As Space World becomes a part of the past, the park’s remains are starting to look like part of an apocalyptic future.
Between Tokyo Disney Resort’s massive upcoming expansion and Universal Studios Japan’s continuing collaborations with Japanese anime and video game franchises such as Final Fantasy, you might think we’re in an across-the-board boom period for amusement parks in Japan. That’s not the case, though, as smaller parks struggle to stay afloat without high-profile mascots to help draw in visitors.
Many of these troubled parks trace their roots to the aggressive over-investment of Japan’s Bubble Economy, including Space World, which opened in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1990. On January 1 of this year, the park closed down for good, but a 240,000-square meter (2.58 million-square foot) facility doesn’t just disappear overnight, and the gradual dismantling of the park has shifted Space World’s atmosphere from near-future wonderland to far-future dystopia.
スペースワールドです https://t.co/O1e29eqIO7
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学園戦記ムリョウを観ろ (@darkshinkurou) April 22, 2018
Demolition has recently begun in earnest for the park’s Ferris wheel, the 100-meter (33-foot) tall Space Eye. Technicians are starting at the top and working their way down, and the half-removed attraction now looks like something out of Square Enix’s NieR: Automata video game’s amusement park area, or maybe Pixar’s WALL-E.
今日のスペースワールド。 遂にシャトルにクレーンが… https://t.co/zDiUCoHLQ9
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北九民 (@degisam) April 21, 2018
▼ The Space Eye, back when it was still whole.
昨年閉園した北九州市のスペースワールド(｀･ω･´)ついに観覧車のゴンドラが外され骨組みだけに。 大学生の頃、調子のって同月３回も行ったのが懐かしい...年間フリーパス買ったが安いじゃん！って思ったり。 北九州市民は何かしら思… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
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戸津川@チェッキュー＆みどり不動産 (@totsugawa0122) April 17, 2018
なくなりゆくスペースワールド https://t.co/71XpnskJRD
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とみー (@tommy_cho11) April 22, 2018
スペースワールドの観覧車、こうなってました。 https://t.co/WDmDKFpi7F
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カラス/薄明一座（カクヨム） (@Tlatlauhqui) April 21, 2018
In addition to its fractured Ferris wheel, the darkness of Space World’s remains make for a startlingly dark patch in the nighttime view of surrounding Kitakyushu City.
巨大廃墟スペースワールド、燃えるように明るいイオンの前に大きなブラックホールが出来ています https://t.co/baI6zGH1GE
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つ き み (@Paaaichi_303) April 15, 2018
The eerie visuals make for an odd contrast with the site of so many happy memories for visitors over the past 28 years, but are also kind of fitting for the amusement park that once invited guests to ice skate above the frozen carcasses of over 5,000 fish and other aquatic creatures.
Source: Jin
Featured image: Twitter/@darkshinkurou
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