Dotoku Park Whale Pond Fountain

A Concrete Whale in a Nagoya Park

The Dotoku Park Whale Pond Fountain (道徳公園クジラ池噴水) is a park fountain of 1927 in Dotokushinmachi, Minami Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 14, 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a concrete and stone work covering 243 square metres, altered in 1941; registration number 23-0562.

A Park on Former Sea

Dotoku Park lies in the Dotoku district, once part of Ise Bay known as Ayuchi-gata, which was reclaimed as farmland and then laid out by land readjustment in the early Showa era (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Minami Ward says it is the oldest park in the ward, opened around 1931 and completed in 1941 with a boat pond and the whale pond.

At the centre of the pond is a whale fountain made by the sculptor Goto Kuwagoro, with banks of stone and imitation timber and a concrete bridge with stone railings (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to Nagoya City Library, he made it in 1927 and is said to have studied real animals as he worked.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes that it has been loved locally since before the war and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape. Nagoya City Library says neighbours still see it as a symbol that the area was once sea.

What to Look For

Look for the whale fountain in the middle of the pond, the banks of stone and imitation timber, and the concrete bridge with stone railings (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is a park feature owned by Nagoya City (Agency for Cultural Affairs), and Minami Ward introduces Dotoku Park as the oldest park in the ward. No official information on opening hours was found.