Mitsubishi Estate's Theme Park Project in Yokohama
Yokohama

Mitsubishi Estate plans to turn a chunk of land in Yokohama into a theme park that will compete with the likes of Universal Studios Japan and Tokyo Disneyland.

Theme Park Project in Yokohama

Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate is set to build a theme park in the city of Yokohama that will rival the size of Tokyo Disneyland.

Yokohama’s municipal government announced on Thursday that it had selected the real estate giant to redevelop part of a piece of land in the city’s Seya district that was previously used as a U.S. military site.

Mitsubishi plans to open the park in 2031, initially targeting at least 12 million visitors a year.

The chunk of land, formerly home to a U.S. radio facility, covers a total of 242 hectares and was returned to Japanese authorities in 2015. The theme park is expected to fill a 51-hectare area, with a commercial complex and other buildings using up the remaining land.

The project is likely to cost billions of dollars, according to estimates based on the price tag for developing Tokyo Disneyland.

While Mitsubishi is still ironing out specific plans on what to feature in the theme park, the company is looking to take advantage of surging interest in Japanese animation and video games both at home and abroad. It expects attractions to use cutting-edge technology such as virtual reality.

Indeed, experts say that “killer content” will be key in the park’s push to compete with the likes of Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and Tokyo Disneyland.

The overall site in Yokohama will first be used to host the International Horticultural Expo in 2027. The Yokohama municipality plans to spend 76.6 billion yen ($520 million) to develop land for that project.

Source: Nikkei Asia

Related Articles

Investors/Business, General
Information, News
Developer Tokyu Land Corporation plans to sell a stake in Tokyo office floors for over JPY 100 billion ($673 million). Despite concerns about increased supply, office rents in Tokyo are rising. Tokyu Fudosan, the parent company, will sell a 49 percent interest in 25 floors of Shibuya Sakura Stage to undisclosed investors.
Investors/Business, General
Information, News
ESR, a major player in the Asia Pacific industrial sector, is embarking on a groundbreaking venture with a 3.3 million sqft logistics project in Greater Tokyo. This development, ESR Higashi Ogishima Distribution Centre 2, is funded by the recently secured JPY 150 billion ($1.35 billion) ESR Japan Logistics Fund III, signaling continued support from an Asian investor who backed the preceding RJLF2 strategy.
General
Information, News
Japan's new prime minister on Sunday said the planned mass disposal of wastewater stored at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant cannot be delayed, despite concerns from local residents.
General
News
The Japanese government relaxed coronavirus border restrictions in March this year, but after almost two years of severely limited entry, "there needs to be a concerted effort to restore Japan's image and lure back all the (international) talent that has been lost," one expert told the Mainichi Shimbun.