It seems like abandoned amusement parks are not only my favorite locations, but people reading this blog are obviously fascinated by them, too – so today I’ll present you one that hasn’t shown up on the internet so far; neither Japanese nor English speaking. Expoland in Osaka.
Expoland (エキスポランド) covered an area of about 20 hectares and was opened in 1970 next to the fairground of the “Expo ’70“. Planned as a temporary installment it was extremely popular and thrived to be one of the most popular Japanese amusement parks for more than 30 years – the park actually re-opened on 1972-03-15 since it was closed after the Expo ’70 ended. Expoland made the news big time on May 5th of 2007 when a 19 year old student from Shiga prefecture died in an accident involving the Fujin Raijin II rollercoaster: One of the ride’s vehicles derailed due to a broken axle that wasn’t replaced in 15 years. After a series of safety inspections Expoland opened again but was closed on 2007-12-09 due to the lack of customers – 14 months later, on 2009-02-09, it was announced that the park was closed for good.
Later that year my interest in abandoned places started and when I talked to friends about it a colleague told me what happened at Expoland and that the park was closed down, but not dismantled due to the owner’s lack of money. Sadly the information about the financial trouble was wrong as I found out by chance a few weeks later when I saw a picture on the English homepage of a Japanese newspaper that showed how they were tearing down the huge ferris wheel.
I went to Expoland right away on the next weekend on my way to an illumination event in Kyoto, a cold and kind of rainy day in December, just to scout the place from the outside. Since Expoland was closed down rather recently there was no easy way in. The spiked fence around the whole area was still intact and of course there were no holes or open gates. Quite the opposite: Since the dismantling was still in progress the area was actually kind of busy with a few construction workers walking around even on a Saturday. After I circled the whole park once I saw two guys with a ladder, taking pictures over the fence. I talked to them for a bit, but they made it clear that there was no legal way in. On my way to the monorail station I realized that I was walking across a delivery entrance, so I made my way down there to check it out – and found it open for the construction workers to get in and out. The guard’s office was obviously still in use, but there was nobody there. So I entered Expoland, asking loudly if somebody was there to catch somebody’s attention – but again no reaction.
I made my way through the western and southern parts of the park. A stage and some buildings, including rest rooms, were still standing, but all rides were already dismantled. In the southwestern part I found the only big attraction still left: A waterland called “Caribbean Resort”. From there I went back to the delivery entrance and left the park. It was one of my first explorations, so I was high on adrenaline and torn apart by a decision: Leaving with what I got – or going back in to explore the rest of the park, risking getting caught? Well, I seized the day and went back in. To the main entrance, past a children’s playhouse and a restaurant, the former location of a water ride and up to where all the merry-go-rounds and the big ferris wheel were. I saw some construction workers in the distance, but I don’t think they saw me. I finished a circle counterclockwise to the east and north, past the old locomotive and to the playhouse. When I went back to the delivery entrance with its huge spiked gate my heart stopped for a second: It was almost dark, the gate was closed and the light in the guard’s office was on. I walked towards the gate to open it myself when the guard came out and addressed me in Japanese. To be honest, at that point I thought I was screwed as there was no way to escape. But to my surprise the guy was extremely nice, opened the gate to let me out and wished me a nice evening (at least I think he said something like that… Osaka dialect…).
Going to Expoland is one of my favorite urbex memories so far as it was a wonderful, exciting, positive experience from the beginning till the end. Or what I thought was the end. Because when I went back there a couple of months later to find out what happened to “Caribbean Resort” and the rest of the buildings I was extremely surprised to see what actually happened to Expoland.
But that’s a story for another time…
You can find out where Expoland was by clicking here.
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Nice post. Glad to see the guard let you out without a fuss :). So is this place now officially gone..?
Thanks, Mike. The guard there was really nice, the more I was shocked when I ran into a completely different kind at Nara Dreamland.
Yes, Expoland is officially gone, but… well… there will be “Expoland Revisited” soon… for a quite unusual reason.
Nice story here.
First picture: I believe it is a Taro Okamoto sculture.
Those kind of entertainment spots flourished during the 70s.
Probably some Japanese investor thought that if the USA had 30 amusement parks per square kilometer, Japan needed them as well.
However, while in the US/Europe all the attractions keep being renewed, in Japan they seem to leave them as they were originally. The result is that people that went there have almost 0 interest to go back there.
Nara Dreamland was the perfect example of that.
The sculpture is indeed by Taro Okamoto and it’s in the Expo Commemoration Park right next to the site of the former Expoland. The rainbow is a nice addition to it.
Expoland was actually one of the few successful amusement parks, although it was very close to Universal Studios Japan – much closer than the annihilated Nara Dreamland for example. Its downfall really was that tragic accident. An accident I’m sure nobody was responsible for…
I have fond memories of my one and only visit to Expoland in 1998. I won three free tickets in a contest. Two friends and I arrived at 9 on a rainy morning. Hardly anyone else showed up so we didn’t have to wait in lines at all.
Another friend happened to be visiting the park in 2007 on the day before the tragic accident, and he rode that very rollercoaster!
