A park with functions such as purifying air, protecting the environment, and conserving ecology is not only a good place for people to relax and recreate but can also become a famous tourist attraction. Recently, a park in Japan measuring only 0.24 square meters has been certified by the Guinness World Records as the world’s smallest park, becoming a major selling point for the local tourism industry.
According to reports from the Guinness World Records website, most parks around the world have large green open spaces and may even have beautiful benches for people to sit and enjoy the scenery. However, in a park in Nagara, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, the size is so small that it is only as big as two A3 sheets of paper, with benches that can only accommodate one person’s buttocks.
Established in 1988, this park is located beside a road near a residential area, surrounded by red bricks. It has a single side length of about 50 centimeters and an area of only 0.24 square meters. Within the park, one can see green plants and benches made of stones, with each bench only able to seat one adult. After sitting down, one’s feet can only touch outside the park area.
In the past, Nagara has informally claimed that this park is the world’s smallest. Due to its small size, media often report on it, and local residents see it as a place to relax while tourists use it for taking photos.
On February 25, Nagara Mayor Osamu Ikeda received the certificate at the accreditation ceremony from the staff of the Guinness World Records, officially making it the world’s smallest park.
Shuji Koyama, the head of the Nagara town construction management department, mentioned that the purpose of creating this park is to make full use of the excess space on the road.
He explained that before its establishment, one of their staff vacationed in the United States and visited the former world record holder – Mill Ends Park in Oregon. Inspired by that, they wanted to build an even smaller park.
Koyama stated that they hope to continue maintaining this park together with the community and create a landscape that can attract more social media attention so that more people can explore the town’s attractions.
According to Guinness World Records, Mill Ends Park is located in Portland and was originally just a circular plot of land with plants, covering an area of 0.29 square meters. The city officially recognized it as a park in 1976.
On the other end of the spectrum, the world’s largest national park is located on the world’s largest island, Greenland. Northeast Greenland National Park in northeastern Greenland is the largest national park in the world, covering a total area of 972,000 square kilometers. The park was established in 1974 and expanded to its current size in 1988.
Most areas of this national park are covered in ice and serve as a protected habitat for various wildlife, including polar bears, musk oxen, and raptors.