News Guinness World Records: world's smallest park in Shizuoka

A tiny green space measuring just 0.24 square metres was officially recognised by Guinness World Records last year as the world's smallest park, with a certificate presentation ceremony recently held at the town hall. Kazunori Shimoyama, 76, is the speaker of the Nagaizumi municipal assembly in Shizuoka Prefecture. He originally created the "park" as a playful project in 1988 while working in the town's construction department. During the ceremony on 25 February, Shimoyama said with a shy smile that his distant dream had come true and that he was overjoyed.


The world's smallest park is located in a triangular excess space created by constructing an urban planning road intersecting with an existing old road. The square brick enclosure contains plants and a bench barely big enough to seat one person. Though repeatedly featured in television programs as a hidden attraction of the town, it was legally considered part of the road.

The Guinness registration was achieved through the town's regional revitalization efforts. Expenses for registration fees were raised through "hometown tax" donations from July 2024. On 21 December, a surveyor conducted measurements in the presence of a third party, confirming the park's area as 0.24 square meters. This is smaller than the previous Guinness record holder, Mill Ends Park in Oregon, U.S., which measures 0.29 square meters. On 25 December 2024, the town officially announced the space as a park. While the Guinness criteria required the park to have existed for at least five years, it was registered as the smallest park immediately due to its established history as a park.

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