Okazaki-koen Park (Kyoto City) (岡崎公園 (京都市))
Okazaki-koen Park is an urban park in Okazaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City.
Rikusho-ji Temples
It was here that the six great temples collectively known as the "Rikusho-ji" (lit. Six Victorious Temples) including Hossho-ji Temple were built during the Heian period. The name of each of these temples has remained as the name of the cho (district) located where the temple once stood.
The National Exhibition
The magnificent Rikusho-ji temple complex was burned to the ground through subsequent wars. At the time of the Meiji Restoration at the end of the Edo period, Okazaki consisted of only a few houses and vacant land. In the Meiji period, the Lake Biwa Canal was extended to the Keage area which bordered Okazaki to the east, and Japan's first hydroelectric power station was constructed. With the development of water transportation using inclines, the main trunk of the Lake Biwa Canal was drawn to the west across the Okazaki area. Thus, the area on the north side of the canal was used for the venue for The National Exhibition and regained prosperity. After the exhibition, Heian-jingu Shrine was constructed on the former exhibition site, other cultural institutions were built, and the area was maintained as a park.
Cultural Institutions
The area is the location of Kyoto's cultural, tourism and industrial institutions including the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto Kaikan Hall, Kyoto International Exhibition Hall (Miyako Messe), Okazaki baseball ground, Kyoto Prefectural Library, Kyoto City Zoo, and Heian-jingu Shrine.
At the southern and western extremes of the park are the Lake Biwa Canal waterway dug from Lake Biwa.
This wider area is often called Okazaki-koen Park, but the park with this name is more narrowly defined as the park located on the southern side of Heian-jingu Shrine, adjacent to the tennis courts.