# What is Nara Dreamland?
– Nara Dreamland is an abandoned amusement park in Nara, Japan. It was closed in 2006 and abandoned without getting demolished – which makes it quite a unique urbex location since all the roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, souvenir shops, arcades and other attractions are still there. (Although it’s up for discussion if the place is really abandoned. It’s closed, that’s for sure, but the owner of the park obviously still cares about it to some degree…)
# Where is Nara Dreamland?
– That’s the kind of questions I usually don’t answer. But since NDL has entries in four language versions of Wikipedia, three of them giving away the exact location of Nara Dreamland, I can as well link to *my own map at GoogleMaps*. The address was / is:
Nara Dreamland
1900 Horen-cho
630-8113 Nara
But just because you know where it is I wouldn’t recommend going there. You might wanna read the next question(s) before rushing out…
# Does Nara Dreamland have security?
– YES! Some people got lucky and didn’t run into security at Nara Dreamland, I got away with plugged feathers – others got roasted and served to the police. The whole park is surrounded by fences, most parts with spikes and / or barbed wire. Warning signs once asked people to call the police if they see somebody suspicious, now the latest signs I saw announced a fine of 100.000 Yen, about 950 Euros / 1300 Dollars! Furthermore there were reports that the guy patrolling there tries to blame caught trespassers for vandalism to get more money out of them. And vandalism becomes more and more of a problem…
# Is there any vandalism at Nara Dreamland?
– Sadly yes. Lots of it. When I explored Nara Dreamland for the first time in December of 2009 there were barely any signs of vandalism. Almost two years later there are graffiti at the former pachinko parlor at the Eastern Parking Lot. The Parking Garage’s staircase is completely sealed now and the Hotel is boarded up again. Inside the park you can see how people smashed the control station of a merry-go-round – the fire extinguisher still on top of broken glass. The Main Street USA clone with all the souvenir shops has barely any undamaged windows and several doors were kicked in, even of buildings that were clearly just a false front. It’s actually pretty sad how fast the place goes down the drain – especially since the graffiti people took over; and not the good ones…
# I’ve heard Nara Dreamland is a rip-off of Disneyland in Anaheim. Is that true?
– Definitely. Disneyland was opened in 1955, Nara Dreamland followed in 1961. You have copies of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, Adventureland, Main Street USA, Autopia, Skyway, Tea Party Cup Ride, Submarine Voyage, Flying Saucers, the monorail, the fire station, a pirate ship, double decker omnibusses, vintage cars, and a train station (called DreamStation). Even the entrance looked the same! Of course the layout of the park was very similar – aerial shots make them look like twins. And of course there is the story of Kunizo Matsuo, the man behind Nara Dreamland.
# Can you tell me more about the history of Nara Dreamland?
– Sure. After World War II Japan’s industry was booming. People worked hard and needed some places to relax. The United States were not only occupiers, but also the helping hands for the reconstruction of the country – and the new role models. In the second half of the 1950s a Japanese businessman called Kunizu Matsuo, president of the Matsuo Entertainment Company, visited the States and the brand-new amusement park Disneyland in Anaheim near Los Angeles – and was quite impressed. Something like that would be perfect for Japan, he decided. He became a mediator for the Japanese Dream Sightseeing Company (JDSC) and had direct contact with Walt Disney. The plan was to bring Disneyland to Japan – not to Tokyo, but to the old capital Nara (710 – 794), the cradle of Japanese culture. Matsuo also was in direct contact with Disney’s engineers to create the Japanese version of Disneyland. But Nara Disneyland never came true. Towards the end of the construction phase JDSC and Disney couldn’t agree on license fees for all the famous Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck and Goofy – so the Japanese side created their own mascots and abandoned the idea of Nara Disneyland. I have no idea how JDSC and Disney settled in the end (I’m sure JDSC had to pay quite a bit of money for Disney’s “help” even without getting the permission to use Cinderella & Co.), but while Nara Dreamland opened in 1961 it took Disney another 20 years to finally open Tokyo Disneyland on April 15th of 1983. Coincidentally (?) this year marked the beginning of the downfall for Nara Dreamland – the number of visitors began to decrease and JDSC including Nara Dreamland was bought by the supermarket chain Daiei in 1993. Eight years later, in 2001, Universal Studios Japan (USJ) opened in Osaka, just about 40 kilometers away. USJ annihilated Nara Dreamland and the once so glamorous place was forced to shut its doors on August 31st of 2006.
