A large theme park will open in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, in July.Japan Entertainment, the operator..

It’s a jungle theme park. ‘Jangria Okinawa’ Opens Set double charges for domestic and foreigners

사진 확대 Jean-Gria Okinawa Press Conference [Katana]

A large theme park will open in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, in July.

Japan Entertainment, the operator of the theme park “JUNGLIA Okinawa,” held a recent press conference on the 30th and announced that the theme park under construction in northern Okinawa is scheduled to open on July 25.

The theme park will be built as a jungle theme park that utilizes the natural environment of subtropical areas on an area of about 60ha (600,000㎡) using golf course demolition sites in northern Okinawa Island.

It will be equipped with 22 rides, including “Dinasore Safari,” which runs away from dinosaurs in the jungle in a large car, and “Horizon Balloon,” which enjoys superb views in a giant balloon.

The fare for a one-day ticket to enjoy the ride is set at 6,930 yen for adults living in Japan and 4,950 yen for children. Adults and children living abroad are 8,800 yen and 5,940 yen, which is more expensive for foreigners visiting Japan.

The project cost is about 70 billion yen (about 650 billion won), larger than Osaka’s Universal Studios Japan (USJ), which is about 54 hectares.

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, a professor emeritus at Kansai University, estimated that the economic ripple effect of the Jangria theme park would reach 6.808 trillion yen (about 63.36 trillion won) over the 15 years after its opening, and about 880,000 people created jobs, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.

사진 확대 Jean-Gria Okinawa Image [Katana]

Tsuyoshi Morioka, CEO of Katana, the parent company that develops Jangraa Okinawa, is famous for reviving the USJ, which was once on the verge of bankruptcy.

While working as USJ’s chief marketing officer (CMO), he created a “Wonderland” zone using Snoopy and Hello Kitty to attract family audiences, and became a hit in collaboration with famous animations such as “Evangelion” and “One Piece.”

Of course, the decisive shot that led to the USJ’s V-shaped rebound was “Harry Potter and the Fobyden Journey,” which opened in 2014. At the time, Morioka pushed for an investment of 45 billion yen, half of its annual sales, despite much opposition, which eventually led to the USJ being put on a solid rock.

Later in Katana, Morioka transformed the Seibuen Amusement Park in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo, and also redeveloped Nagasaki Sasebo’s specialty Haustenbos Resort. Last year, a new experiential theme park, “Immersive Port Tokyo,” was opened in Odaiba, Tokyo.

“Jangria is a facility that can make new changes to Okinawa, Japan’s representative tourist destination,” Morioka said. “If we raise the awareness of the theme park and increase the number of tourists visiting it in stages, the number of tourists will increase rapidly.”