Tako-no-yama

Popularized by the company Maeda in the 1960s, tako-no-yama spread from Tokyo to all over Japan, and were even installed in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Although the location of the first tako-no-yama is disputed, the most popular belief is that the first tako-no-yama was installed in 1965 in Shin-Nishiarai Park in Tokyo's Adachi Ward: an abstract playground design by a sculptor was rejected by the city council at first, but after he added the octopus theme it was accepted.

Shin-Nishiarai is considered to be the oldest octopus slide in Japan.

This slide is now decorated with space theme and won a design competition.

[1] In 2019, Maeda sued Ans, a company that had installed two tako-no-yama, claiming that copyright of tako-no-yama belongs to them, and demanded 4.32 million yen.