Universal Studios Japan
For a girl from the midwestern United States (which is about as far away from Florida and Cali as you can get), going on a field trip to Disneyland or Universal Studios is a childhood dream. Sure, we all have our local amusement parks, but I never heard anyone say they were going to Valleyfair after winning an Olympic medal.
Last week, I was lucky enough to accompany the first year students on an all-day field trip to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) in Osaka. USJ is celebrating it's 5 year anniversary this year, so they were also showcasing a half
Japanese/half English adapted-version of the musical WICKED, which was enough in itself to convince me.
Amusement parks in Japan (in general) are really an experience in themselves. I have been to Tokyo Disneyand twice and can attest the impression did not change. The Japanese versions of Universal Studios (USJ) and Disney are pretty much identical to the American versions, except they are slightly smaller (to scale) and everything is in Japanese. I mean everything – from the rides (dubbed) to the street signs. They are also usually jam-packed with Japanese tourists running around like crazy, buying a million souvenirs (elmo hats were huge on my trip) and going on rides (2 plus hour wait for Spiderma...grr).
The first time I went to Tokyo Disney, my friends and I were literally the only westerners in the park, and it took us a while to figure out what was going on on rides because the guides speak Japanese (the first ride we went on was Jungle Book and we didn’t understand why all of the other safari-goers were freaking out until a hippo ‘tried to sink us’, for example). This time, I had to read Arnold's lips to figure out what Terminator was going to do.
I know these places are cheesy and bring out the inner-child, but I had a great time and loved being able to spend more time with the first-graders. I was also happy to finally see part of he musical Wicked. I read the book and couldn't get Wicked tickets in Minneapolis before I came, so I had been looking forward to going for a while and now I just want to see the full production. the score was amazing.
Next time you are in Japan, you should go to a theme park. Even if you are not big into the Disney hoopla, I think it is a cultural experience (and one tip: just try to go on he rides as a 'single' to surpass the lines).
Last week, I was lucky enough to accompany the first year students on an all-day field trip to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) in Osaka. USJ is celebrating it's 5 year anniversary this year, so they were also showcasing a half
Japanese/half English adapted-version of the musical WICKED, which was enough in itself to convince me.
Amusement parks in Japan (in general) are really an experience in themselves. I have been to Tokyo Disneyand twice and can attest the impression did not change. The Japanese versions of Universal Studios (USJ) and Disney are pretty much identical to the American versions, except they are slightly smaller (to scale) and everything is in Japanese. I mean everything – from the rides (dubbed) to the street signs. They are also usually jam-packed with Japanese tourists running around like crazy, buying a million souvenirs (elmo hats were huge on my trip) and going on rides (2 plus hour wait for Spiderma...grr).
The first time I went to Tokyo Disney, my friends and I were literally the only westerners in the park, and it took us a while to figure out what was going on on rides because the guides speak Japanese (the first ride we went on was Jungle Book and we didn’t understand why all of the other safari-goers were freaking out until a hippo ‘tried to sink us’, for example). This time, I had to read Arnold's lips to figure out what Terminator was going to do.
I know these places are cheesy and bring out the inner-child, but I had a great time and loved being able to spend more time with the first-graders. I was also happy to finally see part of he musical Wicked. I read the book and couldn't get Wicked tickets in Minneapolis before I came, so I had been looking forward to going for a while and now I just want to see the full production. the score was amazing.
Next time you are in Japan, you should go to a theme park. Even if you are not big into the Disney hoopla, I think it is a cultural experience (and one tip: just try to go on he rides as a 'single' to surpass the lines).
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 5:53 AM
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