公園

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 公園で犬と遊んだ。▶ —
   I played with the dog at the park.
2. 近所の公園は桜が綺麗だ。▶ —
   The neighborhood parks cherry blossoms are beautiful.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Kouen (公園) is "park" — a precise Japanese cluster (B + cluster). Kanji "kou (public) + en (garden)" = public garden. Cluster: (1) o-hanami venue at cherry-blossom peak (early April) — blue tarps, bento, beer with colleagues and family at Yoshinoyama, Ueno, Megurogawa, Shinjuku Gyoen, Chidorigafuchi and other famous spots; (2) toshi kouen (city parks, formally organized after the 1956 City Park Act, with Tokyos Ueno, Shinjuku Gyoen, Yoyogi, Hibiya, Meiji Jingu, etc. inside the Yamanote loop); (3) jidou kouen (childrens parks — sandbox, slide, swing as the three core fixtures, 50,000+ nationwide, maintained by municipalities especially in apartment-complex outskirts); (4) kouen debyuu (park debut — a 1990s neologism for a new mothers first greeting to neighborhood mother groups at the local park, a uniquely Japanese social term where post-birth OLs sometimes struggle to fit the sister circle); (5) yoru no kouen (night parks — safe enough thanks to Japans low crime to enjoy walking, unlike many overseas cities). Korean gong-won is the main word; Japans kouen debyuu is unique; Chinese gōng-yuán is generic. JLPT N5 plus a Japanese urban, child-rearing, and nature cultural cluster.

Quick check

1. Meaning of kouen debyuu?

   • 1990s neologism for a new mothers first greeting to the neighborhood park mother group — a uniquely Japanese post-birth social rite of passage
   • A childs first park visit
   • Graduation ceremony
   • Tourism term