5 Amazing Yet Unexplored Amusement Park For You to Visit! | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan

5 Amazing Yet Unexplored Amusement Park For You to Visit!

By Jennifer Jan 31, 2019

This post is also available in: Spanish

Are you looking for new places to explore with your friends or family? This article lists five amazing amusement parks in Japan that are lesser known from the public.

 

Unexplored Amusement Parks to Visit During Your Holidays!

 

Amusement Parks are a great way to spend your day with your family or friends and make lots of lasting memories enjoying each other’s company. But while you’re in Japan, you might find yourself wondering “Where are the amusement parks here and which ones should I even go to?”. As you’ll read, there are plenty of amusement parks in Japan that you’ll be able to spend the day exploring.

 

1. Shima Spain Village

 

 

Are you looking to explore some new cultures in Japan? Perhaps the Spanish culture will satisfy that need!

If you are, you need to check out this place!

The Shima Spain Village is an amusement park with many attractions, all inspired by the Spanish culture and history. The park is located in Mie prefecture, in the Shima area. It’s a bit far from Tokyo, but for anyone living near Nagoya, this place is relatively close by. But if you live far from Shima – Mie Prefecture, the Shima Spain Village offerers a variety of hotels for you to enjoy your stay there, including many of the hotels offering hot spring water and treatments. One of the hotels that offer this is the “ Hotel Shima Spa Village”, a resort close to the Shima Spain Village.

The park has many Spanish features scattered throughout the building architecture and decorations. The attractions include roller coasters and water rides for adrenaline lovers, as well as carousels for people who enjoy more peaceful trips.

To top it all off, the amusement park offers a variety of Spanish cuisine. If you’re looking to try some new foods while in Japan or craving some foods outside of Japanese cuisine, this park will fix all those problems.

This is a fantastic amusement park that you need to visit for your next break!

They are currently closed until February 2 (Saturday), 2019 but their regular park hours are from 9:30 to 17:00 in the week and 9:30 to 18:00 during the weekends.

They also have two special events:

  • Night Parade: The park is opened at night during the summer season
  • Moonlight Finale: A firework display during the summer season

The date and time vary every year, so be on the lookout for any changes to their calendar!

Here is the link for the 2019 calendar website: https://www.parque-net.com/foreign/english/cmn/img/calendar.pdf

Here is the website of their main page: https://www.parque-net.com/foreign/english/

How to get there!

By train:

  • From Osaka-Namba Station -> 5 minutes in the train -> until reach Osaka- Uehommachi Station -> 2 hours 25 minutes -> until reach Ugata Station -> get the direct bus services until Shima Spain Village
  • From Kyoto Station -> 45 minutes in the train -> until reach Yamato-Yagi Station -> 1 hour 55 minutes -> until reach Ugata Station -> get the direct bus services until Shima Spain Village
  • From Kintetsu- Nagoya Station -> 2 hours in the train -> until you reach Ugata Station -> get te direct bus services until Shima Spain Village

Here is the link for further information: https://www.parque-net.com/foreign/english/access/index.html

 

2. LAGUNASIA

 

 

I always heard a lot about this place when I was growing up, all my friend were always going to Laguna, and I was always curious as to why. But once you’re there, you will understand. This park is located in Aichi Prefecture, in Gamagori.

Lagunasia is made into different areas. Such as LagunaSea, Festival Market, Thalgo Laguna, Laguna Spa, Beach Park, Marine Water Park. Keep in mind that the Beach Park and the Marine Water Park only open during the summer. Both of these parks have special events like pool parties with famous singers and celebrities, Night Pool events where the pool is open at night, and you can enjoy the park with your friends during the summer nights, in the end, you can see the fireworks from the pool. The Marine Water Park also holds the biggest complex of inflatable buoys slides!

However, once winter comes around, Laguna offers beautiful and romantic illuminations at night, attracting many couples to the area. If you are looking for a place to go with your date, Laguna Illuminations is a fantastic choice! Some of the illuminations in the park are Water Mapping Shows called “アグア”, a limited-time show, you won’t want to miss it! The illumination closes at 10 pm, but you can enjoy other areas of the park until closing time! Every day they change their schedule of the events that they will be performing, so before you decide to go, don’t forget to check the schedule ahead of time. Last year the Illuminations began on November 3rd lasted until March 31st.

Here it is the schedule of this year (2019) http://blog.lagunatenbosch.co.jp/lagunasia/sche.html

Lagunasia also has many restaurants, shopping areas, hot springs, hotels, and a beautiful flower park, so you will be able to enjoy your stay fully.

This place is truly fantastic all year round; it’s worth a visit!

Here is the link of their main website page: https://www.lagunatenbosch.co.jp/laguna/english/index.html

How to get there:

By train:

  • From Tokyo: get the JR Tokaido Shinkansen -> 1 hour 30 min in the train -> unit you reach Toyohashi Station -> 10 minutes -> until reach Gamagori Station -> Free Shuttle Bus -> 15 minutes = Laguna Ten Bosh
  • From Osaka: get the JR Tokaido Shinkansen -> 50 minutes -> until you reach Nagoya Station -> 40 minutes -> Gamagori Station -> Free Shuttle Bus for 15 minutes = Laguna Ten Bosh

For further information, here is the link of the website: https://www.lagunatenbosch.co.jp/laguna/english/access.html#train

 

3. Huis Ten Bosch

 

 

 

Can you believe that there’s a European Village in Japan? Yes, it exists, and it’s our next place on the list!

