The Showa Memorial Park is the largest park in the Tokyo area and a short walk from Tachikawa station. The reason my review is 4 stars is due to the fact that it was a bit confusing to find my way to the park as one of the entrances didn't really look like an entrance. Regardless, it was a very nice park to visit with many different sections to explore. There were Japanese and Western gardens, a bonsai museum which I thought was really interesting, a huge children's area with bouncing domes and a playground and lake. I particularly liked how there were different paths for cyclists and visitors on foot, though given that it took me at least 2 hours to walk around most of the park (I speed-walked), I would definitely recommend renting a bike (530 yen for the entire day or 420 for three hours) to have a more relaxed time. There's also a cute park train that goes around dropping passengers off, though it is a slightly more expensive option to the bikes. Overall, it is way too easy to spend a whole day at Showa Memorial Park especially during spring time with the cherry blossoms in bloom.

Showa Memorial Park is a suitable place for family visit. The place near the Tachikawa station is open for free, which is good enough to have a picnic on warm day. This park is vast. You need to spend two hours at least walking through it from south to north. If you go into the park through the Tachikawa gate and leave through the Sunagawa gate, you can take bus to come back to Tachikawa station. A little train is available and the free pass for one day costs JPY 520 for visitors over 4. It has perfect infrastructure like bathrooms, benches and vending machine. The information of anthesis date can be found at the entrance. I saw plum blossom here. The winter sweet was at anthesis. The flower fragrance was impressive. The only downside is that it is too cold in winter.