Still, I could feel the adrenaline pumping the whole time. And I didn’t go to every single corner of the park, deciding not to push my chances after I had seen all the highlights. Being overly cautious, I didn’t climb up to the top of any of the rollercoasters – which looked like it would have been possible. I had read about that happening to someone else who had gone exploring.īut I had no trouble this time. I was genuinely worried I would encounter security and have the police called on me. At first I crept between buildings and looked around corners before I walked out into the roads. In the end, I spent about an hour in the park. If you just stumbled across somewhere like this, you would be sure that the whole population had suddenly fled because of a nuclear holocaust or something. The ticket booths still stand next to the ride entrances, the carriages still sit on the tracks of the rollercoasters, even the chairs and the coffee machines are still in the restaurants. But rather than sell off the rides, or look at an alternative use for the land, it was just abandoned. The park was closed in 2006 because of low visitor numbers. Not that you can tell these days, of course. It’s not nearly as big as the park in Anaheim but the Japanese tried to replicate the same feel. You can see the influences in the large Matterhorn mountain, the fairytale castle, the monorail and the main street. Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 and was apparently inspired by Disneyland in California. I began snapping photos as the sun rose over the rides. I walked as quietly as possible down the access road until I emerged between a huge wooden rollercoaster and a Matterhorn-style cable car station. It was cold and my breath came out like mist… when I wasn’t holding it. Luckily there was a small hole in one corner – probably made by previous explorers – and I was able to squeeze through it. I found a section of the fence that didn’t have too many sharp and rusty wire barbs and jumped, grabbing onto a pole and hoisting myself up.Ībout 20 metres further on there was another fence made entirely of barbed wire. The maps online hadn’t shown the barbed wire at my chosen entry point but I wasn’t going to let it stand in the way. The timing was intentional – partly to minimise the chance of getting caught and partly so the light would be more interesting for my photographs. I arrived at the boundary of Nara Dreamland at about six in the morning. When I had found what I was looking for, I was ready for the mission. It was quite large and as I virtually toured the exterior I looked for a possible entry point. I studied Google Earth to get an idea of the layout of the park. I just wanted some photos of what sounded like a fascinating place. They’re not the kind of words you want to read about a place you’re thinking of going into… but they didn’t deter me.Īfter all, I wasn’t planning to do any damage or cause any trouble. I had decided that I wanted to see it for myself and so began my plan to journey into Nara Dreamland.ĭoing some research online, I had come across some recurring phrases: security guards, fines, police, arrests. You see, I had heard about an amusement park in the Japanese city of Nara that had been abandoned – just left as it was and untouched for years – and it had intrigued me.
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