宮下公園 （Miyashita Park – Shibuya,Tokyo)

While I live in Shizuoka, I find myself drawn to Tokyo often. I am an avid rock climber, and (boulderer?) person who likes to boulder. I was riding on the Yamanote line passing by Shibuya, (Yamanote line is the green train line which happens to be one of the busiest in Tokyo.)  I spied a small park with a rock wall. One day, I was in Shibuya so I went to check it out. It has two フットサル courts (indoor soccer courts, which happen to be outside) a few water fountains, an area where you can find all manner of music related things such as dancers, and singers. While there are quite a few homeless around, what park doesn’t have homeless people?

The thing I want to really highlight is the rock wall. Which is amazingly small, but amazingly cheap. To climb for 2 hours it’ll cost you about 380 yen, and if you don’t have shoes or chalk a grand total of around 600 yen. (5 USD) In Japan, just trying rock climbing can run you 2000 yen minimum to about 5000 yen tops, (Around 20 to 50 USD)  just to try it. This park gives you an alternative way to try it without having to invest a crap ton in membership you might only use once.

There are a limited number of problems and if you’re a hard core climber you’ll be able to finish most the problems in no time at all. However if you’re a newbie and you’ve always wanted to try it, and you live in Tokyo, it’s an inexpensive way to maybe pick up a new hobby.

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Miyashita park is a 5 to 8 minute walk from the JR Shibuya Station.

〒150-0001 東京都渋谷区神宮前６丁目２０－１０

Business hours from 8:30 to 22:30