Friday, January 22, 2010

It is rumored

that the streets in this amusement park were the inspiration for the abandoned amusement park in Spirited Away (if you have not seen this movie....do so, it is amazing) It is very hard to find many pictures of the inside of the park....something about security guards chasing out photographers :)

Nara Dreamland was a theme park near Nara, Japan which was built in 1961 and inspired by Disneyland in California. On August 31, 2006, Nara Dreamland closed permanently.

This brave soul ignored (what hero!)the security guards long enough to grab a few shots from inside the park, from his shots I found the only picture of a ride that I can only find referenced on an old map as "haunted house" - so I do not know if it had a name.

This picture gives you an idea of what the park looks like now and if you have seen Spirited Away, you can see why it is likely the area that inspired the park for the movie.














He has a lot more great pictures to check out.
As decreed by at

3 comments:

  1. Pam MorrisJanuary 22, 2010 at 5:08 PM

    I've been following your blog entries about the abandoned amusement parks....it just seems so sad! all this stuff just left there to rot...imagining the laughter, crying, and boredom from waiting in line, etc.,,,seems so lonely...

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  2. Max the drunken severed headJanuary 23, 2010 at 1:02 AM

    Thanks, your Majesty, for all the great posts on shuttered amusement parks. Great links and pics!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jessica PenotJanuary 24, 2010 at 5:59 AM

    Wow! I love Spirited Away I had no idea it was based on a real place. That really is one of my favorite movies. Do you know why the amusement park was closed?

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