Universal Studios Japan is celebrating the 5th Anniversary of Cool Japan, which runs from January 18th until August 25th. Already announced as the longest Universal Cool Japan ever, the 2019 edition will also be the biggest in the event’s history, the huge event that brings to life the worlds of Japanese entertainment brands. This year they have made a little change to Cool Japan’s event terms, which now features a “Spring Term” and “Summer Term”. Spring Term runs from Jan 18th to Jun 23rd and features Detective Conan and Lupin the Third. Summer Term runs from May 31st to Aug 25th and will…
Author: Haru Kawashima
On September 4th, the biggest typhoon of 2018, Typhoon Jebi, hit the Kansai region of Japan. It was the strongest typhoon to hit mainland Japan in 25 years. Universal Studios Japan closed down the whole Resort to prepare for the typhoon’s landfall and spent September 5th on clean-up and maintenance in the storm’s aftermath. The park itself was closed due to clean-up, but I was able to access CityWalk. Many stores and restaurants were closed due to broken windows. Many storefront’s signage was damaged as well. Typhoon Jebi struck mainland Japan with sustained winds around 100 mph. A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that forms…
Hotel Universal Port Vita grand opened in Osaka on July 15, providing another hotel option for those traveling to Universal Studios Japan. It is located in front of Universal City Station, right next to its original hotel, Hotel Universal Port. The property is also 3.5 miles away from Glico Man Sign and from Namba CITY shopping mall. Hotel Universal Port Vita is the 7th official hotel of Universal Studios Japan at Universal City Area. The hotel’s design is inspired by the sun. This hotel holds 428 rooms, with a restaurant on the 3rd floor. Parking is available in the hotel’s basement garage.…
The official Universal Studios Store is now open at Universal’s CityWalk Osaka. This store has 2 floors and sells merchandise from all the major properties featured inside the park, including Sesame Street, Despicable Me, Snoopy, Hello Kitty, and Harry Potter. The store also sells merchandise for Universal’s new parade, Universal Spectacle Night Parade.
Universal Studios Japan officially opened Minion Freeze Ray Sliders at Minion Park on June 30, 2018. The ride sees the mischievous minions take over the pool at Minion Park, bringing out the gigantic freeze ray gun to turn the pool into an ice rink to help cool off. The 4-seater attraction is a flat-ride, where guests board the “Sliders”. During the ride, 10 sliders will glide over the frozen pool, unpredictably in a make-shift “ice race” – all while the Minions cause mischief, firing freeze guns. You may even find a swimming minion trapped inside the frozen pool.
Playing with Curious George opened at Universal Studios Japan on June 30th, 2018. The new show, based on the “Curious George” children’s book character, combines production technology and props with animation to create one immersive environment. Playing with Curious George replaces Woody Woodpecker’s Animation Celebration, which was the last Woody Woodpecker attraction at the park. Universal Studios Japan has also started selling Curious George merchandise, again. Due to the character not being as famous in Japan, most of the merchandise faded away before the park’s 5th anniversary. Now that a Curious George attraction has debuted, all the merchandise has come back to the park.…
A special movie premiere was held at Universal Studios Japan for the premiere of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. A special greeting was set around the Jurassic Park Area where fans and guests got to meet the main cast of this film, including stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, director J.A. Bayona, and producer Colin Trevorrow. The cast also took part in the new Universal Spectacle Night Parade, appearing on the Jurassic World floats. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom finds the group returning to the former Jurassic World park on the island of Isla Nublar to save the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano…
Today was the very first preview rehearsal of Universal Spectacle Night Parade at Universal Studios Japan. Replacing the Magical Starlight Parade, this is the second nighttime parade in Universal Studios Japan’s history. Billed as the world’s first next-generation parade, the parade lasts for about 50 min; beginning with Floats starts from the “BEST OF HOLLYWOOD”, the parade eventually features floats from Harry Potter, Transformers, Jurassic World, and Minions. As the floats move along the streets, the walls and buildings along the parade route will change one after another utilizing projection mapping. Universal Studios Japan has developed a new technology called “show orchestration”,…
Here is a quick update on “Sailor Moon: The Miracle 4-D”, the new Cool Japan attraction which opened on March 16th. The attraction takes place at the Cinema 4D theater in the Hollywood area of the park. Per the description at Universal: “Join the Sailor Guardians and together take on the monster terrorizing the park! It’s the ultimate 4-D attraction, putting you in the middle of their faithfully reenacted “legendary transformation scene” for a thrilling experience!” Visitors will be able to buy “magical weapons” like the Cutie Universal Rod to interact with the attraction and help defeat the enemy character.…
Here is the latest photo update for Super Nintendo World over at Universal Studios Japan. There is still no sign on any vertical construction, but it appears they have finished digging and set all the pipes underground. Super Nintendo World is set to open by Summer 2020 to coincide with the Olympics, which will be held in Toyko. We should be seeing some big construction soon.