Japanese Village and Deer Park, October 1969 - Part Uno

I have a small group of nice photos from the old Japanese Village and Deer Park ("JV" for short), which was located on Knott Avenue in Buena Park, California. JV was a peaceful little park, no dark rides, roller coasters or any other rides in the early days.

According to a pamphlet, On a business trip to Japan, Allen Parkinson, founder and director of Movieland Wax Museum, filled a desire of many years when he visited the world-famous deer park in Nara. As he strolled the ground he began to think of the great fun an authentic Japanese Deer Park would give the people of America. He also thought about werewolves, but that's another story.

Here's a great shot of the entrance. It required some major cleanup, but it was worth it!


There would be the sacred Sika deer, of course - more than 200 of them. Plus Japanese gardens, unique gift shops, a tea house, plus outstanding objects d' art representative of the rich Japanese culture.


Some of you may recognize this redhead, we've seen her at Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland. Here she is again, hangin' with Buddha.


I think you get a pretty good idea of what a lovely place JV was, a place where you could feed colorful carp, pet deer, watch seals frolic, and enjoy the beauty of the ponds and gardens.


I'll have more Japanese Village photos in the future!

Japanese Village & Deer Park, October 1969

Today I am sharing the last scans from one lot of Japanese Village slides. See the other parts here, here, and here!

This first shot is a nice one; it looks like it belongs in a souvenir guide book, but I don't know of any souvenir guide books for JV! You can see our favorite redhead checking out the colorful paper parasols in the lower right.


"Pavilion of the Doves", huh? Sounds scary, I'm not going in there. One wrong move and a flock of hungry doves will reduce you to a skeleton in less than a minute. I seen it with my own two eyes!


Those deer may the be the stars of the place, but they are humble and approachable. Especially if you have a hand full of food. I wonder if JV was open at night? My guess is "not really", except maybe in the winter months when it is dark by 5 o'clock. I'd love to see photos of it with all the lanterns lit.


When you'd had enough of those perpetually hungry deer, you could get some culture by watching a performance of traditional Japanese dancing.


For those of you who enjoyed visiting Japanese Village, never fear! I have another group of slides with some interesting images, and will share them one of these days.

Japanese Village and Deer Park, October 1972

I am happy to be able to share some new scans featuring the "Japanese Village and Deer Park", which was located right near Knott's Berry Farm, Movieland Wax Museum, and the Alligator Farm (not to mention a few miles from Disneyland). See some info in previous posts HERE and HERE. 

This was a place where visitors could see some animal shows (dolphins, seals, trained bears), Japanese dancers, visit peaceful gardens with koi and doves and deer (of course), and so much more!

This first photo shows one of the karate demonstrations. Hi-YA! There's punchin', kickin', flippin', and smashin'. Fun for the whole family, really. There was a suggestion box, and each year I tried to get them to include flame throwers, but some ideas are just too good, so it never happened. Notice the "Nabisco" sign just above the rooftops - a familiar sight to folks driving through Buena Park.

A trainer (?) sits near a dolphin pool to have a chat about... well, whatever it is dolphins like to talk about. Advanced mathematics, for instance. Painters of the Northern Renaissance. The latest in architectural trends. Let's face it, those dolphins are smart.

Here's a scene from the trained bear show. There's a furry fella up on that swing - my tiny brain almost remembers seeing this very trick being performed. It's been a while, folks. Apparently, bears have no fear of heights. But they love pic-a-nic baskets. Notice the hoop, probably set aflame, for some critter to leap through.

And finally, here's a lovely lady in a traditional polyester kimono, carrying a big chrysanthemum thingy. It's probably a purse full of Screaming Yellow Zonkers. What else could it possibly be? 

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Japanese Village and Deer Park!

Japanese Village & Deer Park, April 1970

I have lots of fond memories of the "Japanese Village and Deer Park" in Buena Park. It was a great way to spend a few hours...it ranked just above the Wax Museum, "Planes of Fame, Cars of Stars", and the Alligator Farm.

I can't find much information about this park on the internet. When did it open? I'm not sure, although it was perhaps the mid-1960's. When did it close? Apparently it was purchased by Six Flags in 1970's, and the name changed to "Enchanted Village" (with scary costumed characters called "Fuji Folk"). The park changed from a quiet place with petting zoos and koi ponds to more of a theme park. There was a tiger arena, "Tokyo Car Ride", shooting gallery, "pearl lagoon theatre", and according to one map there was even something called "adult gaming area" (your guess is as good as mine).