I’m looking forward to Expoland Revisited.
I really envy you for those memories as I’ve never been to any of those places before they were abandoned. Having revisited a few of them by now I noticed even small changes – some with joy, some with resentment. It must be really intense to be able to compare places directly realizing the full scoop of decay and destruction.
Expoland Revisited will go up soon, most likely around the middle of July.
Japan doesn’t have much of a track record of maintaining or, as necessary, re-purposing sites like these. I was shocked at the level of decay of the main stadium in Sapporo from the 1972 Winter Games. I was there in the summer in 1993.
I vaguely remember watching the games on television. The stadium, since it had been big enough to hold the opening ceremony and the long track speed skating, is quite good sized. But instead of finding a football pitch and/or perhaps a running track, the infield had tennis courts. And as I can’t find any images on line, I’m wondering now if they haven’t finally torn it down.
By contrast, look at BC Place in Vancouver.
Hey Jeffrey, according to Wikipedia they turned the Sapporo Stadium into a soccer stadium, but if you look at GoogleMaps you can still see the tennis courts you mentioned. Japan is all about convenience and I guess it’s way more convenient to just abandon hotels and amusement parks than to actually get rid of them. But just to be fair: You have abandoned places all over the world. I wish it would be easier to find out why certain places are in the state they are in. Expoland for example was dismantled properly and with care while the relatively close-by Dreamland in Nara is still standing – suffering from vandalism and decay, but nothing there was demolished or dismantled and sold…
I really enjoyed your post. I lived in Japan for several years and always wanted to visit the old Expo ’70 site. The two times I went to Osaka, I was unable to convince anyone else to go, even the hotel staff asked me ‘why do you want to go there’? I also imagine the guard let you out because it was easier to do so then try and talk with you in English. Again, great post and I look forward to reading more.
P.S. You have mentioned elsewhere having haikyo books with maps etc. Would you be so kind as to give me the title of one of them, so I may try to find it.
Thanks a lot for your kind words! The Expo Park is actually still quite popular since it’s a huge recreation area now – and as far as I know Expoland was profitable until the deadly accident that lead to closing it down.
The haikyo book with maps is called “nippon no haikyo” but I strongly discourage you from buying it. The quality of the binding is horrible and since the book was published three or four years ago it’s far from being up to date: a lot of places were demolished, even more were trashed beyond recognition and now popular places like Nara Dreamland are missing. If you want to find out more about certain places doing research on the internet will get you way better results.
Are u still looking for abandonned spots ?
Not that I know some, but I am looking for place to do photo shooting with models and stuff (check on my page) so I am kind of searching constantly new spots. Hope u could help out 😉
じゃね
I’m always looking for “new” abandoned places to go to and I’m still exploring – and I’m sure you will some interesting spots for photoshootings on this blog. Just be careful which one you choose…
Always pissed me off that it closed down because of one death. If anything, after the accident would be the SAFEST time to go, but people are idiots and now I have to live without decent rides or move away.
I’m the last one to defend the decision to tear Expoland down, but Japanese people in general are very superstitious – I guess they are more scared of ghosts than of roller-coasters without maintenance…
As for alternatives: Try Hirakata Park or Universal Studios Japan. From spring to autumn the amusement park on top of Mount Ikoma is open.
I wish i had the time and the money to have done and do what you do. To explore the forgotten funlands and to see how the world grows over itself in such a short time is amazing. I realize that my post is three years after your visit but i have recently become extremely fascinated by all of these abandoned parks. The story you have told of your adventure is just as interesting as the pictures. Thank you so much for taking such a large risk by going into the park while people were there. I hope you have continued your awesome adventours 🙂
Since I live in Japan money usually isn’t the problem, at least half of the places I visit are day trips and public transportation here is really good. Time on the other hand is a factor that was slowing me down quite a bit this year. Luckily I have a huge backlog and I am still able to hit the road once in a while.
Thanks for your kind words and for reading the older stuff, too. The last place always seems like the most exciting one, but in reality some of the “older” locations are the best ones ever…
Expo land in now completely demolished and a new stadium is being built there for the gamba osaka soccer team.
I actually took a few photos during the demolition phase back in December, but I didn’t know that they are building a new stadium for Gamba Osaka there. Thanks for the info!
Hi,
I used to live in Osaka during the very early 1950’s. My Dad was in the US Army and of course Osaka was suffering from the effects of the war and it is truly amazing to see what progress Osaka has made in 60 years. Have you checked out the new Red Horse Ferris Wheel? Is a trip out to ExpoCity worth the effort for those of us traveling from the US. I think the Expo area has significant history and I would like to take a group of travelers there next year.
Would appreciate any feedback.
Thanks,
Stephanie
Hey Stephanie,
I’m afraid I haven’t been out there in something like 3 years – the last time I went to that area, it was a huge fenced off lot, but basically still pre-construction. Since Osaka is not much of a tourist city IMHO, I nevertheless think it’s worth heading out there for a couple of hours. I wouldn’t want to spend a whole day there (even with the park, not just the shopping mall…), but I am sure I’ll have a look myself sooner or later.