Japanese Waterwheel - Shiki no Mori (One of the best parks in Yokohama)

We spent some time today wandering around one of my favourite spots in and around Tokyo. It's a terrific park called Shikinomori (四季の森公園), which means The Forest of Four Seasons Park.

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The park is run by the government and sprawls through hills and valleys covering 45.3 hectares (112 acres). It's very close to Yokohama and not far from Tokyo by car.

During our exploration today we came across a magnificent waterwheel. This wheel would have been used in the past for grinding grain.

The sign points out the obvious--It's a small hut housing a water wheel! What I really love about it is the way the rock foundations have been laid. It's so cool the way the Japanese do this. It reminds me of the foundations of their castles too.

The wheel turns a driveshaft that has a set of gears on the end of it. The gears then mesh with a set of horizontal gears on top of a set of circular grinding stones. Grain is dropped into the hopper and then into the spinning stones, turning it into flour.

This park has a lot to offer and it isn't on any tourist maps (there are never any tourist buses around etc). So if you are in Tokyo and want to see some of what the countryside looks like and how people used to live, Shiki no mori park is a good place to try. You will need to rent a car to get there though as the public transport connection doesn't look particularly easy.

How to get there by public transport

By train: JR Yokohama Line from the South Exit of Nakayama Station (about 15 mins walk). or Yokohama Subway Green Line, No. 2 Exit (1.1 KM walk, or 15 minutes to the Park).

I have some more of Shiki no Mori's attractions but I will save them for another post. We go there quite a bit to kick a football around or throw a frisbee, but it has a lot of other things to offer as well. We've been in the park countless times and this is the first time I've seen this water wheel, so that gives you an idea of how many hidden valleys it has.