I have read that Steven Segal (one of America's greatest actors) got his start in his late teens performing daily karate demonstrations. I saw some of those shows as a kid (don't know if Mr. Segal was there), and still remember the loud "KRAK!" as one guy hit another one in the stomach repeatedly. Eventually even that couldn't lure tourists, and the lovely Japanese Gardens closed forever.

Do you think that this building shown below is a restaurant? There appears to be people sitting at tables.


There's nothing like a good old-fashioned seal show! They can toot horns and catch rings and balance stuff on their noses. Wait a minute, I can do all those things! Those seals aren't so smart after all. What most people don't know is that the first personal computer was designed by a seal in the 70's.


Now this is more like it! Seals, shmeals!! Guess this was a dolphin show as well. This lovely woman helped make the show more interesting for the gentlemen in the audience.


I think that "Dolphin Skiing" should be an Olympic event! Or throw a few man-eating sharks into the pool as well, and put this in the X Games.

Japanese Village and Deer Park, October 1969 - Part Dos

Here are some more xlnt photos from Buena Park's Japanese Village! See part one here.

I'm a bit unsure of where this would have been... in the last post we can see what the place looked like from the street, and yet here is another sign in case you suddenly wondered, "Where the hell am I again?". Maybe you can grab a snack from that cart; one of the few memories that I have of this park is of the strange "rice candies" that we tried here. They were double-yucky.


I hope Red isn't contemplating jumping. She probably realizes that it's only a two-foot drop into one-foot deep water, and that she would ruin those pants that she bought at Zody's. Dry-clean only, Red; dry-clean only.


There's nothing like a beautiful koi pond for peaceful contemplation. The fish knew that people=food... those machines dispensed mysterious and magical pellets that were like drugs to koi. It drove them koo-koo bananas! I tried them. They were better than those rice candies. I recall a demonstration that involved a man offering a cigarette to a fish, who appeared to actually smoke it - there were puffs of smoke coming out of it's mouth. I kid you not! Shortly thereafter I took up smoking at the age of 9 in a vain attempt to look as cool as that fish.


Red loves animals, particularly the playful sea lions. Many people think that sea lions are mammals, but they are actually a form of kelp.


Stay tuned for more Japanese Village photos. Sayōnara!

Japanese Village, Buena Park - October 1973

Not far from Knott's Berry Farm and Movieland Wax Museum, you once could find a fun little park called Japanese Village. JV was a beautiful little oasis in the middle of Buena Park; formal gardens, koi ponds, doves, deer (of course), and more. There were also a number of animal shows, performing seals, dolphins, bears, and more. How about a demonstration of martial arts? They had that too, I'm guessing at least partly due to the popularity of Bruce Lee, and the movie "Billy Jack". Here's a great photo at a tori gate, obviously placed there for pictures like this.

By the time these photos were taken in 1973, Japanese Village only had about two more years before it would close. It had a brief return (with a number of changes) as "Enchanted Village", which opened in 1976 and closed only a year or so later. 

Miscellaneous Scans

Well, I didn't know what to post for this "Anything Goes Saturday", so I decided to grab four scans that have been rattling around in my computer for too long, and let them get their 45 seconds of fame. We'll see how it goes.

First up is this photo (dated September 1959) from Wendover, Nevada. That's on the State line between Utah and Nevada. That tall cowboy is known as "Wendover Will". He stands 64 feet high (that's about 19.5 meters, for the rest of the world). He bears a family resemblance to Vegas Vic, don't you think? Looking it up, they were both designed by the same person, so I guess I win a million dollars. At one time, Wendover Will was the "largest mechanical cowboy in the world", and maybe he still is.

Next is this 1952 photo of Denver, Colorado. Taken from some tall building, possibly the Empire State Building (admittedly that's the only tall building I can think of right now). There's the State Capitol at the end of that street (Colfax Avenue?), and to the left of that are the twin spires of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Does anybody knowledgeable see anything else of note? 

Here's a beautiful oil refinery (I guess?) in Cleveland, Ohio (or possibly from nearby Lima) from a slide dated September 1953. That smoke looks nice and sulfurous, I can only imagine the heady aroma. "SOHIO" was Standard Oil of Ohio, until it was taken over by British Petroleum.  

