MEIJI TRIBUTE

Fans of hit girl band flock to Chiba Pref. park where history and pop culture meet

FUTTSU, Chiba — Girls run up the stairs of a strange pyramid-shaped building. When the camera shows a bird’s-eye view of the building, it reveals an even stranger shape. The building has a complex combination of circular and square structures and looks like an abstract painting.

This is the music video for “Anastasia,” a song released by pop group Nogizaka46 in March, and in the video this place is a “secret base” for girls.

Located in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, the structure is called the Meiji 100th Anniversary Memorial Tower.

It is located at the very tip of the prefectural Futtsu Park, which juts out into the sea, and was completed in March 1971 as part of a project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Meiji era (1868-1912).

The 22-meter high tower is made of reinforced concrete and its unique shape is said to be inspired by five needle pine trees.

“The influence of Nogizaka[46] is incredible. Young people now travel all the way to the park by bus,” said Kaori Koshiba, a 39-year-old staff member at the park’s management office.

Located in Cape Futtsu, the park has an area of about 97 hectares. Mt. Fuji can be seen from the observation tower overlooking Tokyo Bay on a clear day.

The park has swimming pools and a campground, so families can spend all day there. However, as I walked around the park guided by Koshiba, I could see a different side to the fun atmosphere.

We entered a vast forest and walked for a while. Suddenly, we came across a strange structure. It was a concrete cylinder with peepholes.

“It’s an accurizing station to check the accuracy of a bullet’s trajectory,” Koshiba said.

In the forest, there were remains of such buildings as a gun battery, an ammunition facility storage and a

Yomiuri Shimbun photos The Meiji 100th Anniversary Memorial Tower stands at the tip of Cape Futtsu in Chiba Prefecture.