This leafy park is in front of Hanadakuchi Station of Hankai Electric Tramway, Osaka's only tram service. It is also close to the Sakai Exit of Hanshin Expressway Route 15 Sakai Line. When the Jesuit missionary Francisco de Xavier visited Sakai in 1550, Hibiya Ryokei, one of Sakai's wealthy merchants, extended his hospitality. The park was created on the former grounds of Ryokei's estate and named Xavier Park in 1949, the 400th anniversary of the saint's arrival in Japan. The park, with mature phoenix palms lending a tropical air, cherry blossoms in spring and colorful foliage in autumn, is a place of recreation and relaxation for the citizens. During the Sakai Festival held on the third Saturday and Sunday of each October, the park becomes one of the venues for Sakai Dai-Chakai, a series of grand tea ceremonies hosted by Sakai City, hometown of Rikyu, with the participation of Sakai's Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakojisenke schools.