A giant Gulliver lies bound in a silent Japanese theme park, but the park meant for children was surrounded by hideous historical landmarks.

Children play on the spread out the palm of statue

Children play on the spread out the palm of a 45-meter tall Gulliver statue (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

An eerie theme park with a 45-metre tall statue of Gulliver has been left frozen in time after its doors closed forever after just four years.

The theme park was based on the characters of the 18th century British classic Gulliver’s travels. The sprawling park in rural Japan features an enormous statue lying on the ground, with children able to clamber onto his hands to enjoy the view.

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Horrifically, these children were playing just moments away from the notorious suicide forest, where many people have made the tragic decision to end their lives.

Finally closing the doors in 2001, the park seemed doomed to fail from the outset. However, the suicide forest, or Aokigahara forest, is also nearby. This is cited as one of the reasons, it closed so soon after just four years, according to Fall of Civilisations Podcast.

Bizarrely, the project was funded by the Japanese government who told the managers to make the park as extravagant as possible.

JAPAN-GULLIVER-2

The park was closed after just four years (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The park revolves around the collapsed Gulliver who is ground to the earth with ropes, just like the book.

Tourists would come and sit in the palm of the giant and get photos on top of him, making themselves look like part of the Lilliputian clan who captured Gulliver in the original story.

On the footsteps, of Mount Fuji the legendary makes dramatic scenery for the park.

The park is also close to the village of Kamikuishki and the former headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo. Aum Shinrikyo led the cult and orchestrated the deaths of 13 people in the Tokyo sarin nerve gas attack of 1995.

Eventually, the group was labelled as a terrorist organisation by several countries, including the European Union.

It was thought tourists were avoiding the park, because of the sinister locales nearby.

The theme park also had a dearth of actual rides. There were just two amusements; a bobsled track and a luge course. Neither were big pulled for the Japanese public.

The rest of the park was populated with pastel coloured town houses around a moat lake all inspired by the 18th century novel. There were also some smaller characters from the book scattered about.

Since 2004, the park was left untouched by investors and now lies frozen in time.

Now the once magnificent Gulliver statue is left covered in graffiti and the park signs rotting in the elements.