Meijō Park
Meijō Park is a public park surrounding Nagoya Castle in Kita-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
History
The name Meijō derives itself from the abbreviated kanji form of Nagoya Castle. In effect, the park's name translated means "Nagoya Castle Park", since it lies to the north of the castle and used to be a part of its wider compound.The park is located on the site of the former Shimo Ofuke-oniwa, also known as Ofuke-niwa, of the Edo period. The Ofuke Garden was a large garden centering on a pond that was left over from the low marshland that existed on the north side of the castle when Nagoya Castle was built, and served as a defense for the north side of the castle. The pond had a number of small islands and the area was cultivated as a Japanese garden. It is said that the third shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu admired this garden when he visited and used it as a model for the Fukiage part of Edo Castle. The area was used a secret garden.
In 1820 at least three different tea houses were located around the pond. One was the Takenaga tea house located to the south close to Benten Island, the Seto tea house next to the Seto Mount to the east, and the Matsuyama tea house to the north. Located west of the Ofuke Garden was lord Tokugawa Naritomo's Shin Goten in what is today Horibata-chō.
The area was originally larger, incorporating land to the east of today's park across Otsu-dori where Aichi Gakuin University - Meijo Koen Campus is located.
During the Kan'ei era, the first lord of Owari, Tokugawa Yoshinao had a noborigama kiln constructed at the eastern corner of the Ofuke garden and invited potters from Seto. Pottery was made at the kiln until the Meiji era.
After the Meiji era, the land was reclaimed and used as a military drill ground. The area was converted into a public park in 1931.