A note on the words: Shinrin-koen means forest park, and is what everyone calls Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park in Saitama, about an hour north of central Tokyo; numa means swamp, which is simply the name the shop gives this pizza; Bismarck style, in Japan, means a pizza with an egg on top; shimeji are small clustered mushrooms. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park Central Restaurant on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want something good to eat today too! This is Hangover Meshi.
It has warmed up, so off we went to Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park — the place everyone simply calls Shinrin-koen, the forest park!
It is a very large park and you end up walking a great deal. There is a bus, but I think it costs around 600 yen. So you get thoroughly tired!
And the oasis in the very middle of that park is the “Central Restaurant”!
Margherita pizza — 1,680 yen
Spring pizza — 1,680 yen
Autumn pizza — 1,680 yen
Numa pizza — 1,680 yen
Is its other name the forest pizza restaurant “Fukuro”, the owl?
What a charming blackboard menu! And there are a good many pizzas to choose from.
This time I went for the mysteriously named “numa pizza” — the swamp pizza.
You buy a ticket and order, and there are seats indoors and out on the terrace.
The weather was fine, so we chose the terrace!
(There are parasols, so you can keep out of the direct sun.)
It looks good, but…
I laughed a little the moment I saw it. The appearance alone has some impact.
Please do not render the swamp of “swamp pizza” as green curry!
Bismarck style usually means an egg on top, and sure enough there is an egg in the middle. The toppings are bacon, shimeji mushrooms, courgette, sweet peppers, broccoli and more — a great deal going on. There is a lot of visual information here.
The base is thin, crisp at the edge and chewy in the middle. It is finished with a charcoal-grill sort of fragrance, and that fragrance suits eating in the middle of a forest enormously well.
Sitting on the terrace or by the window, looking out at the green while you eat, feels rather like being on a trip!
And one more: the mayo-corn pizza.
This one is superb. Really very good indeed.
Well — there is nothing in it that could possibly be bad.
Pizza base, pizza sauce, sweetcorn, and mayonnaise and cheese over the top.
A simple construction, but the sweetness and pop of the corn are delicious, and the mellow richness of mayonnaise and cheese goes beautifully with that sweetness!
With the outdoor air on your face, you get the burst of the corn and the stretch of the cheese together!
We shared it with the numa pizza (Bismarck style), and the simple sweetness and richness of the mayo-corn balanced the denser swamp pizza well — alternating between the two, neither gets dull!
If I had to choose only one, I think it would be the mayo-corn.
So: freshly baked pizza at a restaurant inside a park. The base is good and the flavours are easy to read. Every one of them is generously topped, and the satisfaction is high!
From this season on, eating out on the terrace is marvellous, and if you come to Shinrin-koen, the Central Restaurant is my recommendation! There are several other restaurants dotted around the park, so next time I should like to try the others.
Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park, Central Restaurant (restaurant / Shinrin-koen)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.3
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
