Kejonuma Leisure Land

In Japan’s remote Tohoku region, an abandoned amusement park rests upon the banks of the Kejonuma Dam. Once known as Kejonuma Leisure Land, the park was originally built in 1979 in an effort to bring joy back to the community after the ravages of World War II.

In its heyday, the park boasted up to 200,000 visitors and offered an assortment of rides. These included a Ferris wheel, tea cup ride, miniature train ride and carousel. The park also provided a go kart track, golfing range and a wooden obstacle course.

Unfortunately in 2000, Kejonuma was forced to suffer a fate all too familiar with other small amusement parks—it was forced to close its doors due to lack of customers. This was largely as a result of the park’s remote location, but the opening of large amusement parks such as Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan drew visitors away from smaller parks.

Now the rusting remains of a once proud Ferris wheel is all that stands out above the tall amber grass. The grounds are now a jungle, filled with treasure for urban explorers to discover, as nature slowly takes back this long-abandoned park.