Heiwa Central Park is located on a hill overlooking the central urban area of Yokosuka. Due to its location with a panoramic view of Sarushima and ships navigating Tokyo Bay, the Yonegahama Battery was established here as part of the Tokyo Bay Fortress by the former Imperial Army in the Meiji era. After being damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake and later repurposed as a training battery, it came to the end of World War II. It continued to be called "Battery Hill" until it was opened as "Central Park" in 1970. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2020, it underwent renovation work and reopened in April 2021 as "Central Peace Park."
Within the park, there are memorial towers for war dead and peace monuments, serving as a place to pray for peace. Additionally, sculptures and literary monuments are installed, making the park a cultural hub along with the adjacent Yokosuka Cultural Hall. Colorful flowers and trees such as cherry blossoms and hydrangeas, as well as plants found on nearby hills and coastlines, are planted and maintained. Some of the remains of the Yonegahama (training) Battery are also preserved and open to the public. Together with the adjacent Museum of Natural and Human History, the park serves as a satellite of the Yokosuka Route Museum. Visitors can experience the culture nurtured by Yokosuka's nature and history and reflect on peace.
Monday, June 8, 2026
The Roots of Central Peace Park
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The Yonegahama Battery is one of the batteries that make up the Tokyo Bay Fortress, which was constructed by the Army. Replacing the batteries built by the Edo Shogunate for coastal defense, the Meiji government introduced Western fortification techniques and building materials to construct groups of coastal defense batteries at strategic locations nationwide. These groups of batteries were later named after their respective locations as certain fortresses. The Tokyo Bay Fortress was tasked with defending the new capital Tokyo and the Yokosuka naval port, and it is the only fortress that began construction in the 1870s.
The construction of the Tokyo Bay Fortress during the Meiji period can be broadly divided into three phases. In the 1870s, the construction of batteries to defend the narrowest part of Tokyo Bay, from Cape Futtsu to Cape Kannon (such as the Kannonzaki Battery, Sarushima Battery, and Hashirimizu Low Battery), began. In the early 1880s, batteries were built to defend the Yokosuka and Nagura naval ports (such as Natsushima Battery and Hakozaki Low Battery). In the late 1880s, additional batteries and fortresses for rear and flank defense of the existing batteries from Cape Futtsu to Cape Kannon (such as Chiyogasaki Battery, Oura Fortress, and Obaradai Fortress) were constructed, along with new batteries such as the Sangenya Battery.
Yonegahama Battery was constructed from 1890 to 1891 (Meiji 23–24), serving to defend the Yokosuka Naval Port as well as functioning as a training and educational battery for the 1st Fortress Artillery Regiment (later the Yokosuka Heavy Artillery Regiment), which was stationed in Iriyamazu (不入斗).
Yonegahama Battery consisted of a western howitzer battery and an eastern cannon battery, equipped with six 28 cm howitzers and two 24 cm cannons. During the First Sino-Japanese War, which broke out in 1894 (Meiji 27), it was put on a war footing, and in the Russo-Japanese War, which began in 1904 (Meiji 37), all six 28 cm howitzers were transported to take part in the assault on the Russian fortress at Port Arthur. Afterwards, due to advances in artillery, changes in tactics brought about by the advent of aircraft, and the land reclamation project in Yasura Town, its strategic importance declined. Furthermore, after suffering significant damage in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 (Taisho 12), the cannon battery was abolished, and the howitzer battery was converted into a training battery consisting of four 28 cm howitzers.
After the war, the site was enjoyed by citizens as Chuo Park. In 2019 (Reiwa 1), an excavation survey was conducted in conjunction with park renovation work, confirming that many of the Meiji-era battery structures remained well-preserved, after which the site was backfilled for preservation. Additionally, some of the structures were removed and relocated to the Yokosuka City Natural and Cultural History Museum.
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-- About Central Peace Park
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