# What were the names of the mascots at Nara Dreamland? And are there famous non-Disney characters present at Nara Dreamland?
I’m sorry, but I have no idea about the mascots. All I know is that there are two of them, a male one and a female one. I don’t even know if they had names…
As for other characters: There are no specially themed rides, but Anpanman is pretty visible at Nara Dreamland. (In case you don’t know Anpanman: He’s the most popular fictional character amongst Japanese age 0 – 12 for 10 consecutive years. Anpanman was created by Takashi Yanase in 1968 as a manga character, but spread to other media quickly (including movies, animated shorts, a TV show and dozens of video games). Nowadays Anpanman is everywhere – imagine Hello Kitty, but popular with girls and boys…)
# Why was Nara Dreamland closed?
– A declining amount of visitors for many, many years – and most of all Universal Studios Japan. By the time USJ opened in 2001 Nara Dreamland already was a rundown theme park decades after its prime. Universal Studios Japan on the other hand was brand-new and high-tech, probably the most modern amusement park of its time. Tokyo Disneyland started the struggle (yes, even though 400km away TDL was direct competition for NDL!) and Universal Studios knocked it down – Nara Dreamland didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell… (Surprisingly enough *Expoland* in Osaka wasn’t affected that much by USJ and closed mainly because of bad press after a 19 year old university student from Shiga prefecture died on a roller coaster in 2007 – and Hirakata Park (also known as HiraPa – ひらかたパーク / ひらパー) between Osaka and Kyoto still doesn’t show any signs of giving up…)
At the height of its success Nara Dreamland welcomed 1.6 million visitors per year, when it closed the number was as low as 400k. Universal Studios Japan on the other hand had 11 million visitors (!) in its first year of operation…
# What was Nara Dreamland’s main attraction?
– Nara Dreamland’s main attraction was (and still is!) the Aska roller coaster (木製コースターASKA, Mokusei kōsutā ASKA), a wooden coaster built by Intamin and opened in 1998. The track was 1081 meters long and reached a height of 30 meters. The trains consisted of seven waggons for four guests each (two rows with two seats). They reached a speed of 80 km/h (almost 50 mp/h) and accelerated with up to 2.8g. Aska is named after Asuka, a city close to Nara – from 538 to 710 it was the capital of Yamato, one of the earliest states on Japanese ground, and the location of many imperial palaces as well as important temples and shrines, some of them still in existence today.
I took a video walking along parts of the abandoned Aska roller coaster – you can check it out on *Youtube*.
# Was it expensive to visit Nara Dreamland?
– The signs at the abandoned Nara Dreamland indicate that it was a pay-as-you-go amusement park (as was Disneyland when it opened in 1955!) – which means that you had to pay a low entrance fee, but then additionally for every single ride. So basically it was up to you how much you spent there. Sadly I never paid much attention to the prices, so let me have a look at some photos and see what I can come up with… Parking was 200 Yen for bikes, 1.200 Yen for cars and 2.000 Yen for busses. Bobsleigh (ボブスレー), the steel roller coaster modeled after Disney’s Matterhorn Bobsleds, was 600 Yen and a haunted witch cave put a hole of 300 Yen in your pocket. As for food: A beer was 500 Yen, chuhai was 400 Yen, takoyaki were 300 Yen, yakisoba was 400 Yen and the Family BBQ Set was 3.200 Yen. I don’t know how much the entrance fee was, but if you get caught by security now it costs you a whopping 100.000 Yen!
# I’ve heard there is a Yokohama Dreamland. Is it related?
– Well, there was a Yokohama Dreamland – it operated from October 1st 1964 to February 17th 2002 and closed, not really surprisingly, because of financial issues. It was located in the Totsuka ward of Yokohama. Unlike Nara Dreamland it was completely demolished – and replaced by a prison. And to finally answer the question: Yes, it was the sister park of Nara Dreamland with a similar layout, similar attractions and the same branding.
