Two new skateparks (opened in 2011) added to Skateboarding resources and Skatepark listings

Skateboarders now have two more choices in skateparks. The Planet Skatepark in Hachioji opened April 1 and Nike Miyashita Skatepark (Meiji-dori) opened April 30. Scroll down to bottom of the page read Majirox news article about their opening.

Listings of other skateboard park:

Adachi-ku, Tokyo, run by Murasaki Sports. Source.

Nike Miyashita Skate park (blogged Nike Skatepark)

Places to Skate suggests and gives directions to these skateboarding spots for Tokyoites:

Imperial Park Area in Chiyoda-ku;

Jingu Gaien  Shinjuku/Shibuya -ku;

Yoyogi Park in Shibuya-ku;

Komazawa Park in Setagaya-ku;

Hikarigaoka Park in Nerima-ku;

Mizumoto Park in Katsushika-ku;

Shin Koiwa Park in Katsushika-ku;

Kasai Seaside Park area in Edogawa-ku;

Odaiba area

Other popular skateboarding spots include the Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Komazawa Park, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Kyoto-Tanabe Skatepark Access and info here.

Triangle Park in Amerikamura, Shinsaibashi, Osaka (See access map here) [You can connect with other skateboarders in Osaka at Skateboarding Japan here or Skate Osaka]

Shinyoko Skatepark, Nissan Stadium, Yokohama (access map in English)

Skatepark in Fukuroi, Shizuoka and also Hanakawa Skatepark in Hamamatsu-shi, also in Shizuoka (watch Youtube video clip) Shizuoka-ken Phone:053-438-5995 Access map

A short listing by Concrete Disciples may be found at this page but for a really dedicated and constantly updated listing of Skateparks around Japan, go to Commotion’s Skatepark Guide page (some photos available), or you can register to receive their SKATE PARK GUIDE here, however it is in Japanese only.

Watch video of skateboarders in action at Hachioji Skatepark (Wonderland in Tokyo)

Planet Skatepark arrives in Japan Majiroxnews, 5/04/2011 Excerpted below:

By Joseph Tashiro

TOKYO (majirox news) – During Golden Week, Kenji Hirada plans to drop in at Nike’s Skatepark in Tokyo, while Tomo Hayashi plans on shredding the Planet Skatepark in Hachioji.

Skateboarders now have two more choices in skateparks. The Planet Skatepark opened April 1 and Nike Miyashita Skatepark opened April 30. …

For a long time, Shibuya Ward neglected Miyashita Park, and the general population avoided it. However, Nike saw it as a convenient skatepark location. It is a beautifully built park, although compact, next to the Yamanote train line. This is a dream come true for many urban skaters and will give the city’s skate scene a big boost.

Farther outside, 40 km (about 24 miles) from central Tokyo is Planet Skate, on par with America’s great wide open municipal skateparks. This park’s centerpiece is a fabulous flowing concrete bowl, which offers endless line choices on a grand scale. Around its periphery are almost every variation of urban street obstacle: stairs to be jumped, rails to slide down, ramps to catch air on, and banks to surf.

Concrete bowls are not found in nature. People build them so they can surf on land. Once a skater drops in one, he or she generates speed using only his or her weight and the terrain and rapidly pumps around the bowl. A skilled skater can thus trace the super smooth walls indefinitely in a mesmerizing show of grace and agility.

In Tokyo, skateboarding is kind of a rogue activity. Boards sold in stores cannot be legally ridden on the streets, and the lack of dedicated skating areas has created a mobile underground in search of skate-able terrain. A skate session will materialize around a promising building and just as soon dissipate and move on with the arrival of security or the police.

Nike Miyashita Skatepark and Hachioji Planet Skatepark will help bring together the scattered roaming skate tribes to form a larger community. At these skateparks, the young will learn and obtain inspiration from seasoned skaters.

Kids in Japan need an activity that is only for fun. A safe challenging skatepark gives youthful energy a creative means of expression. It makes me smile when I see a kid 9 or 10 years old arriving at a skatepark directly from school with a skateboard stuffed into his or her backpack.

While skateboarding in Japan is not as popular as, say, in America or Australia, skateboarding has a hardcore group of Japanese followers, who have established skateboard parks predominantly in big cities. Provincial skateboarders have fewer resources in this regard.

According to Atsuhiko Kanagawa, a worker at Hachioji Planet Skatepark, the sport is growing in popularity in Japan, with hundreds of skaters visiting the park every weekend.”

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Skateboarding – Getting Started