Brooke Allen began writing stories for his school
newspaper in high school, for his literary magazine in college, and
most recently for his children. He has a BA in mathematics and is
a great believer in writing things down -- proofs and prose. He has been a teacher, speaker, computer
programmer, and entrepreneur.
Mr. Allen lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey with his wife, Eve, and two sons, Davis and Glen.
He would love to hear from you at
brooke.t.allen@gmail.com
Of Parks and People
Brooke Allen
Regular Columnist, Father's Stories
For this month’s Father’s Stories column I wrote a brief
item about an incident in a park in Tokyo. I had wanted
just one photograph of Arisugawa Park to illustrate my
story but I could not find any.
So, I thought I’d write for help to some of the most
wonderful people I know: members of www.couchsurfing.com (1.) I
will tell you more about them in a future article, but for
now just know that this is a group of people around the
world (about 400,000 strong) who build profiles describing
themselves, as you might find on Facebook or Myspace.
However, these people are exceptional; they are not into
making “virtual friends” but real ones. They will meet you
when you come to visit, show you around, perhaps take you
for coffee, even put you up and more likely than not, stay
up into the wee hours talking about the meaning of life.
I selected some members who live in Tokyo and who clearly
enjoy photography. I wrote to them late the other day
asking if they had photos of the park or if they lived near
enough to go take some. By the next morning, a few had
responded affirmatively and over the next few days the
pictures started coming in; more than we could possibly
publish here.
So now I have everything I need to tell you about and show
you Arisugawa Park and what it means to me and to so many
others.
Let’s begin with an excerpt from the Ministry of
Education’s goals for the Moral Education of Children in
Grade’s 1 and 2. (2.) Under “Things Primarily Related to
Relationships with Nature and the Sublime” it itemizes:
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(1) Feeling intimate with the nature that’s near oneself;
being kind-hearted in treatment of plants and animals.
(2) Having a heart that values life.
(3) Having contact with beautiful things and feeling
ennobled by them.
And under “Things Primarily Related to Oneself” is:
(4) Leading a life that is relaxed and ingenious, not
dishonest or deceptive.
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Arisugawa Park is clearly designed to help with all of
these things.
The first time I entered the park was from the top of the
hill. The children in front of me took off their shoes
immediately; they knew this park is best experienced
barefoot.
A bridge crossed a small stream that mysteriously flowed
freely on the right but was not to be found on the left. (3.) In
a few short steps you were no longer in one of the busiest
and most modern cities in the world. You felt like you’d
come home to a time long ago.
There were birds to hear, trees to climb and hide behind,
and flat open spaces for playing ball.
Then there was a playground. At first it looked like the
playgrounds back home. But there was a difference. At home,
the equipment was designed to avoid lawsuits; slides you
can’t possibly fall out of, platforms with rails and all
built on a rubberize pad.
It appears from the photos my Couch Surfing friends have
sent that Arisugawa Park now has one of these too. This was
probably inevitable given the number of Gaijin living in
the neighborhood.
But I’m also glad to see all the old equipment is still
there.
In 1990 the first thing I saw was a huge climbing frame
with a tangle of children inside and on top. It is about 10
feet tall, and while you’d probably sprain an ankle jumping
from it, your child would not. Kids are built to last.
You can watch children being ingenious and eventually you
will learn that you need to relax.
The best place for a parent to park themselves is right in
the middle on top. You can watch your child but you can not
catch them when they jump. You can yell at them if you want
but it will be purely for your own neurotic reasons since
the other children will drown out your screeches. Soon you
will discover that children are not idiots and they know
what they are doing.
Then there are the swings. They
look like swings in any other
park in the world.
The difference between the swings
here and the ones back home is
evident only in the behavior of
the adults. While tiny children
can be strapped in to avoid
injury, the bigger ones get a
flat plank suspended between two
chains that allow for some real
fun.
On either side of the swings are
some sort of painted metal pipes
that seem to serve no purpose
except to provide a hurdle to be
cleared when a child jumps.
Children soon learn that you can
fly farthest from an upright
position.
A path takes you down to a pond at the bottom of the hill.
Just looking at it is good enough for an adult but if you
are a child you might want to go fishing. This is OK as
long as you throw them back.
I wouldn’t try wading in if I were you. Nor would our sons;
well – not twice.
Writing this story has been bittersweet for me.
Arisugawa Park, I miss you and I want to visit again soon.
I want to thank all the people from Couch Surfing who
helped with photographs and suggestions for this piece:
Niki, Yuval, Sarah, Aya, Mari, Alex, Jim, Takumi, Srini,
Misaki, and Sylvie. |
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1 There is another group, about the same size, at www.hospitalityclub.org that is tied for First Place as
having the Most Wonderful People.
2 Source: Catherine C. Lewis, Educating Hearts and Minds, Reflections on Japanese Preschool and
Elementary Education, p. 46, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
3 Years later I decided to investigate and discovered that the water was re-circulated up to this point from
pond at the bottom of the hill. |