# Is there an official homepage?
– There was: http://www.nara-dreamland.co.jp/ (I didn’t make it clickable as it doesn’t work anymore anyways – save your time…)
You can find a copy *here*. (2003, Japanese only)
# How often have you been to Nara Dreamland?
– Never when it was still open and 5 times since it was closed.
# Do you have any plans to go back?
– Concrete, solid plans? No. Security there is the main reason for me not to go anymore. I know people visited the place without getting caught, but I made my own experiences and they were not all pleasant…
# Have you written more articles about Nara Dreamland than the one I’ve just read?
– Well, I summed up my experiences in the *Nara Dreamland Special*, but the articles I wrote about Nara Dreamland are in chronological order:
Getting Caught By Security
Nara Dreamland
Eastern Parking Lot And Parking Garage
Nara Dreamland Hotel
Nara Dreamland Revisited – Nighttime
Nara Dreamland Revisited – Daytime
Nara Dreamland – Nara Snowland
Nara Dreamland – Third Time Lucky
Nara Dreamland 2015
Nara Dreamland 2016
Nara Dreamland – 10th Anniversary
Nara Dreamland – Demolition
If you are less into facts about Nara Dreamland and you rather want to more about what it’s like to explore this abandoned theme park I recommend reading the articles I’ve just mentioned.
# Do you have material for more articles about Nara Dreamland?
– Yes! As of August 2014 I have material for about half a dozen articles, including some very unique photos…
# Is there a place even creepier than Nara Dreamland?
– Yes! It’s a half-abandoned amusement park called *People’s Park* – thanks to the constant music in the background and its nude statues it’s creepy as heck!
# What about that killer robot called Mascot 6-22? Is it really roaming Nara Dreamland?
– Killer robots at Nara Dreamland?! No, this is not another *April Fool’s joke*, this is the internet!
Nara Dreamland has been kind of my backyard for the past five years and I thought I’ve heard pretty much all stories about it… until one of Abandoned Kansai’s regular readers, Justin, asked me about the fully animatronic Mascot 6-22 in a private message via *Facebook* – and I had no idea what he was talking about. I did some research and there seems to be a theory out there in the depth of the internet, that Disney created Nara Dreamland to find out whether the fake park would be popular enough to justify the construction of an official Disneyland; which happened more than 20 years later. As if that wouldn’t be ridiculous enough, somebody claimed that the official new mascots were not poor students in poorly tailored costumes, but in fact robots – and that series 6, unit 22 was so special, that they didn’t turn it off, but let it roam freely in the park after it closed in 2006, defending a solar power station and giving everybody who tries to deactivate him an electric shock. But that’s not all! Some people actually seem to believe that the Japanese military asked Disney if they should take out “Mascot 6-22”, but they declined as the thing was showing interesting program adaptations.
Seriously, what the heck? The whole story is so ridiculous I won’t even spend the time to point out all the things that are wrong with it! Yes, I know, both the origin and the end of Nara Dreamland are somewhat in the dark, but come on, people… that’s a bit much, don’t ya think?
# I’ve heard that Nara Dreamland has been sold in late 2015. Is that true?
– Yes, that’s true. It seems like the previous owner owed the city of Nara 650 million Yen in ground tax, so the city foreclosed Dreamland and sold it to the only bidder for 730 million Yen – a real estate company called SK Housing. What plans they have is unclear though, because there are strict limitations on how the land Nara Dreamland is on can be used in the future…
# What are those strange noises I can hear at Nara Dreamland?
– If the noises are not coming from one of the nearby sports arenas, they are most likely caused by ushigaeru (ウシガエル) a.k.a. American bullfrogs. They freaked me out the first time I heard them in 2010, because they sounded like somebody opening a heavy metal door / gate…
If you have any unanswered questions about Nara Dreamland please let me know – I might update this posting every once in while. A lot of the information given here was only available in Japanese so far, some stuff I came up with by actually going to NDL – so if you use material for your own articles please be so kind and mention / link to this FAQ. Thanks a lot!
