Never Before Seen in the History of the World: East Asia's Epic Theme Park Mania

This is the untold story of an epic theme park mania that roiled East Asia for three decades.

Everyone knows the economic version of the story: Japan, Korea, and China industrialized at lightning speed. These export powerhouse developed mighty infrastructure bases and global conglomerates the envy of the world. Their ascent to economic domination was uncannily sequential.

But fewer realize that each country's path to prosperity has also involved a meandering, hallucinatory path through a theme park. Beginning in the 1990s, Japan, Korea, and China were gripped by a feverish pursuit of theme park grandeur. Over the next 30 years, some of the largest, most fantastical wonderlands ever conceived were built, destroyed, and dreamed.

While all manias reveal human foibles and absurdity, this story is also a deeply human one about unbridled hope and staggering ambition.