Update (Fri 23rd Apr, 2021 14:45 BST): As suspected, the park's closure has now been made official by Universal Studios Japan. The company has shared a statement addressing the news, noting that its parks will be closed from this Sunday, 25th April until the requirements of Osaka's state of emergency have lifted (thanks, Nintendo Everything):
"Today, Universal Studios Japan has decided to temporarily close our park due to the substantial business shutdown request to operate with no spectators which was issued under the state of emergency for Osaka prefecture. The temporary closure will start from April 25th, 2021 and remain until the request has been lifted.
"We sincerely apologize for causing any inconvenience to our guests who were looking forward to visiting us. Detailed instructions regarding previously purchased tickets will be listed on our official website tonight."
Original Article (Tue 20th Apr, 2021 12:00 BST): With rising cases and concern surrounding the coronavirus in Universal Studios Japan's home prefecture of Osaka, the Super Nintendo World theme park could soon be forced to close just one month after opening its doors to the public.
Earlier this month, Universal Studios Japan had no choice but to limit visitor numbers as daily COVID-19 cases hit record figures across Osaka. With the UK strain of the coronavirus now causing even higher daily cases across the prefecture, Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura has announced that he plans to upgrade its current quasi-Emergency status to a full State of Emergency Declaration (thanks, WDW News Today).
According to Kyodo News, this proposed Emergency would mean that locations "where infection risks are high" – including Super Nintendo World's home at Universal Studios Japan – would be forced to close. This wouldn't be the first time that USJ has had to temporarily shut it doors; the park also closed for 99 days between February and June last year.
Despite Osaka's current quasi-Emergency restrictions (which limits public gathering and travel without entering into a full lockdown), the prefecture reportedly recorded a "record-shattering" 1219 new coronavirus cases on Sunday.
[source english.kyodonews.net, via wdwnt.com]
Comments 76
Life makes me sad. Almost as sad as no F-Zero
I'm sure it's not ideal, but I'm sure it's not the biggest issue for them.
I wouldn't go in a pandemic anyway! They're hectic enough.
My resolve is waivering. 😞
Well, sadly we have to be used to this by now. It sucks but it is what it is. I can only hope that the devastation after all this is mostly over won't be too great.
@larryisanassman the vaccine doesn't stop transmission, it simply reduces symptoms if you contract the virus.
I expect infection rates to increase and another lockdown in the UK before the end of summer as people think they are now immune to it after having a jab and taking larger risks - there have been loads of parties and bbq's where I live the last weekend because of the nice weather and people are fed up being trapped inside.
The UK strain? Oh god.
I'm sure some of the motivation to close things down again over there is to get things better before the Olympics. Since they postponed them last year there's been a lot of back and forth about whether they're happening at all. Earlier in the year I was betting on them not happening. However since a lot of major sports have been playing I'm starting to think they will happen but be scaled down some. Thousands of people from ALL over the world congregating in one place? What could go wrong?
@mezoomozaa keep this kinda negative stuff off of NLife : )
@samuraicop news flash! this park has been in development since 2015, and it's Universal's choice on whether or not to close it, not Nintendo. there are several things I won't defend nintendo over, like their terrible online service, joy-con drift, etc. but targeting stuff beyond their control is asinine.
@RickD why not?
@mezoomozaa
You what, the UK has taken Covid more seriously than probably any other country and lead the way in vaccination and the invention of.
Hence the UK declining Covid cases and slowly starting to come out of a very long lock down.
Probably the only blame you could pin anything on is the the human race as a whole and the fact money seems to make the world go round.
I thought UK residents couldn't go to Japan unless you're Japanese?
Yet sounds like they're blaming the UK?
Here we go again... again...
Such a bummer.
The vaccine is not supposed to be an instant end-all panacea to Covid.
@Mr-Fuggles777
The idea of the vaccine is to stop death just like the flu vaccine. Remember flu still kills around 12 thousand a year in the UK alone.
There is no simple cure for Covid or the flu and I guess we will have to live with Covid like the flu and vaccines will help minimise the death rate.
Just like with the flu you can’t lock away society and jobs forever.
It’s an extremely tough call, just imagine being in charge and calling the shots on this.