All of the following photos were taken in 2009 and 2010, most of them previously unpublished. The photos I took later will be published in two separate articles at some point in the future.
(If you don’t want to miss the latest article you can *like Abandoned Kansai on Facebook* and *follow this blog on Twitter* – and of course there is the *video channel on Youtube*…)
So… Anpanman was actually part of the Nara Dreamland crew 😉 Interesting post, I guess it closes the subject somewhat. However, I could add something: I know the names of the two mascots! They are Ran-chan and Dori-chan. By the way, do you know if anybody visit that park recently?
Hey Jordy,
thanks a lot for the information!
I guess Anpanman was unofficially part of Nara Dreamland. I wonder if the owner paid royalties for him or if they weaseled out again…
As for the latest visitors: NDL pops up on Japanese blogs every once in a while. In June somebody claimed on MJG’s page that he was caught by security. And in July I went there to take night shots at the Eastern Parking Lot – which barely counts as you can access it without jumping a fence or ignoring warning signs… So I’m not sure when the last person entered NDL, but it seems like security is still operating.
so dude thank you for making this article big help i am writing a report on urban exploring/urbex for school this was a big help for my report i am going to feature your website in the article once again thanks!
My pleasure – and sorry for the late reply. I hope your report was a success!
One of my favorite Disney rides is Peter Pan. And I know from a photo that there was a mock-up version in Nara Dreamland. If you know, could you tell about it and what was the difference between the two? (also if you have photos of it please post)
Thanks 😀
I guess I’ve seen the same photo of Nara Dreamland’s Peter Pan ride, but I’ve never seen the ride marked on a map – let alone seen it myself when visiting the park. It was clearly an old photo, so maybe it was built for the opening of the park and they got rid of it afterwards? Like they did with the submarine voyage.
I’m not sure if this is of any relevance but I have a friend travelling Japan at the moment and he entered NDL just a few weeks ago with another friend of his. He said he was aware security was there but they avoided being caught the both times they entered. Hope it helps!
Oh, I’m not saying that it is impossible to enter Nara Dreamland although there is security and they added some new layers of barbed wire. I’m just saying that security there is rather nasty and that I’m not eager to go back since I made bad experiences there. I guess you have to make those yourself to fully understand – getting caught there kind of activated my sense of guilt in that regard. (That doesn’t mean that I won’t go back, it just means that I lost a bit of the easiness I had before. And I wanna warn people who have a “no security guards, no vandalism” image of Japan.)
wow, , nara dreamland didin’t have a chance
Great reporting! Its so sad to see the decline and death of once thriving ventures. Too bad they couldn’t reinvent themselves to become more unique and marketable.
Thanks Jan!
I think Nara Dreamland had a location problem. It takes about half an hour on foot to get there from the closest train station, which is way too long in a region with such great public transportation – other parks like Universal Studios Japan or Hirakata Park have stations pretty much next to them, a huge advantage. Also I wonder if sticking with the “pay as you go” concept was another nail to their coffin…
Gorgeous photos. A story that leaves a sense if sadness.
Thanks!
You know, Nara Dreamland was in business for more than 40 years, that’s quite some time. It’s just sad how everything went down and that there is no transparency – I would love to know more about what happened after the park closed…
What a great story. I was unaware of Nara Dreamland before this.
Love the site, by the way. Great idea photographing abandoned sites.
Thanks! Currently I am writing about my trip to North Korea, but I can’t wait to go back writing about abandoned places, especially after my one day exploration trip two days ago… 🙂
There is nothing more haunting or sad than an abandoned amusement park, but they are also fertile grounds for imagination. Someone must tell Stephen King about this place!
I would love to give Mr. King a tour of Nara Dreamland – as a Thank You for writing The Long Walk… 🙂
There are plenty of abandoned theme(d) parks in Japan, Nara Dreamland is the most complete and the most famous one. But there are a couple of others worth visiting.
One day I hope to see them.
Thanks for the photos and information. I’d never heard of Nara. It must have been a dream come true to children who’d never experienced Disney. Now Japan has their own Disneyland, which must have added to the demise of Nara. Next time Disney increases their entry fee I won’t complain. I hope never to see it become a ghost town.
