TOKYO — From the shrines of Nikko and the temples of Kyoto to the castles of Matsumoto and Himeji, the Japanese are fiercely proud of the country’s centuries-old monuments of cultural heritage. Not so for a 113-year-old carousel in the nation’s capital. Despite a celebrated history that includes roots in Germany, a visit by Theodore Roosevelt, a stint in Coney Island in Brooklyn, and nearly half a century entertaining visitors to the Toshimaen Amusement Park in Tokyo, the El Dorado now sits in storage, its fate unknown. The merry-go-round, and the faded time capsule of a park that housed it, are making way for a Harry Potter theme park — a familiar tale in a very old country that tends to discard the merely somewhat old for the new. With the carousel’s last whirls came a final flicker of nostalgia, as hundreds rushed to ride its hand-carved horses and ornate wood chariots before the park shut down in late August.

Source: New York Times September 26, 2020 09:00 UTC