July 17, 2008

Re-Creation Amusement Parks of Japan

One thing that I didn't mention about Nagasaki was the one site I didn't see. It's called "Huis Ten Bosch," and its a huge amusement village that is a genuine recreation of Holland. (The original Huis Ten Bosch is in The Hague, Netherlands). From what I have seen, this place is really over the top. To fully appreciate the size, detail, and scope of this place, check it their official website here.



In the end, it was a little bit far away and pricey, and didn't seem like it would be so great to see alone. But its both funny and amazing to think that this place exists in Japan.

Another re-creation amusement park that I have come across (but never visited) is Shima Spain Village. This one also looks hilarious.


As one of my friends noted (sarcasticaly) - those mascots sure do evoke images of Spain, huh? And, as another blog I came across commented, the fact that they also include a bunch of clearly Italian themes and sites (Roman Ruins?) also doesn't seem to bother anyone. (Why restrict the entertainment appeal of Shima Spain Village by limiting it to Spain, anyway?)


And apparently, these two are just the tip of the iceberg.

(One other random note on the topic of Mascots: Here in Japan, even sewage systems get their own mascots. I'm not even kidding. Here is one example and another. This does not surprise me even a little bit.)

2 comments:

Melanie Gray Augustin said...

I went to one called "Little World" a few weeks ago. It's not the place with all the minitures, but rather a park with lots of little "villages" from different countries. As far as Japanese theme parks go, it's not a bad one. It's a lovely walk around when the weather is good, and the food is excellent.

We had morning tea in Okinawa, lunch in Germany, some cheese and wine in France and dessert in Italy.

Mike said...

Sounds neat. Thanks for the tip...reminds me of going "around the world" the International Showcase at Epcot Center in Disney World. (Except that was more of a drinking game.)

And, don't get me wrong, I would have liked to check out Huis Ten Bosch; it looks impressive! (Shima Spain Village seems kind of cheesy to me though.)