BMX Bike Cup Competition in Yokosuka

Japan Cup BMX meet set to welcome international riders - The Japan Times

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YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA PREF. – 

The Japan Cup BMX freestyle meet, held from June 2 to 4, 2023, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, was upgraded from a domestic to an international competition, with the aim of attracting riders and spectators from overseas, organizers said Friday.

The top Japan Cup finishers at Umikaze Park earned points for the Union Cycliste Internationale rankings needed to qualify for World Cup events, according to the Japan Freestyle BMX Federation and the city of Yokosuka.

"The event will be more exciting if riders come from overseas," Rim Nakamura, who won the men's park competition at the urban cycling world championships last November in Abu Dhabi, told a news conference in Yokosuka. "I want to show Japanese riders are strong."

Yokosuka hosted the Japan Cup last July for the first time and is aiming to vitalize its local communities through urban sports.

"I hope to see athletes make this meet a stepping stone toward the world stage," said Katsuaki Kamiji, the mayor of Yokosuka.

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BMX Freestyle Mynavi Japan Cup Yokosuka 2023: The Ultimate Showdown and Results - Yokosuka Travel Guide (guidoor.jp)

The “Mynavi Japan Cup Yokosuka 2023” took center stage as the All-Japan Championship, under the auspices of the Japan Freestyle BMX Association. The event transformed the vibrant city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, into a canvas for BMX talent.

Although the inaugural day didn’t go as planned due to weather conditions, the skies cleared on the afternoon of the second day, allowing the event to proceed without a hitch!

Over the course of two days, the competition drew a crowd but also a myriad of event booths. With children from Yokosuka City at the heart of the approximately 20,000 spectators, the venue was buzzing with excitement.

Perry Park

This park commemorates Perry's landing. There is a monument commemorating Perry's landing and the Perry Memorial Hall. Historical materials and dioramas related to Perry's arrival in Japan are on display.

The Perry Landing Monument was built to commemorate the landing of U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry on July 14, 1853 (Kaei 6) on the Kurihama coast, who came to Japan seeking the opening of Japan to the outside world. The unveiling ceremony of the Perry Landing Monument was held on July 14, 1901, the same day Perry landed.

The Kurihama coast was a scenic beach until the 1950s, but the construction of the Kurihama branch of Nichiru Fishery and the construction of the Yokosuka Thermal Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company in the 1960s caused a series of land reclamation projects that greatly changed the appearance of the coastline. From the sandy beach in front of Perry Park, one can see the Tokyo Bay Ferry that passed between Kurihama Port and Kanaya Port, which opened in 1960, and the large smokestacks of the power plant.

The Perry Memorial Hall in the park exhibits many historical materials and models related to Perry's arrival in Japan. The Kurihama Perry Festival is held every year in mid-July. The highlight of the festival is the fireworks display at the finale.

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Perry Memorial Hall

• The Perry Memorial Hall is a museum that illustrates the Perry Expedition (1853－1854), which paved the way to the opening of Japan, and the history leading to it through dioramas and historical documents.

Description

In 1853, Matthew Calbraith Perry, who was Commodore of the U.S. Navy, landed on the Kurihama beach, which paved the way for opening Japan. 

In order to make Perry's arrival and the history of the opening of Japan widely known, the city of Yokosuka built the Perry Memorial Hall in 1987, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the city's founding as a municipality. 

The entrance to the museum is free of charge, and inside the museum, important historical documents that portray the scenes of those days are on display, such as diorama models, picture scrolls depicting the commotion right before Perry's landing, and old books chronicling the overview of the ”Black Ships.”

 The first floor is an exhibition hall displaying the diorama models reproducing the spectacles on the arrival of the black ships; on the second floor is a document gallery. 

The Perry Memorial Hall is situated within the premises of the Perry Park, where the monument commemorating Perry's landing constructed in 1901 stands. It is a 20-minute walk from the Kurihama Station on the JR Line or the Keikyu Kurihama Station on the Keihin Kyuko Line. It is a 10-minute ride on a bus bound for Nobi-kaigan from the Keikyu Kurihama Station on the Keihin Kyuko Line. The museum is close when you get off at the Perry Kinen-hi bus stop.

Yokosuka's "Hidden" Soccer Park

An interesting and unique park, combining a soccer field and walking/jogging track with scenic greenery, is located in the middle of a residential area with narrow streets (Iriyamazu-Cho).  In a way it is "hidden", located off the beaten track, so to speak.

The name of the park is Hamayu Koen (はまゆう公園).

The reason for its unusual/isolated location is because the park was developed on what used to be the site of a large Japanese Imperial Army hospital.  In fact, the Iriyamazu district, back in the pre-World War II years, was the location for a large number of Army artillery and other units which were deployed to Yokosuka for coastal defense of Tokyo Bay.

The site was first used in 1890 for medical facilities which supported an Army Heavy Artillery Regiment.  The facilities were improved and expanded in 1907, and in 1936 construction of a large full-service Army Hospital was completed.

After the end of World War II, the hospital was used by civilian medical organizations until 1966.  Afterwards, the old Army Hospital building were torn down and plans were eventually made to build a public park on the cleared land.  Hamayu Koen was opened in 1988.

There are many places/parks in Yokosuka which have been converted from military to civilian use...