@Dezzy70,
Without a doubt it's a tough balance, and you also have to factor in underlying health conditions etc, also as bad as this is it's still a very small proportion of the 8 billion people on the planet.
I’m glad Osaka is working to reduce the number of cases, whether that’s my opinion or the vaccine-implanted microchip in my arm talking.
You can’t just blame a UK variant of Covid.
The UK has many different variants from all over the world. This Covid mutates quick to survive and by all accounts has hundreds of variants just like the flu does.
And unfortunately it ain’t going way, and probably never will just like the flu virus.
I get it. It'll reopen when conditions are better. No doom & gloom needed.
Especially with the new variants that are more virulent in children, I can understand why they may have to make this call.
The park will be there on the other side of this. Not the end of the world, but action now could save lives.
I mean, I can't think of a worse time to launch a theme park. Maybe if there were zombies, or killer bees, that might be worse.
Welp. People never listen. That vaccine was never going to be the "Get out of jail free" card.
@Mr-Fuggles777 They may not stop transmission entirely, but early research suggests they do reduce the transmission rate.
Personally I still wouldn’t risk it, but I’m a very cautious person.
https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2021/03/04/vaccine-transmission
@samuraicop the park was planned years ago, way before the pandemic. Yes, Nintendo will makes money of this, but in their eyes it will bring smile to people's faces during such a dark time. And they are not wrong, as those of us not in Japan love seeing pics and vídeos of the park. And people in Japan are not forced to go to the park, they can go when they feel it's safe.
And what has Nintendo to do with the situation in Brazil?
@OldManHermit Or zombies with killer bees in their mouths...
@nessisonett Yeah it's kind of shocking really. But then again, we are where we are in part because of it.
@nessisonett the comment sections here continue to delight and perplex
@KiryuJ Unfortunately, unless everyone walks from their house to the theme park, takes their own food, and eats it outside, a visit to the park involves a good deal of not being outdoors.
@somebread It’s a stupendously stupid article however. Like... you might as well have an article about how Nintendo’s shop in New York had to close because of 9/11. It’s taking a tiny part of a far larger, and more important, story and linking it to Nintendo.
@mezoomozaa Seems legit. China that lied throughout the whole process has nothing to do with it. You’re right.
@larryisanassman You can’t complain about being forced to take a vaccine and complain about lockdown in the same breath though. Let’s be fair, it’s essentially one or the other with how contagious the virus is, especially these mutated strains.
@Mr-Fuggles777 It actually does. It doesn't guarantee it (as it true for almost anything in real life), but it lowers the risk of transmission significantly. And it makes sense. If you are vaccinated, or acquired an immune response through contracting it, your immune system should be able to take out most of the viruses before they are able to replicate and spread.
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/sars-cov-2-transmission-newly-infected-individuals-previous-infection
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm
@nessisonett yeah, i've been feeling that with a lot of articles lately, very strange and/or tenuous ties to nintendo
good luck trying to breach the impregnable mush here as always regardless
@larryisanassman Being pro-choice is fair. If you don't want to get vaccinated that's your choice. But at the same time it means an organisation, institute, or company has the choice to refuse your access to shop, park, cinema, or whatever. After all, it has to work both ways in that case.
The 'my body/my choice' rhetoric falls apart the moment you point out that your choice to not get vaccinated directly endangers everyone else you come into contact with, and the people who come into contact with them, and so on and so forth. Living in a society means making certain compromises for the good of all. Vaccination can and should be one of those compromises.
@mezoomozaa Agreed. I'm in the US and we're doing better now, but the damage was done. If you have 70% of the country doing the right thing and 30% pretending there's no problem, the numbers will just steadily go up. And they are.
I'm not against disabling comments on this article if they trend toward fanning. @Octane
@larryisanassman You've said it yourself, some people cannot get vaccinated due to medical reasons, and that's the whole problem. If that wasn't the case, and it was purely your own choice to take the risk, I'd maybe agree (though you can argue that you're keeping a virus in circulation unnecessarily).
And I don't know where this rhetoric comes from, but vaccines (just like acquired immunity by previously contracting the virus) significantly lowers the chance of getting sick and spreading it.
