History of Yumenoshima

Yumenoshima is an artificial island created by reclaiming Tokyo Bay, and is also the name of a town in Koto Ward.
It officially became a place name in 1975, but before that it was just a nickname,
The official name at that time was "Tokyo Bay Landfill No. 14".

Yumenoshima is now a park full of greenery, but it was once famous as a garbage island.
But it didn't start out as a garbage island.
How did "Yumenoshima" come to be?

Birth of Yumenoshima
~ Airfield? Hawaii in Tokyo! ~

Before the Edo period, Tokyo Bay was filled with sediment from many rivers, such as the Arakawa and Tonegawa rivers, and the accumulated sediment formed a shallow sea. In the past, most of Koto Ward was covered by the sea, but in the Edo period, land reclamation was actively carried out, and the current Koto Ward was formed.
After the Meiji period, dredging (deepening the seabed) was carried out to create a port for large ships in Tokyo. The excavated earth and sand were buried in the sea to create artificial islands.

The current Yumenoshima "Tokyo Bay Landfill No. 14" was born during the war. In 1938, a plan was made to build a huge amphibious airport "Tokyo City Airfield" off the coast of Koto Ward, and land No. 14 was created as the planned construction site. However, the war situation soon became severe, and the airfield plan was canceled due to lack of materials.

In 1947, two years after the end of the war, a beach was opened on Lot 14, whose use had not yet been determined. Its name is “Yumenoshima Beach”. Yes, from this time on, this land came to be called "Dream Island". At that time, Tokyo Bay was a very clean sea before the water pollution caused by high economic growth.
Palm trees were planted on the beach, and it was advertised as "Hawaii of Tokyo", and it seems that it was crowded with families. However, due to repeated typhoon damage and financial difficulties, it was closed after only three years. After that, there was a plan to build a huge amusement park, but it was abandoned and left for 7 years.

夢の島の誕生イメージ

High economic growth period
~Is Yumenoshima a garbage island? ~

After that, Japan entered a period of high economic growth. People's lives became richer day by day, and the population began to grow explosively. However, as a result, the amount of garbage generated in Tokyo increased rapidly, and the existing disposal sites could no longer cover all the waste.

Therefore, Yumenoshima was selected as a landfill site for garbage from 1957. In doing so, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government promised Koto Ward to prevent pollution caused by garbage. However, the garbage disposal at that time was to dump raw garbage on Yumenoshima without burning it. 70% of the garbage generated in Tokyo was collected in Koto Ward and transported by 5,000 garbage trucks every day, so Yumenoshima was covered with garbage in no time. Traffic jams and traffic accidents occurred frequently in Koto Ward, garbage and dirty juice spilled onto the road from garbage trucks gave off a foul odor, and flies and rats from Yumenoshima threatened the lives of the residents.

The ultimate is 1965. A large swarm of flies that emerged from the pile of trash on Yumenoshima attacked a residential area in Koto Ward. Everything was swarmed with flies, and it was said that elementary school students could not even attend classes, and this damage continued for more than four months. This made national news and Yumenoshima became popularly known as 'Trash Island' and 'Fly Heaven'.

In the meantime, the city had been spraying pesticides with helicopters, but it was not effective, and finally requested the fire brigade to sprinkle heavy oil and burn the garbage around Yumenoshima. In November of the same year, 20,000 poison balls were used to exterminate the rats, and the following year, Yumenoshima finished its role as a landfill site.

高度経済成長期イメージ

Tokyo Garbage War

After that, the role of the landfill site was changed to Landfill No. 15 next to Yumenoshima, commonly known as "New Dream Island" (present-day Wakasu), but pollution by garbage continued. In 1971, the mayor of Koto Ward said, ``I'm sorry that Koto Ward is the only urban waste pollution drift.'' promised to build an incineration plant to dispose of the waste within the ward. The garbage problem that continues to this day became widely known.

After that, Suginami Ward strongly opposed the construction of an incineration plant in its own ward. was left unattended, and the garbage war went to an end. Even now, garbage is still being landfilled in Tokyo Bay, but the garbage is incinerated at an incineration plant and reduced to about 1/20 of its volume as ash before being landfilled. increase.

東京ゴミ戦争イメージ

Birth of Yumenoshima Park
～From Garbage Island to Green Island～

Koto Ward's incineration plant will be built on Yumenoshima. In response to a request from Koto Ward, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government turned Yumenoshima into a park in return for the construction of an incineration plant, and built five facilities in it: a greenhouse, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a stadium, and a baseball field, using residual heat from the incineration plant. I promised to

In 1974, the Koto Incineration Plant was completed. In the following year, Yumenoshima became the official name of the town and was incorporated into Koto Ward. As promised, the gymnasium and swimming pool were opened one by one.
In 1978, "Yumenoshima Park" was opened in 1978 (Showa 53).

After selecting the plants to be planted, it seems that eucalyptus, which is resistant to sea breezes, barren land, and drought, was selected. These eucalyptus leaves were also supplied as food for koalas at a zoo in Tokyo. After that, many tropical and subtropical trees such as canary palm and malva deigo that can be cultivated outdoors were planted, and the artificial island, which was once called the island of garbage, was reborn as an exotic green park.

夢の島公園の誕生イメージ

Yumenoshima Tropical Plant Museum is open!
～Green, Dream, Future～

Ten years later, on November 19, 1988, the Yumenoshima Tropical Plant Museum opened.
As requested by Koto Ward to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government about 30 years ago, it is a greenhouse that can grow tropical plants even in winter by warming the inside of the dome with the heat generated when garbage is burned at an incineration plant. The initial theme of the museum was "By exhibiting tropical and subtropical plants in an ecological and scenic way, we will provide Tokyo residents with a learning and recreational space where they can enjoy and learn about plants, while at the same time promoting the concept of urban greening and nature." It aims to disseminate and raise awareness of protectionism.” This basic philosophy has been passed down over 30 years since the museum opened.

The present of Yumenoshima. And to the future.

Yumenoshima Park was hit by Typhoon No. 24 in 2018, and many of the eucalyptus trees that had stood tall fell down, leaving only a few. The remaining eucalyptus trees are cut down at high altitudes to prevent further falling trees.
The multi-purpose Coliseum, which was a symbol of Yumenoshima Park and a playground for families on holidays, was reclaimed for use as a qualifying venue for the Tokyo 2020 Games and has disappeared. However, a new "archery field" has been completed at that location, and it is expected to be used as a legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the future. The Yumenoshima Tropical Botanical Garden, which was born the year before the Heisei era began, has been forced to change due to the corona disaster now that Reiwa has arrived. We will continue to actively work on DX, consider environmental issues, protect plant diversity, and operate toward a sustainable future.

References

  • Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Tokyo Port Office "Tokyo Port History Pamphlet"
  • "History of Showa in Koto" published by Koto Ward
  • "Central Breakwater Landfill Site from the Sky (Aerial Photo)". Bureau of Environment, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
  • Bureau of Port and Harbor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (1994).
  • "Asahi Graph" July 16, 1965 issue
  • Yumenoshima called "fly paradise"
  • Akiyoshi Shibata, "The Function of Mass Media in the Process of Political Disputes (Part 2, End): A Case Study of the ``Tokyo Garbage War''," Hogaku Ronshu, Vol. 52, No. 2, Graduate School of Law, Hokkaido University, 2001 pp. 573-601, ISSN 03855953, NAID 120000954908.
    *Image provided by Koto Ward