Kansai News » Kansai Parks

Sakura Buds Coming Out

Kyle Yates — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:42:20 +0000

Just stopped by the park to check out the cherry trees and saw the buds are already out. Some of them are even green with a little pink showing.

It’s time to start cherry blossom watching! Cherry trees this spring could bloom a little earlier this year.

If you care about seeing the cherry blossoms in full-bloom, you had better start keeping an eye on the news.

Cherry blossoms come and go in a matter of weeks. Depending on your idea of the most beautiful cherry blossoms, whether it is when the blossoms are at the beginning, middle or end of their lives, to catch them at the right time takes planning.

Stay tuned into Kansai News and get up-to-date news on cherry blossoms around Kyoto and Osaka.

Expoland Park Shutdown

Kyle Yates — Fri, 11 May 2007 08:00:18 +0000

Expoland closed last Saturday as a result of the rollercoaster crash that sadly killed one young woman. It is still closed and there has been no date set for the reopening of the park.

Expoland has currenly disabled all links to information on the park in their home page in both Japanese and English. The only message available is a one expressing their condolences and a brief description of the tragic accident, their decision to close the park and try to keep any further accidents like the one on May 8th, 2007 from ever happening again.

One Week Before the Expoland Rollercoaster Crash

Kyle Yates — Fri, 11 May 2007 01:31:24 +0000

Expoland has had several problems with the rollercoaster over the years. After last week’s accident, which unfortunately took the life of a young Japanese woman, maybe the park will take better care of the rollercoaster, update it, or tear it down and build a new one.

Two women from Kyoto say they had a problem with the rollercoaster they were on at Expoland the week before the rollercoaster crashed and killed a young woman last Saturday at Expoland.

Sayaka said she and her friend were on the rollercoaster just last week. During the ride she they felt a big bump and jerk that startled them. After the car had come to a stop at the end of the ride, they found a big bolt that had broken off of during their ride.

Expoland needs to do a better job of maintaining their rides or else more accidents are going to happen!

What do you think? Add your comment to this article if you have an opinion.

Another Woman Injured on Expoland Rollercoaster in 2005

Kyle Yates — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:29:58 +0000

According to sources, in 2005 a woman received neck injuries from an accident on the same rollercoaster that killed a woman last week at Expoland in Osaka.

Expoland admitted the accident happened, but could not provide more details because the police had confiscated the documents related to the case after the accident on Saturday last week.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Expoland employees visited the woman at her home, paid her compensation for absense from work and consolation money.

technorati tags:expoland, accident, banpaku, koen

Hirakata Koen Park

Kyle Yates — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 04:12:53 +0000

Hirakata Park, Hirakata Koen in Japanese, is a fun little theme park. It’s mostly for families with kids, but adults can have some fun there, too, on dates or to break away from the monotony of work.

It’s located along the Keihan line about halfway between Osaka and Kyoto cities. Take the Keihan either from Osaka or Kyoto and get off at Hirakatakoen station and walk. It’s only a few minutes away from the station on foot.

The park looks small from afar, and when you enter it seems small, but as you walk around, you’ll discover it is a lot bigger than you imagined. There are surprisingly many rides and game booths for kids and adults to enjoy and win prizes.

In winter, the park hosts two ice-skating rinks and snow area for kids and adults to play in. Summer is a great time to visit the park. The Boon is one of its more famous attractions. If water slides and rides are not what you want, take a swim in the pools and water area.

The park costs about 4300 yen for adults and 3700 yen for kids for an all-day pass and entrance fee into the park. This is best way to experience the park. If you choose not to buy the all-day pass, you can pay per ride. But this may end of costing more in the end depending on how many rides you take. Each ride ranges in price from 300 to 700 yen.

For information on the park in Japanese, or to see the rides at least, visit their website.