The demolition of Nara Dreamland has always been something I’ve been worried about ever since I first visited this wonderful place back in 2009 – and now it has begun…
The abandoned Dreamland, an originally barely touched and most recently quite vandalized deserted amusement park in Japan’s former capital Nara, had been a lost place too good to be true for most of its existence – well, except for security, which most likely was in fact the previous owner and his son, who had their offices in the blue City Hall building right next to the entrance and did occasional rides through the park to catch them some trespassers to hand them over to the police. Nobody seems to know exactly the line of ownership, but before the current owner SK Housing and the last operator, the supermarket chain Daiei, there was at least that father and son duo… and probably somebody else as over the years I saw variously labelled signs trying to scare urban explorers away, including LA Investment (エルエーインベストメント) and KK Dreamland (株式会社ドリームランド) – the latter being rather ridiculous as a kabushiki kaisha is a stock company, and I doubt that Nara Dreamland ever had been one.
But this is about the downfall of the abandoned Nara Dreamland and in my estimation that part began about two years ago, when the park was foreclosed and first put up for public auction – since then “security” sightings went down (guess why…), vandalism skyrocketed (guess why…) and everybody and their cousin went there to take selfies with phones smarter than themselves (though I have to admit that I met some nice people, too, especially recently). About a year ago Osaka based real estate company SK Housing bought the lot for 730 million Yen (I reported) and things went from bad to worse – whole groups of people strayed through the park and neither they themselves nor SK Housing apparently gave a damn about anything; young parents with their barely walking toddlers, teens screaming like little children while playing tag, twens grinding stunt bikes on benches and rails, barely walking senior citizens… In spring and summer of 2016 you could actually literally walk into the park without jumping a rope or a fence, or even passing a sign. Seriously, just watch the first video at the end of this article! And then the dormant SK Housing, claiming that they have no plans with Nara Dreamland upon being asked by Japanese friends of mine in late 2015, woke up!
And so it began…
First SK Housing placed a ton of scaffolding on the parking lot at the main entrance, probably in May 2016… and they protected them with two new solid construction fences. Then barely anything happened for another four months, they didn’t even care to close the open gate. How do I know? Because I was alarmed and curious, so I went to Nara Dreamland more often than ever before. Much more often. At first about once a month from May on, from September 3rd till October 23rd every weekend, except for that one in early October, when I caught up with my old friend and occasional co-explorer Hamish – and it was during those two months that things got interesting! VERY interesting…
During my first couple of visits I realized that the amount of stored scaffolding was changing, yet none of it appeared in the park. (What happened to it? I have no idea, they probably took it to another construction site.) So I used the time to document areas of Nara Dreamland I hadn’t been to before, some of them I haven’t even seen anywhere else on the internet. I climbed water slides, had a closer look at the castle, went inside fake Mount Matterhorn, and even found a whole new building nobody seems to know about.
On September 9th SK Housing started to become really active by putting up office containers and porter potties at the lower end of the parking lot, the large construction fence with the main gate. A week later I saw heavy machinery inside the park, yet it was still possible to walk right in – so I took the already mentioned last chance video. When I came back on September 24th, I realized that prep work had begun in the week of September 19th. The previously mentioned office in the City Hall was cleaned out, so were several other buildings of the fake Main Street USA. And while I was taking photos, I got yelled at and shooed away by an older Japanese dude wearing a pink shirt, who was showing the entrance area to a business woman in her early 30s. So I left as they were most likely there on official business… and got right back in after I watched them leaving – staying till it got dark, shooting a video on the way out. A week later I saw that the removal of the plants along the main road had begun and that the gutting of Main Street USA was almost completed. What really shocked me was the fact that they destroyed the iconic Dreamland entrance sign there, without removing the arch-like building though. It turned out that this was my last relaxed exploration of Nara Dreamland as I spent the next weekend catching up with said old friend.
Upon my return on October 15th I was stopped by a French guy just out of sight of Nara Dreamland – he told me that demolition had begun and that he already talked to security and a construction worker; no way inside! It turned out that demolition indeed had begun on the previous Monday, October 10th, a national holiday. And while the prep work was limited to regular work days (Monday to Friday), a crew with heavy machinery was really active on that Saturday, demolishing the Main Street USA (probably because of the national holiday that week?) – most of the vegetation along the road had been completely removed during my absence, too, so everybody could have a good look from the outside at what was happening… At the same time gates were fortified and holes in the fence were fixed. Even old ones that had been there for years! According to large new signs in Japanese AND English, SK Housing had finally taken full control over Nara Dreamland, threatening to sue every unauthorized person caught on the premises. A Japanese only sign also stated that the construction site would be there till December 2017, which sounded like a reasonable schedule to demolish a large amusement park the size of Nara Dreamland. Boy, was I wrong – in more than one way!
