Tobu World Square 東武ワールドスクウエア

Published on : 23/12/2015
by : Antoine Legastelois

Around the world in 80 minutes

If you were told you could admire the most beautiful sites around the planet all in one afternoon without breaking the bank, you will surely answer that it is impossible! Well ... yes, indeed, you are not wrong ... Unless you go to Tobu World Square, a theme park in Tokyo that will take you around the world!

All you globe trotters, the Tobu World Square is for you! Indeed, this theme park offers you the chance to admire the replicas of 102 wonders of world from 21 countries. Among these monuments, 45 are listed as World Heritage sites by Unesco.

The reproductions are 1 / 25th miniature in scale, which makes some of them still very impressive in size. For example, the Tokyo Skytree, which first appeared in the park in 2010, measures no less than 26 meters high!

Opened in 1993, this park north of Tokyo, in the prefecture of Tochigi, near Nikko, required five years of work at a cost of 14 million yen. This is not nothing for this kind of museum.

I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list

In Tobu World Square, monuments, and other sites are grouped in 6 different zones.

Japan is bound to be honored; it is even represented in two different areas. One area looks at the different historical heritage sites Japan has to offer (many religious buildings such as Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺), while the other area presents modern Japan where one can find Tokyo Tower and Skytree.

No fewer than 13 buildings from virtually all of New York represent the United States, including the infamous Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Ancient Egypt also has its own area with the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and the temple of Abu Simbel.

Finally, the rest of Asia and Europe occupy the last two areas. One can regret the absence of Latin America. But we will console ourselves with the Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat, or even thirty European gems including the Eiffel Tower, the Sagrada Familia and the Parthenon.

Seeing is believing

Besides the amount of monuments, it is the richness of detail, the amount of characters present and harmony of the sites in their environments that makes Tobu World Park worth the trip. Indeed, all these elements provide a stunning realism to the whole park. Watch these little travelers on the forecourt of Tokyo Station, or those politicians and other journalists on the steps of the Diet (Japanese Parliament). You could spend hours there. The details of the street and setting are spectacular!

Finally, note that is an 8-minute walk from the park's famous hot spring of Kinugawa (鬼怒川温泉), a good way to relax after a trip around the world!