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Name for USJ Japan theme park in Okinawa leaves netizens confused

6 Comments
By Aleisha Riboldi, RocketNews24

We reported earlier this year that Universal Studios Japan (USJ) is floating the idea of opening a new theme park in Okinawa. We now know the proposed name for the new amusement park, and it has left many Japanese surprised and confused.

You see, the company plans to drop the “Universal” brand from its name, and instead the new theme park will, apparently, be called Nangoku Resort.

Nangoku translates to “Southern Country,” and the term is often used in Japanese to refer to tropical regions and islands. The new name makes sense given that the new Okinawan location is in one of the most southern parts of Japan, but netizens are confused as to why management would drop the Universal brand, which is strongly entrenched in the Japanese market and, obviously, a huge draw. Presumably, this would mean also the absence of many of Universal Studios Japan’s signature movie-themed rides.

Many people took to their keyboards questioning why the company would drop the connection to the Universal film branding.

“Will the new theme park have no relation to movies?” “I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t they use the studio branding?” “The Universal Studios brand is a widely known name. It will make things harder if they don’t use it.” “This is out of character; totally unexpected. ” “Nangoku? What kind of theme park is that?”

Admittedly, it is surprising to build a tropical theme park in Okinawa – the place has no shortage of natural tourist attractions with more than enough activities to occupy your time, such as world-class snorkeling, swimming, diving, and kayaking, in between the island hopping and shrine visits visitors can also engage in.

However, it could very well be that USJ is planning to branch out from its traditional movie themes, since it already has an amusement park for such attractions in Osaka. There was recent speculation that the company would partner with Nintendo, for example, which would presumably allow it to expand its horizons somewhat.

According to a statement made by Glenn Gumpel (CEO of USJ) back in March, the park’s main target will be inbound tourists to Japan, in an attempt to lure them to travel to southern Japan beyond the more oft-visited likes of Tokyo and Kyoto. The number of foreign tourists visiting Okinawa has increased significantly over the last year; in 2014, 8.9 million tourists visited the southern tropical island, representing a 62-percent increase from the previous year. It is hoped that the Nangoku Resort will attract even more tourists by showcasing the natural beauty and charm of Okinawa and tropical Japan.

The location and planned opening date for Nangoku Resort are yet to be revealed, but possible candidate sites include Ocean Expo Park and Neo Park Okinawa.

Source: Okinawa Times

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6 Comments
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the new theme park will, apparently, be called Nangoku Resort.

Nangoku Resort? That name's for crap. Why not just open up another Sanrioland or another one of the dozen or so highland park(s)?

Universal CEO,Glenn Gumpel, had a clear marketing strategy. But not using the title "Universal" discredits the cause.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Why not open "Cowboy Land" or some USA centric themed park, and capitalize on all the American's living on Okinawa because so much military is stationed there. There are many spouses of the military as well as military who marry Okinawans and then remain on Okinawa after leaving the military. Most Japanese will never travel to the US, but with the movie connection so apparent, highlight some "typical" and mythical Yankee culture and give a taste of the USA to Japanese and other foreign tourists. I've never understood why Disney doesn't do the same thing, instead of exporting European fairy tales around the world, with the typical Disney twist.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Agreed. If, as stated, the park focuses on non-Japanese tourists, many would be coming from points even further south than Okinawa such as Taiwan. Why not call it "Ryukyu Kingdom"?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Why not open "Cowboy Land" "Ryukyu Kingdom"?

LoL. Right. The whole theme is now twisted by calling it Nangoku. How do you explain to your pals when come back home?

"I checked out the Jurassic Park & Harry Potter attractions."

Where @ Universal Studios? "Naw dude, some place called NANGOKU."

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I don't know all the details, but basically there is a few reasons why they might want to do something different:

1) Disney/Marvel

Disney owns Marvel studios and has an agreement with existing Universal parks to allow them to continue using whatever characters they have but they are not allowed to use additional ones without further agreements/dealings.

...so that would mean Universal Studios Okinawa may not be able to use Spiderman or other characters in a future park.

2) Changing Trends / EXTREMELY dated content

Let's face it, a huge amount of USJ's attractions are extremely out of date and quite a few people under 20 might never have even seen them. I'm talking Jaws, Back to the Future, Terminator, Waterworld and Backdraft. Jurassic park just eeks out of this because of the success of their new movie, unlike Terminator.

USJ has continually built small event attractions based on popular Japanese video game brands like Monster Hunter or Biohazard. Additionally they have worked in anime like One Piece or Shingeki no Kyojin...supposively there will be a Nintendo area in the future. This kind of thing seems very promising for a future park as it has pretty positive reception.

So, basically I don't really understand why dropping Universal from the name as it has big name value...but I can definitely see a name change in order to set it apart from USJ. Perhaps mimicking the American park, "Universal Islands of Adventure" would work? "Universal Southern Seas Resort" ? (USSR probably not gonna fly huh...)
1 ( +1 / -0 )

Woo hoo! Looks like there will be jobs galore in Okinawa! =)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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