So the next weekend I returned on a Sunday, in hope of finding the demolition site unstaffed. I wasn’t that fortunate. Instead pretty much all of Main Street USA was gone – security on scooters guarding both gates, the one on the upper street and the one at the main entrance. In the background you could hear machines smashing the merry-go-rounds to pieces. Not only did the crew work seven days a week, it turned out that they moved much faster than I anticipated. Much, much faster. In the two weeks since October 23rd the demolition crew not only got rid of the massive metal Screw Coaster, they literally tore through the wooden Aska roller coaster. I was expecting that they would dismantle it, probably scaffolding it first. But no, they just ripped through and tore it apart. (In German we fittingly say “Kleinholz machen”, turning it into small pieces of wood / firewood.) Same with the monorail station – and before you ask: No, I have no idea what happened to the monorail train. Probably “Final destination: junkyard!”. If the crew keeps up that speed, there will be little to nothing left of Nara Dreamland by the end of the year – which means that I either misread the sign at the main gate, or SK Housing will finish construction of whatever they are planning to build on the former site of Nara Dreamland. What that will be? I have no idea. When my buddy Hamish made a call just before SK Housing started prep work (in early September), their answer was that they are not talking to anybody about anything. Not photographers, not urban explorers, not the media – not future plans, not schedules, not people involved; not to anybody, not about anything. (Later I heard stories that even NHK was so desperate that they ran up to people and tried to interview them on the street, when they were just leaving the park; before the demolition phase, when it was still possible to explore Nara Dreamland in late September / early October – the NHK people obviously couldn’t enter themselves for legal reasons…)
It ain’t over till the fat gentleman sings…
Believe me, nobody is more devastated about this demolition news than yours truly! I started exploring Nara Dreamland before I began writing this blog; actually before I even considered writing it. Nara Dreamland is amongst the first dozen locations I’ve ever explored, it had been with me my whole urbex career – it’s in the background of my avatar (in the form of Aska). I’ve been one of the first urban explorers to go there… and I’ve been one of the last ones to go there. But just because the world’s most famous abandoned (closed? 😉 ) theme park is currently under demolition doesn’t mean that you’ve seen the last of it! As I mentioned previously in this article: I have tons of material for more blog entries. Material you haven’t seen anywhere else before and now for sure won’t see anywhere else… Even this rather long article feels kind of rushed and contains only a fraction of the photos and videos I took in September and October. So there will be more in-depth updates about the last weeks of Nara Dreamland, about the demolition preperations, about the demolition progress… and about whatever is going to happen on the premises in the future. Abandoned Kansai always has been and always will be your #1 source for all things Nara Dreamland!
(Speaking of which – if you use information from this or any other article on Abandoned Kansai for your own work, please have the decency to link back; thanks a lot!)
Last but not least I would like to use the opportunity to draw attention to a location that did get much less than its share when I first wrote about it a few months ago, so if you have another couple of minutes, please have a look at the ultra rare *Shodoshima Peacock Garden* – you won’t regret it!
(For all your *Nara Dreamland* needs please have a look at the *Nara Dreamland Special*. *Like Abandoned Kansai on Facebook* if you don’t want to miss the latest articles and exclusive content – and subscribe to the *video channel on Youtube* to receive a message right after a new video is online…)
So sad. End of an era.
I couldn’t agree more – but I already explored some other abandoned theme parks, one or two of them (almost) as good as Nara Dreamland, but yet pretty much unknown, so I’ll let them ripe for a while in hope of revisiting them before I write revealing articles… 🙂
Nara was on my bucketlist of abandoned amusement parks, but I’ve never quite been able to make the trip over to Japan to see it. I know it wasn’t the prettiest anymore, and that it was already pretty well documented, but there’s such a difference in seeing these places in person as opposed to looking at them on a screen. Sad a I won’t be able to do that now. A bit sad too at the way they seem to be treating the place. Easy to say that from the outside though as I have no actual first hand knowledge of whether or not they’re keeping anything.
It will be interesting to see what goes up in its place.
I doubt that they will keep anything… SK Housing isn’t exactly friendly or cooperative. And AFAIK they are just a subsidiary of a zaibatsu, so everything will be done according to the book without considering how much love there is all over the world for Nara Dreamland. The likes of us are just annoying to them.
As for you visiting Japan: There are still plenty of places worth visiting – especially not abandoned ones! 🙂
Waiting expectantly. 🙂
The end of an era, indeed
And fortunate are those who still have material for half a dozen articles… 🙂
That means you, then!
Sorry this is happening but it was inevitable. Still it’s sad. Thank you, Florian, for the amazing way you have documented Nara Dreamland through the years.
