Universal theme park in Osaka is the third most visited in the world

It has become the third busiest theme park in the world. In Japan, more than twelve million people visited the Universal park in Osaka in 2022, according to a survey carried out by the organization Themed Entertainment Association and relayed by Courrier International. It thus became the third most popular in the world, behind two other amusement parks managed by Disney, the Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland in California.

For the Japanese daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the park owes its success to a well-honed strategy. Most of the attractions here are based on Japanese popular culture icons: manga, including global hits One Piece and Attack on Titan. An entire section of the park is even based on Nintendo's most famous video game, Super Mario Bros. Other attractions from world popular culture feature in the park: an attraction on the universe of Spiderman or a reconstruction of the castle of Hogwarts, the school of wizards of Harry Potter.

“Universal Studio Japan integrates very well elements related to the characters of Japanese culture, which allows it to distinguish itself from other sites”, observes Chris Yoshii, manager of the consulting and research company Aecom. For the Japanese newspaper, this profitable strategy must continue: “The entertainment sector is changing rapidly and the competition is more than tough, he analyzes. The park must continue to distinguish itself by capitalizing on assets such as globally popular films and popular Japanese manga.

Building on its success, the park is gradually increasing the price of its entrance tickets. In August, it is now necessary to count 10,400 yen (i.e. 65 euros) to access these different vitamin universes.