Universal Studios Japan


Universal Studios Japan, located in Osaka, is one of six Universal Studios theme parks, owned and operated by, which is wholly owned by NBCUniversal. The park is similar to the Universal Orlando Resort since it also contains selected attractions from Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.
The park opened on 31 March 2001. Over 11 million guests visited the park in its opening year, making it the world's fastest amusement park to have achieved the 10 million milestone at the time. Since then, Universal Studios Japan has had approximately 8 million visitors every year. Most visitors are Japanese tourists and tourists from other Asian countries such as South Korea and China. It is also very popular among Western tourists and expatriates. In 2005, Goldman Sachs became the largest shareholder in Universal Studios Japan.
Various events were held in the year 2011 to celebrate the park's tenth anniversary, by which time a total of 88 million guests had cumulatively attended the park. There were 700,000 annual passport holders in June 2012 and in the 2012 fiscal year, 9.75 million guests visited the park. During the 2013 fiscal year, Universal Studios Japan received 10.5 million guests. Various factors contributed to this growth in 2013, including the opening of the backwards roller coaster "Hollywood Dream – The Ride – Backdrop" in March, and the "New Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man - The Ride 4K3D" in July, which installed new 4KHD technology, which proved to be popular among the younger generation of visitors. The family area "Universal Wonderland" which opened in March 2012 also attracted many families.
Recent installments include limited-time attractions such as "Biohazard - The Real" and "Monster Hunter - The Real", both based on popular video game franchises, and "One Piece Premier Show", which is based on the popular anime series, providing attractions based on entertainment worldwide. On 15 July 2014, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a themed area based on the blockbuster Harry Potter film series, opened to the public. The popular ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, located in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, was revamped to play in 3D only 10 months after its opening as the first ride of its kind in the world. With a total investment of 45 billion yen, the addition of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the park is projected to have an economic ripple effect of 5 trillion 60 million yen over the next 10 years in Japan, and anticipates many visitors from both Japan and overseas.
On Monday, 29 October 2012, Universal Studios Japan greeted its 100 millionth visitor since its opening in 2001. According to the 2014 Theme Index Global Attraction Attendance Report, Universal Studios Japan is ranked fifth among the top 25 amusement/theme parks worldwide, attracting 11.8 million visitors in 2014, 16.8% more than in the previous year. On 27 February 2020, Universal announced a closure of the park until 22 March 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, they have extended the closure to 31 May 2020, and delayed again until 19 June 2020.

Studio ticket prices

Studio one day passes start at ￥7,091 for adults and ￥4,910 for children. Seniors start at ￥6,455.
Studio two day passes start at ￥14,000 for adults and ￥9,546 for children.
It depends on the day you enter the park.

Licensed properties included at Universal Studios Japan

Like other Universal parks, Universal Studios Japan does not limit itself to attractions based on Universal's owned-library. It has licensed other franchises from different studios for some attractions. Some examples include:
The park is large.
The attractions are arranged in nine areas of the park. A tenth area, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, opened on 15 July 2014 with its flagship attraction, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The area was modeled on the areas of the same names at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. There are also attractions that are not in the United States and are unique to Universal Studios Japan, such as Black Lake and Hogwarts Express Photo Op.
An eleventh area, Super Nintendo World, is scheduled to open sometime in 2021.

Hollywood

Themed to Hollywood.
Based on the city of New York City, New York.
Based on the city of San Francisco, California.
Inspired by Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film franchise of the same name.
Inspired by Steven Spielberg's Jaws.
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 Studio

Based on the Peanuts comic strip.
Themed to Sanrio's Hello Kitty franchise.
Based on the children's television series Sesame Street.
Based on Universal's 1995 film of the same name.
Themed to Super Mario and other Nintendo properties.
The Western Area, and with it, The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show and the Animal Actors 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 former section at Universal Studios Japan, which was based on L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz book series. It was later replaced by Universal Wonderland section.
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.

Current characters

''Peanuts''

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.

Official hotels

There are five official hotels at or near the park:
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.