Kamikuishiki was a village in the
Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan that gained unwanted international attention in 1995 as a key location for
Aum Shinrikyo, the religious cult behind a number of acts of violence, including the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. To change the nature of attention given to the picturesque village, a new attraction was built on the former site of the cult complex:
Gulliver's Kingdom,
a mixed up theme park with a Scandinavian town, a petting zoo, a French puppet theater to tell the story of Gulliver, and a
45 meter version of Gulliver himself, pinned to the ground. The park was opened in 1997, but Niigata Chuo Bank was facing
serious problems two years later, collapsing "under the weight of nonperforming loans." The theme park's owners were the largest borrowers from the bank, and
the park closed in 2001. The park was
finally purchased in 2002 in the 3rd auction attempt. In 2006,
Kamikuishiki disappeared, divided and the parts merged into neighboring municipalities. The next year,
Gulliver's Kingdom was demolished, leaving behind
photos (
new and old), and
memories.
posted by filthy light thief
on Jun 6, 2011 -
4 comments
Anthrax, its been done before. It just doesn't do the job: "the cult attempted to release anthrax spores from its mid-rise Tokyo office building laboratory. At that time, police and media reported foul smells, brown steam, some pet deaths, and stains on cars and sidewalks."
2,
3. "Many view the cult Aum Shinrikyo as a group seeking to bring on the end of the world." and "an estimated $1.5 billion in assets" (thats more than Usama). me=alarmist, today.
posted by tomplus2
on Oct 17, 2001 -
5 comments
