Picnic spot: Chatan Tobaru Park

(Editor’s note) This is the second in a series of Japan Update articles introducing local parks. It may come as a surprise to many but Okinawa City alone has 91 public parks. The parks are great places for families with children to go for picnics or just to play around. They are generally very clean, most have play fields for children, and all are free for anybody to use.

Athletic equipment, basketball courts, and roller slides along a gentle slope make Tobaru
Park a fun spot for a weekend family outing.

Located along Route 24, behind Chatan Junior High School, Tobaru Park is at 554-1 Yoshihara in Chatan Town. The park is open daily until 10 p.m. Parking is available for 20 cars, and there’s plenty of green space in the 4.6 hectare leisure spot.

Aside from the athletic opportunities, there’s an observatory in Tobaru Park, an ideal vantage point to look out across the crystal ocean waters.