I will continue to eagerly following your adventures and am excited about the future locations you’ve yet to reveal. Thanks!
Thank you very much for your kind words! Nara Dreamland and the articles about it were always very, very special to me – and I’m excited to reveal some other amazing locations soon… 🙂
i think the same is happening to Shodoshima Peacock Garden – when i visited it a year ago, there was demolition in progress
Yeah, according to the satellite view on GoogleMaps the Shodoshima Peacock Garden is gone now. 😦
This was supposedly included in our itinerary for our trip to Japan this 2017, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing Nara Dreamland by that time! 😦
I’m pretty sure by next year it’ll be gone completely. But Nara is still worth visiting!
Yes! I heard there are deers in Nara. Wonder where I could watch a match of sumo wrestling? Looks really awesome! ☺️
You can watch sumo in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Osaka is actually quite close to Nara…
Oh my, my first real glimpse of Nara Dreamland was also my last then. I was in Nara at Nigatsudo Hall and one in my group asked what that rock thing was. I recognized the roller coaster next to it and went “Nara Dreamland”! I hadn’t realized that I had driven by it on the way to Nara before. I didn’t have my tele with me so it’s only a tiny glimpse on my pics now. The wooden rollercoaster was still standing on the 2nd of November. Probably one of it’s last days… so sad to have it gone now.
i wonder what they gonna build instead of it,keep up the good work or looking on it for us 😀
so i wonder,i know you sayd you only take the pics of the places etc,but since you could see the demolition is about to happen….did you took something?some kind of “souvenir”,a mementum?
i would
In September I found a staff jacket in the blue City Hall building – I was very, very tempted to take it, but in the end I left it behind… It was before they cleaned out the building. Nice one, neither dirty nor moldy.
i see
I love places like this, and although I’m too scared to roam lonely as a girl to abandoned place, I was very eager to find someone to go with to Nara Dreamland and other abandoned sites when I will finally get to Japan. So sad that so soon to my trip to Japan this wonderful site is being wiped out.
Thanks for all the pictures that will still leave it alive in memory.
Always wanted to go. I guess it will be too late now. I’m glad you shared the photos and videos of it.
Vanessa
You’re welcome. Even if you’d go today you would probably be disappointed with what’s left. They did quick work!
Hello Florian,
Do you know how far through the demolition SK Housing are and any contact details for SK Housing?
Thans,
J
Hey James,
The demolition of Nara Dreamland should be finished by now. When I went there last time in mid-January they were basically done. I don’t have any contact Details, but you should be able to google them easily. But don’t get your hopes up – I had two Japanese friends contact them independently… and both were cut short within seconds as they refused to talk to anybody about Nara Dreamland.
Hey Florian!
Das heißt im Klartext, Nara Dreamland ist nun gänzlich eingestampft? Echt schade. Hast du denn, als du dort nochmal im Januar warst, Fotos geknipst?
Inzwischen dürfte vom Dreamland in der Tat nichts mehr stehen. Mitte Januar wurden gerade das Parkhaus sowie das Gebäude mit dem Aussichtstürmchen am (nicht mehr existierenden) Haupteingang abgerissen. 2 Bilder davon gibt auf der FB-Seite.
https://www.facebook.com/AbandonedKansai/
Echt schade. Der Vergnügungspark, war wohl die beste und “schönste” verlassene Gegend überhaupt.
Nara Dreamland war ohne Zweifel ein ganz besonderer Ort, aber ich habe noch zwei oder drei auf Lager, die es locker mit dem Traumland aufnehmen können. Alles nur eine Frage der Zeit… 🙂
I worked on demolition aspects of Nara. There is nothing much to say, other than the current owners have plans to use the land they are holding for more fruitful purposes. The demolition was planned earlier, but there were delays due to several issues which I am not at liberty to discuss.
Its indeed the end of an era, but lets not forget that Nara Dreamland closed because there was a sharp decline in attendance. After it became abandoned now all of a sudden people wanted to go?? You should have gone when park was open and perhaps it would have never fell into dilapidation.
Look for the next 2 years and the land will be put to good use by its current holders that will make the people of Nara glad it was demolished. Its started to attract a bunch of vagrant types anyway and was a hazard.
Hey Toshihiru,
I have no doubt that the people of Nara are glad that Dreamland is gone – especially the people living nearby. But people from all over the world loved it not despite it was closed and to some degree abandoned, but because it was in that state. Japan has plenty of rundown and soon to be closed amusement parks, so in 2005 Nara Dreamland wasn’t special; except for being a Disneyland clone. In 2007 (until 2016) it was very special, because complete and closed theme parks are uncommon in every country.