Qualla: Nagashima Spa Land

Nagashima Spa Land: Introduction

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Freddo, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Steel Dragon 2000 holds you at the top for just long enough to see everything -- the roller coasters twisting below, the hot spring steam rising from the onsen complex, the glint of Ise Bay stretching toward the Pacific, and 2,479 meters of steel track dropping away beneath your feet. At Nagashima Spa Land, Steel Dragon 2000 -- until late 2025 the longest steel roller coaster on Earth -- shares a campus with centuries-old hot spring traditions and one of the largest illumination displays in Japan. This resort in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, about 30 kilometers west of Nagoya, has been defying easy categorization since it opened in 1966 -- part thrill park, part spa retreat, part botanical wonderland.

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Image: Freddo | CC BY-SA 4.0

Nagashima Spa Land: The Dragon's Domain

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Freddo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Nagashima Spa Land hosts 12 roller coasters, but Steel Dragon 2000 is the crown jewel. When it debuted on August 1, 2000, it broke world records for height, speed, and length among complete-circuit coasters. Other rides have since surpassed its height and speed marks, but at 2,47...

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Image: Freddo | CC BY-SA 4.0

Nagashima Spa Land: Where Flowers Become Light

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Leongyy02, CC BY 4.0. Adjacent to the amusement park, Nabana no Sato transforms the concept of a botanical garden. Spread across roughly 230,000 square meters, this garden holds over 12,000 species of flowers -- tulips and dahlias erupting in spring color, begonias filling a dedicated hothouse garden....

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Image: Leongyy02 | CC BY 4.0

Nagashima Spa Land: Soaking in History

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tawashi2006, CC BY 2.1 jp. Before the roller coasters came the hot water. Nagashima sits atop natural mineral springs, and Yuami no Shima -- the resort's onsen theme park -- is the largest of its kind in Japan. The name itself, Spa Land, pays homage to these thermal origins. Visitors can move from adrenali...

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Image: Tawashi2006 | CC BY 2.1 jp

Nagashima Spa Land: A Quiet Giant

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Freddo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Despite its scale, Nagashima Spa Land operates in the shadow of Japan's megaparks. In 2022, it hosted 4.2 million visitors -- enough to rank as the 21st-most-visited amusement park in the world and the fourth-most-visited in Japan, behind only Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, a...

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Image: Freddo | CC BY-SA 4.0