Perched alone on a 40-meter-high cliff stands a construction resembling a small shrine, the stays of an amusement park that when operated right here within the early Showa period.

The location, providing sweeping panoramic views, grew to become the main target of a brand new undertaking launched in 2021.

“That is magnificent, very Hokkaido-like,” Nitori Holdings Chairman Akio Nitori remarked in 2022. “Guests from Honshu could be deeply impressed.”

Nitori proposed redeveloping the positioning into a brand new vacationer vacation spot, presenting the thought to native enterprise teams.

Nevertheless, 4 years later, progress has stalled.

Standing on the car parking zone overlooking the Otamoi shoreline, a reporter famous that the doorway to the previous Otamoi Amusement Park, as soon as referred to as ‘Yumenosato,’ nonetheless stays. Indicators warn of landslide hazard, and the world is now off-limits.

Within the early Showa period, the northwest a part of Otaru was residence to one in every of Hokkaido’s premier leisure services: Yumenosato Otamoi Amusement Park. With leisure halls and seashores, the park attracted hundreds of tourists every day through the summer season season.

Its centerpiece was Ryugukaku, an expensive restaurant that appeared to drift above the ocean like a “fortress within the sky,” beloved by enterprise leaders and cultural figures of the time.

Nevertheless, in 1952, Ryugukaku was destroyed by hearth and closed down. Frequent landslides finally compelled the closure of the strolling trails, and the once-celebrated Otamoi Amusement Park pale into obscurity.

Moved by the dramatic surroundings, Nitori in 2021 donated 50 million yen to the Otaru Chamber of Commerce and Business to fund redevelopment research.

“It was breathtaking to find such an exciting and dramatic panorama in Hokkaido,” Nitori stated on the time.

Plans included constructing an statement terrace harking back to Ryugukaku and putting in a zipline throughout the cliffs. In 2022, Nitori expressed hope that with participation from tourism associations, the nationwide authorities, and native communities, the undertaking could possibly be accomplished inside three to 5 years.

However the Otaru Chamber of Commerce has since introduced that the plan will probably be postponed.

The council, comprising the chamber and native tourism associations, has successfully determined to freeze the undertaking. In response to the council, town of Otaru has raised security issues over the world and has prioritized different administrative points. In consequence, securing the estimated 1.5 billion yen in personal sector funding has been deemed unrealistic.

“It’s disappointing,” stated one Otaru resident. “I hoped to see Otaru revived and bustling once more.” One other resident added, “Renovating the world would probably value quite a bit.”

Toshio Ebina, president of Hokuo Sangyo, which operates cruise ships in Otaru, had additionally positioned excessive hopes on the undertaking.

“Otaru presents an ideal mixture of sea, mountains, and tourism,” Ebina stated. “If this undertaking would not transfer ahead, a serious hole will stay in Otaru’s tourism trade.”

Supply: HBCニュース　北海道放送