is a park located in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture in Japan. It contains the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum and is the birthplace of Japanese aviation as it is the site of Japan's first airfield.
This park, the largest of the prefectural parks in Saitama Prefecture, has a total area of 50.2 ha and was developed on the site of Tokorozawa Airfield, Japan's first, which opened in 1911 before the Second World War. Since its opening, independent facilities have been constructed within the grounds.
Today, the park is home to a variety of facilities, including the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum, Tokorozawa City Library, a Japanese garden and teahouse called Saishotei, an outdoor stage, tennis courts, a baseball field and a dog run.
Additionally, a running course (1.95 km in circumference ) has been set up on the sidewalks within the park, with a special red carpet-like surface laid over the asphalt to reduce strain on the knees, and footlights are turned on at night, making the course a consideration for runners.
The park is built on the former site of Tokorozawa Airfield, Japan's first, which was opened on April 1, 1911. Japan's first plane, the Kaishiki biplane No.1, made its first flight at Tokorozawa on October 13, 1911. Nagaoka Tonofumi, known as the father of Japanese aviation, used his own money to purchase land and build Japan's first airfield. On April 5 of the same year, a French biplane Henri Farman, piloted by Captain Tokugawa Yoshitoshi, flew at an altitude of 10m, a distance of 800m, and a flight time of 1 minute 20 seconds. After this, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force used the airport as Tokorozawa Army Airfield.
After the Second World War (1945), the area was taken over by the US military and turned into the US military Tokorozawa Communications Base. About 60% of the land was returned in 1971, leaving only the communications facilities. Part of the former base site (about 50ha) was developed as a prefectural park, which opened in 1978.