Japan’s oldest amusement park. The history of Asakusa Hanayashiki goes back to the Edo period. It started in 1853 with the gardener Rokusaburo Morita creating the zoo ”Hanayashiki”with peonies and the Japanese craftwork Kikuzaiku as the main theme. In the Meiji period playground equippment was installed and wild animals like tigers and lions and rare birds were raised. During the war time this history temporarily came to an end but the park reopened as ”Asakusa Hanayashiki”in 1949. The ”rollercoaster” opened in 1953 is the oldest rollercoaster existing in Japan.