Journal of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architects

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Fukagawa park was once counted among the socalled “Five Public Parks of Tokyo”, built in response to the “Cabinet Declaration” of Jan. 15, 18 73 (the sixth year of Meiji) and inspite of its special historical significance it had to follow much the same fate as the other four parks after all.
Fukagawa Park had its origin in the precincts of the Tomi (ga) oka Hachiman Shrine, as may easily be gathered from the fact that since the middle of the Edo Period the place had usually attracted crowds of people as the most famous “place for recreation of the crowds” in the area on the east side of the Edo river.
Further, two other main causes may be cited as making the place a fashionable resort. First, the geographical environment of the Fukagawa District which was originally located near the sea (Tokyo Bay), and the many canals surrounding it, coupled with the increasingly rapid growth of the city, naturally gave birth to timberyards (Jam Kiba) Second, a restful mood felt by the people in the fact that there is a large river (the Sumida River) between the center of Tokyo and the Fukagawa quarters, went to determine the position of Fukagawa as a pleasurresort, in line with the policy of the feudal goverment.
Since its formal establishment in 1873, the park has undergone occasional changes in many respects, chiefly attributable to the question to the tit'.e of the grounds, which formerly had belonged to the Shrine, the sudden changes in the social environment, the 1923 Earthquake and Fire in the Kanto District, the war damage in World War II, etc., which fact is well illustrative of the inevitable fate of the land belonging to a shrine or a temple determined to be a public park by influence exerted from above, as in the present case.

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In this study, the authors made some experiments on the germination of the seeds of American and European lawn grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, colonial bentgrass-Astoria bent and Highland bent, redtop, Bermudagrass, Chewings fescue and Italian ryegrass) in Japan and repression effects on their growth, and the following results obtained.
(1) According to the size and weight of the seeds, plants were arranged as follows:
Size: Italian ryegass>Chewings fescue>Kentucky bluegrass>redtop>Bermudagrass>colonial bentgrass.
Weight: Italian ryegrass>Chewings fescue>Kentucky bluegrass>Bermudagrass>redtop>colonial bentgrass.
(2) In germination percentage, Chewings fescue, Italian ryegrass, redtop and Astoria bent were good, Highland bent and Bermudagrass were somewhat bad, and Kentucky bluegrass was the worst. As the seeds of Kentucky bluegrass and redtop became old, so much their germination percentages became low. Bermudagrass showed the highest percentage in autumn of the second year.Chewings fescue showed the highest germination percentage in spring of the third year, and so showed Italian ryegrass. The result of the experiment shows that most of American and European lawn grases have dormant period of some duration. Except a few specics, the seeds of American and European lawn grasses are available after the preservation of 2 or 3 years.
(3) The result of reprssion experiment were as follcws.
By the repression after sowing, the growth of American and European lawn grasses were quickened. Their weight (fresh and dry measure), the height of the plants, the amount of stems and stolons, the length and amaunt of roots increased. The best results were obtained in the following case.

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