To the day 10 years ago Nara Dreamland closed forever without a single ride being removed. Since then it has become one of the most (in)famous abandoned amusement parks in the world, attracting both urban explorers and vandals from within Japan as well as overseas. Let’s have another look… 🙂
The first time I visited Nara Dreamland was back in 2009, when hardly anybody knew about this strange Disneyland clone – and of course *I almost got caught while exploring the ice skate rental / conference / accommodation building*. The next time I went there, in 2010, I actually got caught by “security”, in hindsight probably the then-owner or his son. While other people reportedly were slammed with a fine or even handed over to the police, I was lucky… because when I realized that I was facing the same fate, I was able to run away.
Since then I’ve been to Nara Dreamland at least once a year – sometimes inside, sometimes just at the rather safe entrance with the huge parking lot and the two mystery buildings. Sunshine, rain, even *snow*. Morning, afternoon, night – pretty much every hour of the day, except maybe 9 p.m. till midnight. I went there alone, with friends, with friends of friends, with strangers. At Nara Dreamland I had some of the best urbex times, but also some of the worst urbex times.
Sadly Nara Dreamland turned out to be the place where I was able to witness how vandalism literally and figuratively ruined a once amazing location… and that process is actually still continuing, probably faster than ever. “Boys go to Disneyland, Men go to Dreamland” – with ridiculous, snappy phrases like that some people publish their Nara Dreamland photos. But the sad truth is: tourists and vandals go to Dreamland, men have been there 5, 6, 7 years ago.
When I first arrived at Nara Dreamland, the entrance was completely unharmed, the pay booth locked. Now the sign is smashed, the kiosk broken open and in shambles.
When I first arrived at Nara Dreamland, there were no graffiti anywhere – at least I don’t remember seeing any. Now half of the park is tagged – including one of the parking lot buildings, the entrance to the Main Street USA clone… and of course the castle. Yes, even the castle!
When I first took a video of the monorail in 2011, it showed some early signs of vandalism – now it is completely covered in spray paint, with a sticker on top: FC St. Pauli, 7. Herren. Soccer fans and vandalism? What a shocking combination… Although that badge doesn’t really make any difference considering the insane amount of damage in total, it kind of hit close to my heart as those vandalizing mofos were not only foreigners, they were (most likely) Germans – so let me address them in a way they hopefully will understand, despite having underdeveloped birdbrains: Ich hoffe, dass euer beschissener Drecksverein auf Nimmerwiedersehen in der Versenkung verschwindet!
What else is there to say? To be honest, I feel a bit tired now. Being reminded of how much Nara Dreamland suffered in the past couple of years really makes me sad (and I am not used to curse in German anymore…). NDL was such a wonderful place in 2009/2010, now it’s just a shadow of its old glory. Unfortunately there is no way to keep a place like that a secret. It’s too big, it’s too well-known amongst the Japanese population and theme park fans worldwide. 95% of the photos taken there are very recognizable; because of the wooden rollercoaster Aska, because of the Screw Coaster, because of the general cheap Disney clone atmosphere. Luckily that doesn’t apply for all abandoned places in Japan – so next week I will present you a truly unique location you’ve most likely never seen anywhere else before, even if you are into Japanese urbex as much as I am! Until then I hope you’ll enjoy some more photos I’ve taken at *Nara Dreamland* over the course of almost seven years (if you have an eye for details, you’ll find the same motorbike on several photos; needless to say that I never even touched it…) – most of them unpublished before, the rest to illustrate the soaring amount of vandalism at this once pristine abandoned theme park…
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Love to visit abandoned places like this. It looks very cool, even if perhaps not as “nice” as the time of your first visit…
Yeah, I guess overall it’s still in decent condition. Not as nice as *Kejonuma Leisure Land*, but still pretty decent. Especially when you choose angles that avoid all the vandalism.
… Rings um das Schloß aber begann eine Dornenhecke (Kuzu?) zu wachsen, die jedes Jahr höher ward und endlich das ganze Schloß umzog und darüber hinauswuchs, daß gar nichts mehr davon zu sehen war …
Da kam der FC St. Pauli, natürlich …:-)
Sehr schöne Bilder!
Ah, da hat jemand die Grimms gelesen! 🙂
Sorry, der Sticker hat mich echt aufgeregt. So unnötig. Da fliegen die Leute bis nach Japan, verhalten sich japanischer als die Japaner selbst – und sobald keiner hinschaut, lässt man die Sau raus. Na ja… shoganai, wie man hier so schön sagt…
Und danke – freut mich, dass die Bilder gefallen!
nara dreamlands,its ok…but imho not as exciting as some other places from your blog….but as once you sayd…one man’s junk is other man’s treasure,haha
btw,i actually dont think the graffiti and the sticker have been made by same person,as i dont see why some graffiti artist would put a sticker over his own piece lel
People love Nara Dreamland… about twice as much as most other locations. And that’s just when I release new material – the old stuff is extremely popular, too. Personally I have a love-hate relationship with the thing. And I’ve seen so much of it, that new exploration are almost always more exciting.
Oh, and I am 100% sure that the graffiti vandal and the sticker vandal were two different people. But both are still vandals… especially since the graffiti don’t look nice, like at the *La Rainbow Hotel & Tower*.
its not that bad yet,it also could be a tag that say “pussy” or something like this lol….i remember this article,pretty nice place
It is so sad that people vandalise (anywhere). 😢
Even poor Thomas the tank engine has had his face smashed in
Bunch of savages in that town!
What happened to him?