Oji 6-chome Children’s Playground

Every neighbourhood deserves a resident robot. Oji 6-chome Children’s Playground, also known locally as Robot Park, is watched over by a big blue retro robot whose arms double as playground equipment. One arm works as the stairs, the other as the slide, and the head becomes a cockpit-like platform where small children can live out their pilot fantasy. Gundam, anyone?

Besides the bot there’s more standard playground pieces too, including swings, a sandpit and bars, but the robot is obviously the main character. It has the chunky, slightly handmade look of a children’s TV prop from another era – not slick, and absolutely better for it. It’s good for kids, obviously, but also for anyone who enjoys Tokyo’s quieter residential oddities: the kind of thing you would never find unless someone told you it existed.