News On Japan

Struggling Legoland Japan will shut down for two days a week starting in fall

Jul 18, 2017 (rocketnews24.com) - If you want to visit the Nagoya amusement park on a Tuesday or Wednesday, you'd better go soon.

It's been a rough couple of months for Legoland Japan. While hopes were high at the time of the Nagoya park's grand opening back in April, visitors haven't been flocking to the facility in anywhere near the numbers many had envisioned.

The general reaction from those who have made the trip to Legoland Japan (including us) is that what's there is nice, but with ticket prices roughly comparable to those for the much larger and more prestigious Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan, Legoland is a tough sell. Legoland only met 30 percent of its revenue goals for April, and things were still pretty bleak in May, when it pulled in just 60 percent of what management had expected.

The park was initially open every day of the week, but in June the decision was made to close the facility on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with the official reason being to allow time for maintenance crews to do their work and to give service staff some time off. The maintenance explanation, in particular, seems suspect, seeing as how the park had only been open for two months, and with fewer guests coming through the gates than originally estimated, the attractions should ostensibly be showing less wear and tear than initially projected.

With Japanese schools going on summer vacation right about now, as of this week Legoland Japan is back to being a seven-days-a-week park. However, that status will only last until the end of August. In September, the park will once again be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The park is back to seven days a week in October, before once again being closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from the start of November through the week of December 18.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Toyota Motor will begin operating fully autonomous taxis in 2027 through a partnership with U.S. self-driving technology company Waymo, marking a major step in the Japanese automaker's efforts to expand driverless transportation services.

Mount Fuji has received its first snowcap of the season, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on October 30, after temperatures at the summit plunged to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, marking the arrival of winter conditions on Japan's highest mountain.

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that a Chinese female intelligence operative developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an attempt to obtain confidential corporate and U.S. government information, according to a report published by The New York Times on October 29th.

The Japanese government has asked major telecommunications operators to forcibly block access to websites believed to contain personal information stolen in a cyberattack on GMO, it emerged on October 29th, as authorities moved to prevent further exposure of sensitive data online.

Typhoon No. 31 was located near Minamitorishima Island in the Pacific Ocean, as of 3 a.m. on October 30, and was expected to approach the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo over the October 31-November 1 weekend while maintaining very strong intensity, bringing a growing risk of dangerously high waves, powerful swells and extremely rough seas.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

Traditional Japanese crafts are finding an unexpected source of skilled workers in prisons across the country, where inmates are learning painstaking production techniques that build patience and concentration while helping preserve industries struggling with a shortage of craftspeople.

A Japanese woman in her 20s was found dead at an apartment complex in Cheonan, central South Korea, on October 29th, prompting police to detain a South Korean man in his 30s on suspicion of murder after he allegedly confessed to killing her because he had decided to commit suicide following stock market losses but could not bring himself to die alone.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted the annual autumn garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on October 29, welcoming approximately 1,400 guests, including actor Kotaro Yoshida and novelist Miyuki Miyabe, while female members of the Imperial Family attended in traditional Japanese attire.

A 59-year-old water sports rental shop owner in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, has received a letter of appreciation from police after rescuing a paraglider who plunged into a lake on September 21, pulling the unconscious man from the water and performing CPR after discovering he was no longer breathing.

A married couple in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, have been arrested after police discovered cannabis plants growing in pots on the terrace of their home during a search connected to a separate investigation, authorities said on October 28th.

A woman in her 80s was killed after her car entered railway tracks on the Odakyu Enoshima Line in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly before 10:30 p.m. on October 27, with security camera footage showing the vehicle traveling along the tracks, passing an oncoming train and stopping with its hazard lights flashing before being struck from behind by another train.

A teenage male was rushed to a hospital after suffering an electric shock while putting away a motorized basketball hoop at a gymnasium in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, in an accident believed to have been caused by an incompatible extension cord, according to a report on October 27th.

A Halloween pumpkin displayed at a nursery school in Esashi, Hokkaido, was found smashed and partially eaten on October 25, in what police believe was a bear attack, with similar damage reported at a nearby home.