Abandoned Kansai

The Kansai Fun Land was probably one of the lesser known theme parks that fell victim to the almighty Universal Studios Japan…

Japan is the country of abandoned theme parks and themed parks, though they keep disappearing at a frustrating rate. The Kansai Fun Land was a little know countryside water and amusement park that was virtually unknown three years ago, at the time of my visit, but gained a bit of popularity recently when some Japanese explorers apparently found out about it.
The first things my buddy *Hamish* and I saw of the Kansai Fun Land was a large fortified gate with a big parking lot behind it and a UFO like building in the background – not exactly great hints that we were close to an abandoned theme park. Since both of our free running skills are limited we had to find another way in, which wasn’t exactly easy and almost failed thanks to some nearby construction. Once out of sight (and sound) exploring was as easy and relaxing as it can get, except for the fact that the UFO building was inaccessible, which didn’t bother me at all at the time as I was way to eager to see the water park part of the Kansai Fun Land. It was probably nice for young families in the 80s, but in comparison other abandoned water parks I’ve been rather underwhelming – 2 pools, 1 tiny slide for kids, but plenty of space for beach chairs… Right next to the summer fun part was a go-kart race track and Cycle UFO, an elevated cycle ride that looked more like a torture contraption than a theme park attraction. (Gosh, Andy Cohen would be so proud!) Also nearby: An almost completely overgrown playground / jungle gym. A bit further away on a mostly overgrown road up a slope within the Kansai Fun Land was an abandoned summer toboggan run, basically completely reclaimed by nature – just ten years after the fun at Fun Land ended. Only a few photos and a quick video from up there as large spiders and aggressive insects made exploring not fun at all…

The Kansai Fun Land was an entertaining outdoor exploration, but going there in late summer made the whole experience unnecessarily complicated – getting in, getting out, navigating within the park, sweating like a pig in 30 degree humid weather, tons of insects and other critters. No regrets though as I love *abandoned theme parks*, I just wish I would have come five years earlier or three months later. Also, strangely the place looked much bigger on GoogleMaps than in reality, so I kinda expected more, I wanted more… and it was so off the beaten track that it was basically the only exploration of the day. Nevertheless a good one… 🙂

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