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Rounded mushroom-like buildings on a grassy slope at Tove Jansson Akebono Children's Forest Park
Photo: 麒麟檸檬, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saitama · park

Tove Jansson Akebono Children's Forest Park

トーベ・ヤンソンあけぼの子どもの森公園

A small forest park in Hanno born from letters with Moomin creator Tove Jansson, where you can explore a fairy-tale mushroom house for free.

A park born from letters with the author

Tove Jansson Akebono Children's Forest Park is a city-run park in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture. It was planned after an exchange of letters between the people who created it and Tove Jansson, the Finnish writer best known as the author of the Moomin books.

It opened on 1 July 1997 as Akebono Children's Forest Park, and on 1 June 2017, its 20th anniversary, it took its current name with the approval of Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson's niece, who also heads the company that manages the Moomin rights. "Akebono" refers to the Akebono elephant, an ancient species whose fossils were found in the nearby Iruma River.

It is not a theme park as such: the park was built to work with the original lie of the land, and Tove Jansson's ideas show up all over the grounds.

The mushroom house, the children's theatre and the forest house

The eye-catcher is the Mushroom House, which looks as if it has sprouted straight out of the ground. On the ground floor there is a hall with a fireplace, and upstairs opens into a curious, dreamlike space.

Near the entrance, the Children's Theatre is a hall used for concerts and other events, with a domed roof and windows made from cypress logs over 100 years old. Further in, the Forest House has wavy walls built from logs of Nishikawa cypress, a timber Hanno is known for. Its ground floor has material about Tove Jansson, and upstairs is a library where you can read the Moomin stories and picture books.

There is also a Nordic-style café whose name means "park" in Finnish.

Getting there and opening days

It is about 20 minutes' walk from Motokaji Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, and about 4km from Hanno and Higashi-Hanno stations. By car, it is about 20 minutes from the Sayama-Hidaka or Ome interchanges on the Ken-O Expressway, and there is a free car park.

Entry is free. From the 2026 financial year the opening days are changing on a trial basis: in busy seasons such as spring and autumn the park is closed on Mondays, and in the summer and winter seasons it is closed Monday to Wednesday. It also closes over the New Year holidays. Some areas are closed for the time being because of the risk of falling trees and branches. Check the opening calendar on Hanno City's park page before you go.

Tips

  • You take your shoes off to go inside the buildings, so shoes that slip on and off easily make life simpler.
  • The café is the only place inside the buildings where you can eat. You have to take your rubbish home and there are no coin lockers, so travel light.
  • In summer (June to early September) and winter (January to mid-March) the park opens only four days a week. If you are going on a weekday, make sure it is an opening day.

Sources

Updated 30 September 2026. Opening hours and prices change, so check the official site before you go.

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