Location - Ginowan, Kakazu area, not far from Munakata Do. Can be accessed from the 241 or the 251 - just drive towards the tree-covered hill with the globe viewing area on top, following the signs as you go.
http://www.jahitchcock.com/kakazu.html
This park offers the best view of the Futenma airstrip, that prime, much-contested, beautiful piece of flat land smack in the middle of Ginowan. From the parking area, you ascend stone stairs to the globe-painted concrete viewing structure. This ridge was a strategic defensive position during WWII and site of much bloodshed. There are war memorials on top of the hill, explained above at the cited link.
The playgrounds here include steep concrete slides and a climbing contraption, neither one with sand or rubber padding to cushion a fall, yet the Japanese kids do not seem to get injured.
The park pathways are lined with sakura trees, which were fruiting at the time of our visit. They seem to be an ornamental variety, with small sour fruits that go from green to yellow to red. An older couple was collecting the fruits in a bag. This park will be on our itinerary for sakura blossom viewing next season.
