Over 11 million guests visited the park in its opening year, making it the fastest theme park to reach the 10 million guest milestone at the time. In 2022, USJ hosted 12.3 million visitors, making it the third-most visited theme park in the world behind Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, and the most visited theme park in Asia.[5]
PolyGram renames Casablanca Record & Filmworks to PolyGram Pictures MCA Videocassette‚ Inc. (later Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is established
In December 1992, Osaka Universal Planning Inc. was established in Minato-ku, Osaka to plan and research for the development and construction of a large-scale theme park in Japan. In February 1996, the master agreement regarding planning, construction and operation of the Universal Studios Japan theme park was concluded with American corporation MCA Inc. Osaka Universal Planning Inc. was also renamed USJ Co., Ltd.[6] Licensing agreements regarding the planning, construction and operation of Universal Studios Japan was concluded with the Universal Group in 1998 and later that year, construction of the theme park officially began. The park opened on March 31, 2001.[6]
A scenic boat ride with special effects and animatronics of the titular shark.
Universal Wonderland
Universal Wonderland is a section aimed at children and families. Opened in March 2012, it contains three themed sub-zones including Snoopy Studios, Hello Kitty's Fashion Avenue, and Sesame Street Fun Zone.
Snoopy Studios
Based on the Peanuts comic strip. Snoopy Studios was originally its own standalone area, opening with the park in April 2001 before becoming part of Universal Wonderland in 2012.
A Balloon Race ride with cars themed to different cupcakes.
Hello Kitty's Ribbon Collection
2012
A themed indoor meet-and-greet with Hello Kitty.
Sesame Street Fun Zone
Based on the children's television series Sesame Street. It is split into three areas - "Sesame Street Plaza", "Sesame Central Park" and "Elmo's Imagination Playland".
A carousel ride with Sesame Street themed animals and characters. Formerly the "Magical Oz Go-Round", it was the only attraction from the "Land of Oz" area to be repurposed for Universal Wonderland.
Based on several Nintendo franchises, focusing on Super Mario and its Yoshi spin-off series. An expansion themed to the Donkey Kong Country spin-off series is under construction.
A 3Ddark ride based on Marvel's Spider-Man. In May 2023, the park announced the attraction would be closing. The park ran a "Spider-Man The Ride - Final Campaign" from July 4, 2023, until the ride closed exactly twenty years after it first opened at the park on January 22, 2024.[22][23]
A special effects attraction based on the Universal film of the same name. Temporarily closed in September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2023 the park announced it had no intentions to reopen the attraction.[24][25]
A live show attraction based on Universal Studios Florida's version of the show.
Motion Picture Magic
2001
2002
A live show attraction. It was hosted by director Steven Spielberg, and was originally designed by experience designer Bob Rogers and the design team BRC Imagination Arts,[26] provided a tribute to the Universal Studios brand of motion pictures. During the show, the theater transformed into a multi-screen presentation and when the show ended, the main screen raised to present a real motion picture set in which the audience would cross through as they continued through the attraction show building.[27] After closure, the building was turned into the 4D Theater, and plays Shrek 4-D and Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic.
A water slide complex located within the Snoopy Studios area. It originally was a two-slide complex before expanding to four slides in 2002. It was closed in 2013 and demolished to make way for attractions in "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter".[28]
An indoor roller coaster. It did not reopen after the initial COVID-19 closure in February 2020, and was removed from the park's website in March 2021.
A 3D/live-action show based on Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Temporarily closed in September 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2023 the park announced it had no intentions to reopen the attraction.[24][25]
Western
The Western Area, and with it, The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show and the Animal Actors Stage show, were revamped to become Land of Oz in 2006. This involved completely re-theming two live shows, one restaurant and a number of retail facilities.
A stunt show based upon a wide variety of Universal's Western films. Located in the Western Town section of the park, the show featured several cowboy-themed actors surviving death-defying stunts, shootings and explosions.[29][30] The show closed in 2006 and has since been replaced by Wicked.
Land of Oz
The Western Area was replaced for 2006 with an area based on L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz book series.
The land closed in February 2011 to make way for Universal Wonderland.
An animal trick show, featuring dogs, birds and other trained animals.
Magical Oz-Go-Round
2006
2011
An Oz-themed carousel. This ride was retained during the Universal Wonderland transformation and was rethemed as Big Bird's Big Top Circus.
Parades
The park has held a variety of seasonal parades throughout the past two decades, including Festa de Parade, Universal Summer Parade – We Are One, and Minion Hacha-Mecha Christmas Party Parade.[31][32][33]
Universal Studios Japan currently offers the nighttime Universal Spectacle Night Parade. This parade premiered on 17 May 2018, and features floats, performers, and characters based on the Harry Potter, Transformers, Jurassic World, and Despicable Me franchises.[34]
The park also offers a daily daytime parade, titled No limit! Parade. The parade held its first preview performance on 27 February 2023, and officially premiered on 1 March 2023. It features floats, characters, and performers based on Hello Kitty, Peanuts, Despicable Me, Sesame Street, Sing, Mario Kart, and Pokémon.[35] While Mario and Pikachu appeared on Universal's No Limit!-marketing float at the Midosuji Autum Party in November 2022, the No limit! Parade is the first time these franchises have appeared within a Universal Studios parade.[36]
Characters
Much like with the previous Universal parks, USJ has characters both from Universal and third-party companies. USJ has the Japanese license to use the Sesame Street, Peanuts and Sanrio characters, and alongside many others.
Awards
In 2011, USJ's Christmas tree was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most illuminated Christmas tree in the world having 260,498 lights.[37]
Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan (Tokyu Hotels)
Incidents and accidents
In November 2004, a 35-year-old woman from Osaka Prefecture suffered nerve damage in her right wrist, affecting the use of two of her fingers. This occurred when her hand got stuck in a safety bar of the E.T. Adventure attraction as an employee pulled it down to secure it.[57]
The Yoshi's Adventure attraction suffered two accidents in late 2021, with a Goomba stack animatronic falling onto the ride during operation on August 12, 2021,[58] and a fire starting in one of the ride's indoor areas on November 23, 2021. This caused everyone to evacuate from the ride and the rest of the park.[59] Neither accidents led to any park guest injuries.
In October 2022, an employee at the amusement park found human bones in shrubbery along a road west of the premises.[60]
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