Hey jozielee,
I think Tokyo Disneyland is too far away to have hurt Nara Dreamland. NDL was a declining park in the first place, but it was annihilated when Universal Studios opened in Osaka, less than an hour away.
Hallo Florian!
Great report! Danke sehr 🙂
We are 2 french travelers and we plan a “lost places world tour”. Nara is a destination with Coal Mine Tower and Hashima Island in Japan.
We will make a video clip of all of our places.
We really want to visit Nara Dreamland but we wanted to know… if you know the legally way to obtain an authorization?? Do you think it exists??
We hope they can accept if we ask them?
Thanks!
Maxime
Hi Maxime,
I tried to get official permission twice, but I never even got an answer, despite the fact that a Japanese friend wrote in Japanese. I guess they just have no interest in having more attention drawn to the place… I wish I’d had better news for you, but I don’t.
(Official permission for Hashima is possible, but not easy. Not sure about the Shime mine, I don’t think anybody ever tried…)
The imagery of your writing is outstanding. AJM
Thanks a lot, Ann, that’s very kind of you to say!
thanks for the visit…nice site you have here.
Likewise! 🙂
the mascot’s names are Dori (boy) and Ran (girl)
These can be found on the 5th link on the top of the page you supplied. http://tw.silk.to/am/dreamland/www.nara-dreamland.co.jp/doriran.html
Google translate says it and the katakana in the Japanese banner confirms it.
Have you ever tried calling the number on the site and asking for permision to explore? I think I will try that.
Hey Rochelle,
I have to admit that I haven’t had a closer look at the page – it never crossed my mind that it would reveal the names of the mascots… Thanks a lot!
I never called the number on the page since it’s just an old mirror and I am pretty sure that the number isn’t working anymore. But a Japanese friend of mine wrote two letters, none of which received an answer… 😦
Amazing article! Thanks for sharing it. I was in Japan in the summer of 1999 and I visited the Disney World over there, which was just like the American version of course. I wish I had known about this amusement park. I would have loved to take a look. Thanks for bringing it to me instead!
Thanks a lot, Jaimie! According to the web Nara Dreamland looked pretty much abandoned back then already, but of course it was still open… which must have made it being there even more creepy!
Thanks so much for this information. Only just heard about this place, and it has filled my mind with so much interest. I would love to visit somewhere like this, as it seems so rare to find such a place today, when old is so often destroyed for the new. The way nature has taken over and the day to day items are beginning to look like relics from a begone era just amazes me.
I think I heard it has now been destroyed, last I heard, only a small part of the castle remained. If not, They could easily open it up as it is. I’m sure many would be interested to visit it, even if it was only for a few years before it did get destroyed.
Well done, and thank you!
Hey Phil,
Wonderland in Beijing made the news recently for being demolished, Nara Dreamland should be intact though. I haven’t been there since January (and haven’t entered the premises in almost two years), but I am sure NDL getting destroyed would hit the haikyo scene in no time.
One question. What was inside the castle, if anything?
Hey Phil,
I actually never went inside the castle, only passed through its gate…
Hi Florian,
Cheers for the information, makes me want to visit even more now! I’m still amazed how quickly nature has taken over, and it has got vandalised. Loved the Hotel and car park photos too, well done! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Wait till you see the next article on Tuesday… I’m pretty sure it’ll make you book a flight to Japan! 😉
Seriously, can’t wait! 🙂
Just a couple of hours more… Don’t miss the Nara Dreamland HDR photos on the special page!
I’ve been reading a lot about Nara Dreamland and I found it such an interresting story. I found this web-archive page of Nara: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.nara-dreamland.co.jp/
You can try clicking on the dates in the calendar to access the links, I think you’ll enjoy it!
Try July 16th 2006 for example and you’ll have this: http://web.archive.org/web/20060716024552/http://www.nara-dreamland.co.jp/
Hope you like it and congratulations for the pictures, nice shots!
Felipe
Sao Paulo, Brazil
facebook.com/felipetotora
Thanks a lot, felipe! I didn’t know about that page and I found a few photos that way I haven’t seen before.
Why is there so much security at this place if it’s closed? Plenty of closed places don’t have security, why this one? Must be an interesting reason!!
