Amusement park
Universal Studios Japan
2-chōme-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana Ward, Osaka, 554-0031
Movie-themed park whose near-bankrupt turnaround made it a top-three most-visited theme park.
This guide to Universal Studios Japan traces its near-collapse by 2005, only four years after opening to record crowds, when mounting debt forced Goldman Sachs to step in with a rescue investment. It follows marketing executive Takeshi Morioka, hired from Procter & Gamble around 2011, who pushed the park beyond Hollywood franchises and raised ticket prices on a bet that fans would pay more for a park worth the trip. It ends at the huge, unproven gamble the park made in 2014, betting its entire comeback on a single new attraction. Listen as you walk toward that corner of the park.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.