from airplane

from airplane

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Japan in Mexico City

I am always looking at Google Maps, searching for places in Mexico City that I have not yet visited.  One place I recently found was Parque Masayoshi Ohira, which is described as a "small park with Japanese-style garden elements".  It is located just a couple blocks away from a Metro station, so I got on the subway and went to see it.  


I was curious who Masayoshi Ohira was, and why he had a park in Mexico City named after him.  I did some research and discovered that he was the Prime Minister of Japan from 1978 until his death in 1980 and that he was the first Japanese head of government to visit Mexico.  An existing park, called Pagoda Park, was renamed after him.  (The pagoda structure had burned down years ago, but there was still an Asian style bridge.)  A number of Japanese features, including a couple of torrii gates were added.  The park fell into decline but was spruced up in 2015.  Ohira's grandson was present for the rededication.

The park is certainly not anywhere near the top of the list of places for the tourist in Mexico City to visit, but it was a tranquil, pleasant spot. 




 



 


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