Hey Gina,
I guess at first they were hoping to re-open the place or sell some of the rides to other parks. Then vandalism became a problem and they kept security there to prevent it getting out of hand. But I don’t know for sure. Whenever I tried to make contact with the owners it ended nowhere…
Thank you for stopping by my blog. I love your photos!
hei do you have a blueprint of the layout of the nara dreamland ? we are doing a project of renovation on Nara Dreamland
I don’t, but if you look at NDL on GoogleMaps you’ll get a pretty good idea.
Great site! Does anybody have a recent update about the place? Am visiting Nara and have long wanted to go to the park…but not if security is still so harsh
Thanks a lot!
It seems like security is still active and the place is still up for auction – the latest signs there say that you’ll be handed over to the police. And those signs looked brand-new as of last Saturday!
would it be possible to buy this place ?
It is currently up for auction (to the best of my knowledge) – so… yes, it is possible to buy Nara Dreamland.
Nice replies in return of this question with genuine arguments and explaining the whole thing regarding that.
Thanks a lot – despite my love-hate for Nara Dreamland I still respect the place quite a bit… Apparently a lot more than the hordes of vandals trashing the place recently. No wonder that security is still picking up people and handing them over to the police…
Thank you for this wonderful blog. I’ll be visiting Nara in July and I just noticed it’s only two kilometers away from where I’ll stay. I don’t have plans to enter it, but will it be worth to walk to the location or is there nothing to see?
You’ll be able to see the main parking lot, the DreamStation, and Aska from the road near Nara Dreamland. It’s not much and probably not worth the half an hour walk from the city center.
Wow! I was in Nara last July and as I was in Todaiji Nigatsudo I saw this strange yellow mountain far away… I took a zoomed picture and today I explored Google Earth… “Oh, look, it’s a theme park! Oh, look, it’s all dirty – it’s abandoned! What a place for an horror film!” Then I discovered and read your article. What a story! Have you ever heard of movies being shot there?
I guess that’s why the city auctioned off Nara Dreamland last year – with high hopes to finally get rid of it quickly… 🙂
No, I don’t think that movies have ever been shot there. Nara Dreamland has a reputation for relatively tight security, at least under the previous owner. But there is an abandoned theme park in Kyushu, *Shidaka Utopia*, where they shot a movie; an adult movie…
Hi! Your site is super informative. I’m so interested to go there but one question though, when you visited the park in 2016, was the security less tight? did you saw any guards? or just the warning signs?
Thanks for your kind words, Nick!
I actually just got yelled at and kicked out last weekend. It seems like Japanese men in their 50s turn into miserable f#cks as soon as they enter Nara Dreamland…
I must have missed something. Why is this blog all about things Japanese ???
I have been wanting info about Germany, where I was stationed for 31
Months.
Every question I ask goes unanswered . 😕
With all due respect, but that is simply not true! I answered all your questions as a reply to your comment at the end of this article: https://abandonedkansai.com/2017/06/27/haboro-green-village-taiyo-elementary-school/
I didn’t reply to your comment last week, because I didn’t appreciate your tone!
Please feel free to unsubcribe if you are not interested in abandoned places in Japan, but that’s what this blog is all about, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the name “Abandoned Kansai”…
Do you happen to know what happened to the locomotive at nara dreamland
I’m afraid I don’t. The one in the tunnel was parked in front of the gates for a few months, barely covered by a tarp. The other one from the shed disappeared along with it…
I only found out about this beautiful place last year and was left devastated after finding out that it was demolished between 2016/17, It would have been amazing if someone could have maybe tried o fix it put another theme park in it’s place
I’ve seen videos of a bobber style motorcycle and jeep firetruck residing within the park. Is there any story behind them? The jeep itself would be a pretty rare auction piece if someone could manage to get it out of there safely and legally. The motorcycle as well given its condition relative to the conditions it’s experienced within the park for so many years.
I’m not 100% sure, but I think those vehicles were part of the town area near the entrance of the park, which featured a city hall building. Since Nara Dreamland was demolished in late 2016 / early 2017 I’m sure both the truck as well as the motorcycle were scrapped.