If you are heading to Edogawa, especially to visit the popular Tokyo Sea Life aquarium, you will be going through Kasai Rinkai Park. The second largest park in Tokyo (Mizumoto Park in Katsushika is the largest).
But if you can, spend some time around this park because it’s actually one of the most serene locations to visit in Tokyo.
Once you arrive at Kasairinkaikoen Station, you are greeted with the entrance leading to the the park and the Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel (which is supposed to be the second tallest ferris wheel in Japan).
I do recommend eating before heading out to Kasai Rinkai Park or Tokyo Sea Life because outside of the stations, the restaurants outside of the station are just a McDonalds or a Chinese restaurant, both which tend to be crowded.
Walking straight on the path (in front of the station) will lead you to the Crystal View Observatory which I blogged about, and this will lead you to the park. To the right is the Ferris Wheel and to the left is the path for those leaving Tokyo Sea Life or the path that leads you to the running/walking path of the bird sanctuary.
Before the Crystal View Observatory, you will see the Hotel Seaside One ice cream shop and the Blue Submarine restaurant (which I will blog about in the near future).
The park is quite serene. There are no barbecue pits or many tables as one would be accustomed to in the U.S., just a lot of walking/running paths, a few tables and the park, during the spring and summer will showcase a lot of the flowers. But in the winter, the park is wet and devoid of any beautiful flowers but yet, if you want peace and don’t mind birds chirping, Kasai Rinkai Park is pretty cool to visit.
When you are near the beach and can see the bridge to the west or east island nearby, to your left is Tokyo Disneyland from the distance. Edogawa and Tokyo Disneyland (which is not in Tokyo) in the Chiba Prefecture is quite close from each other.
Walking left leads you to the walking/jogging path and it’s headed to the bird sanctuary. A marshland and I have to admit, I thought this would take me directly to Tokyo Sea Life but found out that Tokyo Sea Life is gated and the only entrance is all the way around. So, expect to walk a little over a mile to get to Tokyo Sea Life from the path.
While walking on the path, you will see a big house, this is where the restrooms are located.
But as I walked this path, all I could think was how cool it would be to run/jog in this park. Beautiful scenery and quite safe!
And then when I was near the end of the path, I saw a trolley and realized, one could get to Tokyo Sea Life without having to walk a lot. But hey, it’s the experience that I wanted and it led me to learn more about Kasai Rinkai Park, close-up!
But I really enjoyed my time at Kasai Rinkai Park. Beautiful, serene and it takes you away from the concrete jungle of Tokyo for a little while. But I would love to see it in the spring versus the winter next time around!