And the thing is, we live in a society where we accept plenty of rules for the greater good. You're not allowed to steal, I think that's a common decency, but is it pro-choice? You have to wear a seatbelt, and so forth. A small vaccine is hardly a medical procedure if you ask me! I know I'm low risk, I'm in my 20s and in good health, but if I can do my part by preventing the spread, I'm all for it.
@samuraicop are you this passionate about people dying from all causes or only this one in the last year?
@ModdedInkling @larryisanassman Japan only just started vaccinating the general population last week. So this has nothing to do with a failure oc vaccines.
before anyone draws the parallel, yes, car accidents are terrible too, and Rainbow Road should probably have jersey barriers to reduce tragic incidents
@Octane The kind of laws you’re talking about e.g. stealing are commonly accepted because that’s an intentional affront to other individuals. My decision not to take a vaccine is not born of a will to hopefully catch a virus and pass it on to some poor elderly fellow and kill him off. It’s really not a decision that is of anybody else’s concern- it’s sovereignty over my own body. Why is that being call for punishment?
If a decision not to take a vaccine affects anybody else it’s entirely inadvertent. I will take, as I have before, measures if I feel unwell with contagious symptoms. I won’t leave my house until I’ve recovered, just as I did when I had flu. But oh, if you’re asymptomatic... if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a merry Christmas. The onus to protect vulnerable people who can’t take vaccines has always been on that minority, what’s changed here? There was never an outcry for flu vaccines to be effectively mandated when that virus could prove just as fatal as covid to vulnerable groups- what changed? I’d suggest a year of restrictions and a desire to get back to “normal” just might do it but surely not!
@mr12calvin you're in fact so good at finding the actual good information and avoiding "what they want you to think" that you didn't even take a minute to check if Einstein actually said that (surprise surprise, it is attributed to him and many others, but there's no direct source).
Way to research mate! Hope you put a little more effort in the actually important stuff, like, y'know, your health and how the world works.
@RainbowGazelle My point was this kind of story will be commonplace around the globe, not just regarding this piece.
@ryancraddock by the way you're freaking irresponsible putting this out and keeping the comment section open.
You shouldn't even have posted such a useless article to begin with, since it's clear that the proportion of controversy and potential harm is way higher than the actual information you've given us.
For crying out loud, many articles are insufferably useless, but this risks being harmful. Surely you don't want children reading conspiracies on your Nintendo fan site?!
@KiryuJ Obesity is its own epidemic. Also just want to inform you that more and more people are setting up workout areas in their own homes. I agree that being inert increases overall risk, but I don’t think any government is encouraging people to stay inert.
@Arkay nobody's forcing you to take it, that's what the nutcases don't get.
The day the law forces you to take the vaccine come back to me; as it stands now, there's a lot of imbeciles crying freedom but it's a voluntary shot.
Do whatever you want with your body, just accept that there are consequences to your choices, be them take it or don't take it.
"Remove everyone's ability to voice their opinion"
Dude I'm asking to keep sensitive stuff out of a Nintendo fansite, because there's a thing as a proper time and place.
Let me check....yes, that's definitely North Korea's wet dream, you're right 👍🏻
Sorry but until people reply with such moronic and ridiculous leaps of logic we'll really get nowhere.
@larryisanassman Is there coercion into taking a covid vaccine? In my experience it’s been largely optional, but encouraged due to the number of deaths. I haven’t taken it yet and nobody is knocking on my door!
@sleepinglion You think the damage to our country falls upon the shoulders of our last President? Are you new here? (Joking with you, not trying to make fun, just saying that our politicians have been causing havoc for much longer than Trump)
What a surpri.... no, wait. The other thing. What a painfully obvious thing to have happen. Living in Japan during this pandemic has been frustrating, if not just plain weird... other than telling people to wear masks and maybe stay home if they feel like it, they've been basically doing nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19 here. And yet it hasn't exploded like it has in other countries that ARE trying much harder for reasons I can't figure out. It makes no sense. On the plus side, I heard that the first vaccines have been sent to Hokkaido, the island that I live on, so it's only a matter of time before I can finally get mine! Probably a long time because there's 5.2 million people on this island and the rumor is that we got 500 vaccines.
On an unrelated note, the comments that keep appearing as I type this are pretty hilarious. Go internet!