This amusement park carries a calmer atmosphere surrounding it compared to the others. The middle ages of Holland inspire huis Ten Bosch. This place is located in Kyushu Nagasaki Sasebo and is like a little piece of Europe in the middle of Japan.

The city is separated into many areas, each area hosting different types of attractions. The areas include; Welcome Area, Adventure Park, Attraction Town, Art Garden, Thriller City, Tower City, Amsterdam City, and Harbor Town.

This place is fun little place for you to explore nature because of its many beautiful landscapes, flower camp, and different attractions centered around the idea for you to admire the scenery, like Canoe – Harbor Town Area, Gondola, Carriage Tour, Sightseeing Helicopter, and a Park Tour.

This park hosts various types of events year round. Currently for the winter, the Illumination, “Kingdom of Lights”, has 13 million lights! To fully enjoy this illumination, you have to wait until its get darker to ride the Ferris wheel to get a breathtaking view! They also recently began the “Light Fountain” show, showcasing the biggest fountain in all of Japan. They have many other illuminations throughout the park as well, such as the “Café of Light Sky”, a coffee shop located just above the illuminations, and the floor is made of glass! There is also an Umbrella Street, where umbrellas are scattered about above you and color the sky.

This little city offers different styles of cuisine, hotels, and shops to indulge in on your stay.

This is a place worth looking into for your next holiday!

Here is the link for their main website page: http://english.huistenbosch.co.jp/

How to get there!

  • From Nagasaki Station: Take the express or local train in direction to Sasebo -> 1 hour 30 minutes -> until you reach Huis Ten Bosch Station.

For further information, here is the link from the website: http://english.huistenbosch.co.jp/about/?mode=about&Type=4

 

4. Kodomonokuni 

 

 

This place was created in celebration to the Royal Marriage of Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko, who would reign from 1989 to 2019. In this coming April, the Royal crown will be passed down to their eldest son.

This amusement park was opened on May 5th in honor of the Japanese holiday, Children’s Day, to create a place where parents and children can build memories together. The other objectives are to combat health issues by encouraging movement through sports and other games and place emphasis on teamwork at a young age.

This park has a variety of different activities, but the majority of attractions are outdoors for children and families to enjoy, so keep that in mind in case you aren’t an outdoorsy person.

If you are looking for a place to enjoy with your family, and bring your kids – Kodomonokuni is a perfect place! While the children enjoy a fun time partaking in sports and other games, the parents can rest and unwind.

For more information click on this link: http://www.kodomonokuni.org/english/

How to get there!

-> From Yokohama line (JR) or Tokyu Denentoshi Line or Nagatsuta station transfer to Kodomonokuni line and leave at the final stop (Kodomonokuni Station).

 

5. KidZania – Tokyo

 

 

Did you know that they have a place where children can experience how it is how to work in a real job? Yep, that exists too, and these places are scattered around the world!

KidZania is an exciting park that imitates a real city, so once you walk inside you’ll notice that everything is pretty similar to what a typical city would look like; the only glaring difference is that all of the citizens are children! This place allows children to experiment what it’s like to work in the areas they’re interested in and offers a variety of different jobs. The children choose where they want to work at the entrance of the park as well as what shift they want.

The jobs available vary depending on the country that the KidZania it is in. For example, in Japan, there are jobs such as Subway driver, Beverage Service Center, Newspaper editor, Hospital workers, Magic studio, Parade attendants, Job Information Center, and many more. Each profession not only simulates real work but also comes with a lot of lessons for kids to learn, including communications skills, teamwork, responsibilities, etc.

To make this place emulate the real world for children, parents and the responsible guardians are not allowed into the park. This is all done to make the children work competitively for their jobs and learn to be more accountable and independent. There are, however, many areas where the parents or responsible guardian can stay to relax and wait for the children’s shift to end, or if you prefer to watch your child working, you can observe through the many glass windows, monitors, or officials photographs available for the parents.

This is a unique and exciting opportunity for children to learn essential life skills, as well as a fantastic experience for the parents to observe their children taking on more responsibilities and having fun!

If you are looking for more information, here is their website: http://www.kidzania.jp/tokyo/en/

How to get there!

  • Ikebukuro Station -> Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line ( 28 min) -> Toyosu Station -> Toyko Metro Yurakucho line (16 min ) -> Daiba

For more information, click in the link: http://www.kidzania.jp/tokyo/en/access/

 

 So many Unexplored Amusement Parks for You to Visit!

 

There are many unusual and niche amusements parks for you to visit that aren’t as popular, but just as impressive!

There are so many amusements parks with their own identity and unique features that you won’t be able to experience anywhere else. I’m sure that you will have a lot of fun going to all of them!

So for your next trip, don’t forget to add these places to your list!

Jennifer/ Brazil