A photographer by the name Reginald Van de Velde traveled to Japan because he wanted to explore abandoned amusement parks. As quoted, he said “The Land of the Rising Sun is cramped with derelict goodies, and they’re on a scale you’ve never seen before.” While abandoned amusement parks may look scary, they’re kind of beautiful in a way. Here are the photographs that Reginald Van de Velde took while in Japan.

Nara Dreamland: It was inspired by the one and only Disneyland in California. It was built in 1961 and actually became a big attraction in Japan. But, when Disneyland Tokyo and Universal Studios Japan was built, Nara Dreamland was forgotten and closed its door in 2006.

Western Village: Sitting abandoned in Western Village is a 27 million dollar replica of Mount Rushmore. Western Village was built in the year 1975 and was forced to shut down in 2007 because of Disneyland Tokyo as well as its remote location.

Family Land: A huge ferris wheel sits abandoned near Biwa lake, Shiga Prefecture. The ferris wheel was the sole remainder of Family Land. Unfortunately, this Japanese theme park closed in 1970.

Big Mountain Pachinko: Pachinko is full of arcade games and gambling devices. When a person is traveling around the country, they may stumble upon many abandoned Pachinko parlors.

Source: suspiciousminds

Not amusement park related… but, he also took photographs of the Seika Dormitory in Japan:

 

If you’re interested in seeing more of Reginald’s photography, you can check out his Facebook page here.