@BloodNinja How is effectively saying “you are not allowed to integrate within society unless you take this vaccine” not coercion? How is relegating you into a lower tier of citizenship should you refuse the jab not coercion? How is stripping freedoms and promising them back if you take the shot not coercion? Do you know what the word means?
@KiryuJ Lol wut? Who says you can't go outside and exercise? That's completely false.
@larryisanassman Thats the thing though. If you choose not to take a vaccine, and then spread a known disease and potentially harm someone else, that’s still not good. I get your intention, but there has to be some sort of compromise when it comes to an illness that spreads against your will.
@RickD Quite the jump. Vaccine passports will lead to not being able to have kids?
@larryisanassman Who is saying that to you? Nobody has ever said anything like that to me.
@BloodNinja Have you looked into what the vaccine passports are intended for?
@larryisanassman I’m not trying to play “gotcha.” If you want to ignore questions only to ask more questions, that’s not going to suddenly make me listen to you.
@BloodNinja Nor am I. I am simply saying if you look into what this passport system is being intended for you would understand that I’m not just pulling these planned coercive tactics out of thin air.
@larryisanassman What country are you in? At least in America, you are required to get immunization to attend school. That's been enforced for years. Does that bother you too?
@larryisanassman What are you talking about? Passports are required for travel, that’s nothing new.
@mr12calvin how will the vaccine depopulate? Do you think it kills people too?
@larryisanassman @BloodNinja @Lanmanna let's stop that now, please. This is not the right website for covid conspiracies/government tyranny/whatever this is debate and I would appreciate if we could avoid it in the future as well.
And yes I've deleted several comments. Yes, they're from both sides of the discussion. No it's not a complete delete of the entire thing. If you see other comments that you feel we need to check, please report them.
@Eel I was trying to learn something, but ok. I figured it would be ok to talk about on an article about covid. Would you be open to closing the comments section? That would be much clearer than posting an article related to covid, and then telling people to stop talking about it in a related article.
@RainbowGazelle
I'm talking about the situation as a whole, rather than the vaccines themselves. People seemed to have gotten the impression that once vaccines are out, the world is fine, period. Not considering how slow the vaccinations are coming along and not considering how long it'll take for vaccinations to work.
@BloodNinja Look up vaccine passports. They are not proposed for just travel but domestic use i.e getting into restaurants, concerts, social venues etc.
@Eel,
Which websites are the best then?.
@BloodNinja I can't do that.
On the subject of the article, the subject is just that: "oops the park might have to close."
Discussion about whether or not the vaccine is this, covid is that, world order here, my choice there, and and anything that will devolve into weirdly political debates and misinformation, I'm afraid they don't have a place in the site.
Humans are worried about the Coronavirus and the Earth is worried about the human virus. Anyway, glad to see Universal's doing what they can to help case numbers lower, even if it means closing my dream theme park.
@larryisanassman I mean, it makes sense. It’s a virus that spreads against our will, so taking steps to prevent it spreading so rampantly is smart.
@johnvboy idk, try googling.
@Eel I get where you are coming from. I just hope that the staff members that post these articles for your site can learn how closely related such discussions are. It’s literally impossible to stop people from debating this sort of thing on an article related to covid. It’s not just “oops the park is closing,” it’s “oops, the park is closing and it’s due to a state of emergency due to a known pandemic.” It feels disingenuous to post such a loaded topic and then tell people not to talk about the giant elephant in the room.
@Eel This story is connected to Nintendo by such thin tissue that there’s no way this thread could have gone any other way. This article is pure invitation to discuss the current global response to the pandemic because that’s what it’s literally about, there’s practically no discussion that could be sparked by just the closure of a Nintendo theme park when said closure is endemic of a much bigger issue. Oh well.
I COULD comment on covid-19 and my opinion on what it has to do with theme parks and other activities, but I won't. Randomly yelling out into the void of the internet doesn't really help anything, especially on a gaming site. So I shall stay silent on the matter.
@Eel,
I was just kidding, and as this is related to coronavirus why not peoples opinions to it's legitimacy, it's hardly totally off topic.
We've taken the decision to close the comments section on this article. The potential closure of a Nintendo theme park is absolutely a valid topic for reporting on a Nintendo-focused site, but related global topics, events and theories have derailed the focus.
Please remember to be excellent to each other.
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