Washington Heights (Tokyo) facts for kids
Washington Heights was a special neighborhood in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was built in 1946 as a home for American military families after World War II. This area was used by the United States military until 1964, when the land was given back to Japan. Today, you can find famous places like Yoyogi Park, Yoyogi National Gymnasium, and the NHK Broadcasting Center where Washington Heights used to be. It even has a special marker for the first time an airplane flew in Japan!
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A Home for Military Families
Washington Heights was a very large area, about 924,000 square meters. It had 827 homes for families of the United States Air Force. It also had everything a community needed, like schools, churches, movie theaters, shops, and places for officers to relax. Japanese people were not allowed to enter this area, which was surrounded by fences and had many gates. Washington Heights was a comfortable, middle-class neighborhood, even though much of Tokyo had been badly damaged by bombs during the war.
Before Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, this land was used by the Japanese Army for parades. After the war, the U.S. military asked the Japanese government to build Washington Heights. The U.S. military kept control of it even after the Treaty of San Francisco was signed. This treaty meant Japan became an independent country again in 1952. However, American military forces, including those at Washington Heights, stayed in Japan. This led to some protests from Japanese university students, but the housing area was never attacked.
In 1960, a new agreement called the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan said that Washington Heights would continue to be used. But the very next year, the land was needed for something big: the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo! So, in 1964, the land was fully returned to Japan. The Japanese government even paid for the American military families to move to a new location.
From Military Homes to Olympic Village
When the 1964 Olympics came, many of the old military buildings at Washington Heights were used as homes for the athletes. Other athletes stayed in new buildings that later became the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center. After the Olympics were over, almost all the old military homes were torn down. Only one house in Yoyogi Park was saved. This house had been used by the Dutch Olympic team during the Games.
Famous People Who Lived There
Many interesting people lived or spent time at Washington Heights:
- Johnny Kitagawa: He started Japan's first boy band in 1962. He found the young boys playing in Washington Heights.
- Norma Field: She went to school in Washington Heights when she was a child.
- Lois Lowry: She is a famous American writer, known for her book The Giver. She got ideas for her book from her childhood memories of exploring the nearby Shibuya area outside the base.
Images for kids
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Washington Heights, 1947
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Surviving military housing in Yoyogi Park, 2011
