I realised recently that I hadn't watched any Studio Ghibli films for ages so I dusted off my copy of Spirited Away and settled down for 2 hours of escapism.
Near the start Chihiro's father says that the ruins they found must be the remains of an abandoned theme park - "they built them everywhere in the early 90's". This got me thinking - was this just for the story or were there really abandoned theme parks in Japan? A short Google later and the answer is a definite yes - there were quite a few but most of them have been closed down due to lack of customers or accidents. Most have also been demolished but there are loads of photos on the web taken before they vanished forever.
Pouring over the pictures made me think about whether Miyazaki based the buildings on any of the real parks. I started with the Wiki page for Spirited Away which states that some of the buildings in the film were based on the following:
The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei, Tokyo.
The Notoyaryokan, a traditional Japanese inn located in Yamagata Prefecture.
The town of Jiufen in Taiwan.
The Dōgo Onsen hot spring in Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku.
The Bunkyō bathhouse where Miyazaki grew up.
That bathhouse may be the Tsuki no Yu (Moon Bath) bathhouse built in 1933 in Bunkyō:
So no inspiration from the parks then...
I did, however, check Wiki for a list of Japanese theme parks to see if there were any that looked like the spirit village in Spirited Away. Here's the list from Wiki:
Expoland, Osaka, (1970–2009), Shinsekai, Demolished in 2009, turned into a farmer's market in 2010.
Takakanonuma Greenland, (1973-1999), Yuri, Watari District, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan - Demolished in 2010.
Gulliver's Kingdom, Kawaguchi-machi,Yamanashi prefecture Kappapia (now demolished).
Takasaki Kannon-yama Recreational Park (1961-2003), Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Demolished in 2008.
Koga Family Land (?-1988), Shiga Prefecture.
Luna Park, Osaka (1912–1923), Shinsekai.
Luna Park, Tokyo (1910–1911), Asakusa.
Nara Dreamland, (1961-2006), Nara, Nara Prefecture.
Yokohama Dreamland, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Kejonuma Leisure Land (1979-2000).
China Park of Heaven (1992-1997).
Western Village (1975-2007).
Russian Village (2002) Yamaguchi.
New Zealand Park (1990-2005).
Sports World Izunagaoka, (1989-1996), Demolished in 2010?
In addition there is Gluck Kingdom in Hokkaido (1989-2007).
Below are the pictures of locations and parks that were the inspiration for and resemble those in Spirited Away:
Nara Dreamland
Nara Dreamland
Jieufen
The Notoyaryokan
Dōgo Onsen
Jieufen
If this has whetted your appetite you must check out abandonedkansai.com and totorotimes.com which are real treasure troves of decaying theme parks and hospitals.
Catch you later!
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