And finally, from San Antonio, Texas (from sometime in the 1950s) comes this photo of the Japanese Tea Garden (aka the "Sunken Gardens"), which was built on the former site of a limestone quarry. Wikipedia sez: About 1917, City Parks Commissioner Ray Lambert visualized an oriental-style garden in the pit of the quarry. His engineer, W.S. Delery, developed plans, and work began when several donors paid for it in 1918 Lambert used prison labor to shape the quarry into a complex that included walkways, stone arch bridges, an island and a Japanese pagoda. Interestingly, The garden was renamed the Chinese Tea Garden, to prevent the razing and vandalism of the tea garden during World War II.

I hope you have enjoyed today's Miscellaneous Scans!

Japanese Village, Buena Park - July 1976

Back in the 70's, you could fly to Japan; OR you could just go to Buena Park's Japanese Village and Deer Park. Conveniently located just a few miles from Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm! I was lucky enough to go there a few times, and always enjoyed its beauty and exotic ambiance.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that this building was a gift shop, even though it looks pretty grand for a place hawking souvenirs. I remember buying an oyster in a can, guaranteed to contain a pearl when the oyster shell was pried open. I also remember the smell when I opened the can. Phew! Somebody shoulda warned me.

There's just something peaceful and relaxing about koi fish, swimming gracefully in all their variety of colors and patterns. These must have been the world's happiest koi, since visitors were constantly tossing handfuls of mysterious pellets into the water.

Oasis Club, Honolulu, Hawaii

Today I have some interesting photos from Hawaii, undated but probably from the mid-1950's. The pictures were taken inside the Oasis restaurant and nightclub, which was on Waialea Road in Honolulu. As you know, post-war Hawaii was occupied by lots of servicemen, and it was also a hot tourist destination for folks from the Mainland. Hawaii had (and still has) a large population of people of Japanese descent, which is why visitors could see traditional Kabuki theater.

According to Mr. Wikipedia, "Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is sometimes translated as 'the art of singing and dancing'", though it is largely dramatic rather than comic.  If you need more information about Kabuki, go to your local liberry!

While Kabuki originated with all-female performers, it changed to all-male performers in the 1600's, and that tradition has held since then. The person in the next photo is a comic musician, which might mean that he is more of a Kyōgen performer, whose goal is to make the audience laugh. Or maybe he is just a weisenheimer. 

Wikipedia sez: "The three main categories of kabuki play are jidai-mono (historical, or pre-Sengoku period stories), sewa-mono (domestic, or post-Sengoku stories) and shosagoto (dance pieces)". 

This one appears to be historic or domestic. The elaborate costumes are pretty amazing. 

I was curious about the makeup, and learned that: "Keshō, kabuki makeup, provides an element of style easily recognizable even by those unfamiliar with the art form. Rice powder is used to create the white oshiroi base for the characteristic stage makeup, and kumadori enhances or exaggerates facial lines to produce dramatic animal or supernatural masks. The color of the kumadori is an expression of the character's nature: red lines are used to indicate passion, heroism, righteousness, and other positive traits; blue or black, villainy, jealousy, and other negative traits; green, the supernatural; and purple, nobility".

This appears to be an example of shosagoto, a dance piece. I can't help wondering what western audience members thought of this very foreign form of theater. Men dressed as women?!

I found a jpeg of a postcard (probably from the 1960's); it looks like the show has evolved away from traditional Kabuki to something with a more "Las Vegas" style, with plenty of women.

From what I have gleaned online, the Oasis closed, though I could not find a specific date. A person on one message board mentioned working there in 1975. Apparently the location is now a self-storage facility.

More Japanese Village

Here are three more photos from Buena Park's "Japanese Village and Deer Park". See some other photos here and here.

My favorite redhead strikes a pose on a bridge that is beautiful, but not very practical. What if you were on a unicycle? That semi-circular design was probably strong though, which is handy in a country infested with giant monsters. Mothra wouldn't be able to dent it!


Dolphins are cool! Look how close you could get to this one. I want a pet dolphin - what a great team we'd be. I'd do what I normally do, and he'd swim around and eat fish. Some fun!


Red is smiling, but that lady in the striped top better beware... I think that dove is taking aim. Birds are OK I guess, but I don't want them landing on me. I get skeeved out. Ever had a crow poop on you? Once is enough, believe me.

