Tokyos 140-year-old amusement park oldest in Japan gets new zone and attractions this summer

Hanayashiki adds chilling stories to its haunted house and beautiful digital art area.

This year, Tokyo Disneyland is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It’s an impressive milestone, especially when compared against rival Universal Studios Japan, which is only 22 years old. However, Tokyo Disneyland isn’t the oldest theme park in Japan. No, that honor goes to another Tokyo amusement park, Hanayashiki, which has now been welcoming guests for 140 years.

Located in downtown Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood, Hanayashiki can’t compete in terms of scale with amusement parks built in less urban parts of Japan. Still, it’s got a quaint, retro charm all its own, and it’s getting a 140th birthday present this summer with the opening of a new section of the park and a sprucing up of one of its most popular attractions.

Starting with the upgrade, Hanayashiki’s haunted house, pictured above, is being renovated and re-themed, with its new backstory based on the Four Great Kaidan of Edo (kaidan being traditional Japanese horror stories and Edo the old name for Tokyo). Visitors brave enough to venture inside the 74-meter (243-foot) long walk-though attraction will face the fearsome tales of Kasenegafuchi, Botan-doro (The Peony Lantern), Yotsuya Kaidan (The Yotsuya Ghost Story), and Bancho Sarayashiki (The Bancho Dish Mansion), which have been giving people in Japan chills for generations with their dark depictions of jealousy, murder, and wrathful vengeance.

There’s more horrific fun in the form of the Mysterious Scoop Cameraman AR game, which has you using a special device to search the park for yokai, the ghoulish monsters of Japanese folklore, and capture photographs of them.

▼ No word on whether you’ll be able to encounter the Great White Butt.

If, however, you like your entertainment without terrifying supernatural elements, the creative minds of digital art studio Naked Inc. are creating an installation for Hanayashiki’s new area called Naked Hanakeshiki, or “Naked Flower Scenery.” This projection mapping exhibit is actually a throwback to Hanayashiki’s roots, as the park’s name, which translates to “Flower Mansion,” references the flower garden that is was originally built inside of.

Also leaning into the park’s historical significance are the Gorieki Yokocho and Jiku Kaidan areas, walk-through zones with retro aesthetics recreating a shopping street and mansion from days gone by.

And for when guests get hungry, Hanayashiki is also adding a new eatery, the Ohanami Chashitsu (Flower-viewing Teahouse) with a variety of snacks and sweets that the chefs promise will “satisfy both your stomach and your heart.”

▼ The park’s new area, marked in pink

Hanayashiki’s new zone and renovated haunted house open on July 20.

Related: Hanayashiki official website
Source: Hanayashiki via IT Meida
Images: Hanayashiki
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