Built in the shadow of Japan‘s Mount Fuji with a large chunk of government stimulus money, was a sprawling white elephant that existed for only 10 years. Today there’s little if any trace of the abandoned theme park, its ruins, or Gulliver himself which measured 45 meters (147.5 ft).
Gulliver’s Kingdom was a failed theme park located near Kawaguchi-machi, Yamanashi, Japan. The park opened in 1997 and typified the “bridge to nowhere” construction projects Japan’s government and banking sector championed in the 1990s. Though intended to boost the economy out of its post-bubble doldrums, projects like Gulliver’s Kingdom created some short-term construction jobs but little permanent employment. Gulliver’s Kingdom was backed financially by the Niigata Chuo Bank, which later collapsed into a sea of red ink and toxic, non-performing loans. As it morphed into a so-called Zombie Bank, the Niigata Chuo Bank was ordered to clear its books of unprofitable assets, of which Gulliver’s Kingdom was one: they had lent the venture around $350 million. In October of 2001, the unpopular theme park shut its doors for the last time.
Gulliver’s Kingdom wasn’t actually a Six Flags style park, by the way. The closest things to the usual amusement park rides and rollercoasters were a bobsled track and a luge course – not exactly ideal for the children
russianmontage on December 19th, 2017 at 16:52 UTC »
Englishman. Lemuel Gulliver was born in the north of England.
Looks_pretty_cool on December 19th, 2017 at 16:52 UTC »
Gulliver’s Kingdom Theme Park
Built in the shadow of Japan‘s Mount Fuji with a large chunk of government stimulus money, was a sprawling white elephant that existed for only 10 years. Today there’s little if any trace of the abandoned theme park, its ruins, or Gulliver himself which measured 45 meters (147.5 ft).
Gulliver’s Kingdom was a failed theme park located near Kawaguchi-machi, Yamanashi, Japan. The park opened in 1997 and typified the “bridge to nowhere” construction projects Japan’s government and banking sector championed in the 1990s. Though intended to boost the economy out of its post-bubble doldrums, projects like Gulliver’s Kingdom created some short-term construction jobs but little permanent employment. Gulliver’s Kingdom was backed financially by the Niigata Chuo Bank, which later collapsed into a sea of red ink and toxic, non-performing loans. As it morphed into a so-called Zombie Bank, the Niigata Chuo Bank was ordered to clear its books of unprofitable assets, of which Gulliver’s Kingdom was one: they had lent the venture around $350 million. In October of 2001, the unpopular theme park shut its doors for the last time.
Gulliver’s Kingdom wasn’t actually a Six Flags style park, by the way. The closest things to the usual amusement park rides and rollercoasters were a bobsled track and a luge course – not exactly ideal for the children
Here's the park map
foreverstudent on December 19th, 2017 at 17:26 UTC »
Graffiti seems to be a problem for them, I have a modest proposal to fix it.