More Expo 67

Here's a group of photos from Montreal's "Expo 67", the wildly successful Exposition that took place in some year that I forget. Maybe 1968.

Commies! The USSR had a pretty incredible pavilion at the Expo, I have to concede. And did you know that this Expo was originally supposed to have taken place in Russia in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Revolution? Da! But the Russkies dropped out, and Canada used the expo to celebrate their own centennial.


If you went up the long escalator in the U.S. Pavilion to where the spacecraft were, and looked up, you would see these parachutes; this is the sight that would bring joy to any astronaut in his capsule during reentry. Prepare for splashdown!


Here's another shot from within the U.S. Pavilion, looking through the panes of plastic that covered the geodesic sphere. Fun fact: fair organizers had expected around 35 million guests to visit, and they were surprised when that number exceeded 50 million!


Here's an oddball photo near the Polymer exhibit. Who doesn't love polymers! I like them with butter and lemon. Notice the "minirail" in the background.


Beyond the patio dining area, you can see the six jagged-yet-circular towers of the "State of New York" pavilion. All of the towers are joined at the second-floor level by a common roof, and the display areas inside tell the story of New York (only they covered up all the vampire stuff). You can also see the polka-dotted edge of a carousel-shaped building that actually rotated past more exhibits. It rotated at over 1000 rpm!


Japan's pavilion resembles a series of three multi-level parking garages, in my opinion. (Sorry Japan)! Somewhere nearby there was a traditional Japanese restaurant, complete with kimono-clad hostesses. The pavilion was divided into three sections designed to show a blend of modern technology and traditional Japanese style. Japan in Progress, Harmony With Nature, and Harmony With Technological Advance were the themes of these sections.


I have lots more from Expo '67!

'Round The World's Fair - 1964

Let's visit some more international pavilions, shall we?

Here's a beautiful photo of Malaysia's building. Remember those old commercials in which they tried to entice tourists to come to Malaysia with pretty girls making goo-goo eyes at the camera? You don't see those anymore. ... There are scale models of a tin mine and of the Parliament House of the 14 Federated States of Malaysia. Reflecting the country's industry and commerce are exhibits of rubber, timber and tin. Films of Malaysian scenes are shown on the hour, and there is a collection of national art works.

Japan: Side by side with some of the world's most advanced microscopes and industrial machines are charming evidences of the quiet rural Japan of a century ago. Judo tournaments, fashion shows and dance programs are held on an outdoor stage. There are also a restaurant, a snack bar and a roof garden that serves Japanese beer. Where do they sell cool Japanese tin toys?


A proposed French pavilion was never built, but there was one for "The Pavilion of Paris and French Industry". It looks sort of unfinished here, maybe it was just modern and minimalist. Gaily colored flags of the French provinces hang from the walls in this privately sponsored pavilion. Parisian boutiques sell perfumes, gourmet foods and other luxury items for which the city is famous. A kiosk carries French newspapers and paperback books, and an art gallery sells original oils.


The Sky Ride passes right over Korea's pavilion! The pavilion houses products of Korea's rebuilt industries and displays of the nation's artistic and cultural past. Waitresses dressed in flowing silk robes serve the delicacies of a cuisine that dates back more than 2,000 years

New York World's Fair

It's been a little while since we've visited the World's Fair (because I am running out of slides)... so let's go there today!

Over at the Festival of Gas (get a better look at the building here) we can see past the lovely pond (filled with planters of bright flowers) into the "Festival '65" Restaurant. It offered "...regional American dishes, many prepared at the table". 

Here's an odd view of the "House of Japan", an annex of the Japan pavilion. I like the mash-up of traditional Japanese architecture with more a modern (almost Bauhaus) style. The "Awa Dance" folk dancers that performed inside were a popular feature of the Fair. 

A rare look inside the Japan pavilion shows a display of Ikebana - Japanese flower arranging. The one on the right looks like a creature from the planet Venus. As if you didn't know! I remember my mom playing around with Ikebana when I was a kid (bonsai too), it must have been a thing.

Night views are always a favorite of mine. This picture of the Mexico pavilion shows how the crowds did not disperse when it got dark. According to the souvenir guide, there was a cocktail lounge with "...south-of-the-border drinks and strolling musicians", but no restaurant. Where am I supposed to get sizzlin' fajitas?