6. Nara Dreamland, Nara, Japan (1961 – 2006)
Nara Dreamland was an abandoned theme park near Nara, Japan, heavily inspired by Disneyland in California. It opened in 1961 and closed on August 31, 2006. The park was left abandoned until it was demolished in December 2017.
Kunizu Matsuo, a Japanese businessman & president of the Matsuo Entertainment Company, visited the United States in 1959, visiting the then-new Disneyland in Anaheim along the way. Matsuo was blown away by the American theme park and vowed to make one of his own in Japan. Matsuo went as far as to meet with Walt Disney, urging him to bring a version of Disneyland to Japan’s old capital city, Nara. Disney was interested and the two partnered together, acquiring land, developing plans and even beginnging construction. As the park’s opening approached, Matsuo and Disney became embroiled in a legal debate centered on the rights and licensing fees Matsuo would owe for use of all the famous Disney characters. Unable to navigate the impasse, Disney parted ways with Matsuo, who scrapped the idea of Nara Disneyland, choosing instead to launch Nara Dreamland, complete with its own original characters and rides.
On July 1, 1961, Nara Dreamland opened. The entrance to the park was designed to look almost identical to Disneyland, including the Train depot, a Main Street, U.S.A. and the familiar Sleeping Beauty Castle at the hub. It also had a Matterhorn-type mountain (with a Matterhorn Bobsleds-type ride, called Bobsleigh) with the skyway running through it, as well as an Autopia-type pubs and a monorail. The park also had its own mascots, Ran-chan and Dori-chan, two children dressed as bearskin guards.
Nara Dreamland was almost an exact replica of Disneyland and it was a huge hit with the Japanese and tourists alike. At its peak, the park averaged 1.6 million visitors a year. Nara’s decline began after Disney opened an official theme park in Tokyo in 2002. By 2004, the park was in decline: some stores closed down and some attractions began to rust. On August 31st of 2006, the park closed down for good, after which it sat abandoned for 10 years before its ultimate destruction in December of 2017.
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