Comments on: Expoland

By: Florian / Abandoned Kansai

Florian / Abandoned Kansai — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 03:41:35 +0000

Since I live in Japan money usually isn’t the problem, at least half of the places I visit are day trips and public transportation here is really good. Time on the other hand is a factor that was slowing me down quite a bit this year. Luckily I have a huge backlog and I am still able to hit the road once in a while.
Thanks for your kind words and for reading the older stuff, too. The last place always seems like the most exciting one, but in reality some of the “older” locations are the best ones ever…

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:44:36 +0000

I wish i had the time and the money to have done and do what you do. To explore the forgotten funlands and to see how the world grows over itself in such a short time is amazing. I realize that my post is three years after your visit but i have recently become extremely fascinated by all of these abandoned parks. The story you have told of your adventure is just as interesting as the pictures. Thank you so much for taking such a large risk by going into the park while people were there. I hope you have continued your awesome adventours

By: Florian / Abandoned Kansai

Florian / Abandoned Kansai — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:31:57 +0000

I’m the last one to defend the decision to tear Expoland down, but Japanese people in general are very superstitious – I guess they are more scared of ghosts than of roller-coasters without maintenance…
As for alternatives: Try Hirakata Park or Universal Studios Japan. From spring to autumn the amusement park on top of Mount Ikoma is open.

By: Richo

Richo — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 23:59:11 +0000

Always pissed me off that it closed down because of one death. If anything, after the accident would be the SAFEST time to go, but people are idiots and now I have to live without decent rides or move away.

By: Florian

Florian — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:47:25 +0000

I’m always looking for “new” abandoned places to go to and I’m still exploring – and I’m sure you will some interesting spots for photoshootings on this blog. Just be careful which one you choose…

By: triplebulle

triplebulle — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:34:36 +0000

Are u still looking for abandonned spots ?
Not that I know some, but I am looking for place to do photo shooting with models and stuff (check on my page) so I am kind of searching constantly new spots. Hope u could help out

じゃね

By: abandonedkansai

abandonedkansai — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:46:39 +0000

Thanks a lot for your kind words! The Expo Park is actually still quite popular since it's a huge recreation area now - and as far as I know Expoland was profitable until the deadly accident that lead to closing it down. The haikyo book with maps is called "nippon no haikyo" but I strongly discourage you from buying it. The quality of the binding is horrible and since the book was published three or four years ago it's far from being up to date: a lot of places were demolished, even more were trashed beyond recognition and now popular places like Nara Dreamland are missing. If you want to find out more about certain places doing research on the internet will get you way better results.

By: Kaerazaru Hotoba

Kaerazaru Hotoba — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 08:49:28 +0000

I really enjoyed your post. I lived in Japan for several years and always wanted to visit the old Expo ’70 site. The two times I went to Osaka, I was unable to convince anyone else to go, even the hotel staff asked me ‘why do you want to go there’? I also imagine the guard let you out because it was easier to do so then try and talk with you in English. Again, great post and I look forward to reading more.

P.S. You have mentioned elsewhere having haikyo books with maps etc. Would you be so kind as to give me the title of one of them, so I may try to find it.

By: abandonedkansai

abandonedkansai — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:23:24 +0000

Hey Jeffrey, according to Wikipedia they turned the Sapporo Stadium into a soccer stadium, but if you look at GoogleMaps you can still see the tennis courts you mentioned. Japan is all about convenience and I guess it's way more convenient to just abandon hotels and amusement parks than to actually get rid of them. But just to be fair: You have abandoned places all over the world. I wish it would be easier to find out why certain places are in the state they are in. Expoland for example was dismantled properly and with care while the relatively close-by Dreamland in Nara is still standing - suffering from vandalism and decay, but nothing there was demolished or dismantled and sold...

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:51:59 +0000

Japan doesn’t have much of a track record of maintaining or, as necessary, re-purposing sites like these. I was shocked at the level of decay of the main stadium in Sapporo from the 1972 Winter Games. I was there in the summer in 1993.

I vaguely remember watching the games on television. The stadium, since it had been big enough to hold the opening ceremony and the long track speed skating, is quite good sized. But instead of finding a football pitch and/or perhaps a running track, the infield had tennis courts. And as I can’t find any images on line, I’m wondering now if they haven’t finally torn it down.

By contrast, look at BC Place in Vancouver.