Kurashiki Tivoli Park
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| Tivoli Park in the Day |
With my new passport in hand, I'm thinking about traveling again. Where will I go next? What will I do there? Maybe the easiest way to travel for now is a trip down the memory lane. In fact, it is the only way to get to certain places like 倉敷チボリ公園 Kurashiki Tivoli Park in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.
Built on the site of an old Kurabou textile factory, Kurashiki Tivoli Park was an amusement park inspired by Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. It opened in 1997, and had over 10 million visitors during its first four years.
Once you stepped inside its gates, you would see colorful European style buildings lined Kurashiki Tivoli Park's storybook-like cobblestone streets. Topiary, fountains, cafes, carousel, and spinning teacups were all as expected at a family friendly theme park. But there were also an Aladdin inspired castle and a large lake. Of course, there was a hot air balloon themed Ferris Wheel to give you a bird's eye view.
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| Tivoli Park at Night |
By the time I visited Kurashiki Tivoli Park, its visitor count was less than half of its early days. And the number continued to dwindle. In 2008, the park closed its gates to the public. Over the next few years, the area turned into Ario Kurashiki Shopping Mall, Mitsui Outlet Park Kurashiki, and a much smaller open space called Kurashiki Mirai Park.
The only remnants of Kurashiki Tivoli Park nowadays is the clock tower plaza called Andersen Square, located north of Kurashiki Station and the streetlights with whimsical cutout lampposts.
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| Tivoli Park and Andersen Square in Kurashiki, Okayama |
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| Lampposts Outside of Tivoli Park |
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