Hanayashiki

Founded in the mid-nineteenth century, this is Japan's oldest amusement park, tucked into a compact plot just behind the great temple of Asakusa. It began as a flower garden before adding menageries and mechanical attractions, and today it retains a nostalgic, cramped charm with a vintage roller coaster threaded between buildings that is among the country's oldest still operating. Retro rides, a small haunted house, and a viewing tower give it the feel of a bygone pleasure ground, a living relic of the entertainment quarter.