What is the seacoast without a seaside park? Perhaps, the Japanese are not able to imagine such a thing. Due to the major mountainous part of Japan, which is a very unsuitable are for any use, the coastal areas are very densely populated and there are many seaside parks along the Japanese coastline, some of which are amusement and attraction parks, while the others are used as resort and recreation areas for both: adults and children.

A famous seaside park is located not far from the city of Yokohama (eighteen miles from Tokyo). The area, called Minato Mirai 21, is Yokohama's futuristic showplace for business, shopping, residence and entertainment, and the Yamashita Park, located in a thirty minutes walk from Minato Mirai 21, is the largest park in this area. The Yamashita Park is Japan's first seaside park, laid out after the huge 1923 earthquake that destroyed much of Tokyo and Yokohama. It is nice for waterfront strolls and opens the views on the city's magnificent and spectacular harbor and Bay Bridge.

One of the most appealing attractions of the seaside park is the Hakawa-Maru, a 1930 ocean liner, which transported passengers between Yokohama and North America before it was called to military service during World War II. It is one of the very few Japanese ships to survive the war and today it serves as a museum, featuring its captain's room and the room once occupied by Charlie Chaplin, sleeping quarters, an engine room, a bridge and a deck on display. The admission to the park is free; the ship excursion is six dollars and sixty five for adults, three dollars and thirty five for children of six to fifteen years old, and two dollars and fifty for children of three to five.

There is an excellent seaside park on the Uminonakamichi peninsula, Fukuoka region, the northern coast of Kyushu. The Uminonakamichi Seaside Park provides miles of beaches, swimming pools, a children's play area, a Ferris wheel and other rides, cycling courses and gardens, as well as restaurants and shops. This recreation and resort area on the Japanese seacoast occupies about two hundred hectares of land that is still only partly developed. If you are in Fukuoka, you will be also interested to examine ancient castle ruins that make one of the major attractions of the city.

Odaiba is another futuristic business district with a seaside park among many of its attractions. Odaiba is one of the man made islands in the Bay of Tokyo that was constructed in the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868). Today, it is one of the Tokyo's most captivating tourist spots and popular shopping and entertainment district. The Odaiba-kaihin-koen Seaside Park is a seaside park with a man-made beach and views of the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo's harbor and waterfront area. In fact, many nice and broad pedestrian walks and parks connect the majority of attractions in Odaibo with each other.

Any Japanese seaside park is deeply individual and unique. What is more important, seaside parks are usually located in the futuristic districts of Japan that impress the tourists with an incomparable variety of attractions and sites that stand for the world's most advanced inventions of the 21st century.