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

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