up to the Siege of Kamakura in 1333. It consisted of a number of battles over a brief period...
campaign against the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
's forces that ultimately ended the Kamakura shogunate
Kamakura shogunate
The Kamakura shogunate was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. It was based in Kamakura. The Kamakura period draws its name from the capital of the shogunate...
. This location is commemorated by a stone marker at the park's north eastern end.
External links
- More information about the park (Japanese)