Renovation work is planned to begin around this summer at “Uchide Park” in Uchide Kozuchi-cho, near Hanshin Uchide Station, and at the neighboring “Uchide Education and Culture Center.”
↑Uchide Park (east entrance)
Uchide Park is also famous as the park that novelist Haruki Murakami featured in his debut novel Hear the Wind Sing as the “park with the monkey cage”↓
↑As for this “monkey cage,” it will apparently be removed after the renovation, and a monument is planned using part of the fence.
Quoted from the PDF “Uchide Park & Japanese Garden Renewal Workshop News 3” on the official Ashiya City website
↑According to the proposed plan, deck stairs and a slope will be added, creating a unified space where visitors can enjoy both Uchide Park and the Japanese garden behind the Uchide Education and Culture Center.
↑Entrance to the Uchide Education and Culture Center
↑There was also a construction planning sign related to the renovation. Workshops on the architectural design of the Uchide Education and Culture Center will apparently be held going forward.
↑Speaking of the Uchide Education and Culture Center, the attached “Municipal Library Uchide Branch (former Matsuyama Family Residence Shoto-kan)” is also a well-known building, but I wonder what will happen to it?
It’s sad and a bit lonely that the monkey cage and the distinctive animal benches will disappear in the renovation, but I’m looking forward to the park becoming more comfortable and easier to use while preserving its history.
Here’s the map↓
The address is 15-14 Uchide Kozuchi-cho, Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture.
