Katana, a marketing and entertainment firm working in the Japanese theme park industry, is to open a new nature-inspired theme park in Okinawa in 2025.
Via the Japan Times, the new park is called Junglia and will be constructed on the site of a former golf course stretching from the village of Nakijin to the city of Nago.
“When people think of theme parks, they probably come up with great parks such as Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan and Huis Ten Bosch,” Katana CEO Tsuyoshi Morioka said during a news conference in Tokyo.
“But if [Junglia] provides similar experiences as them, there would be no reason for visitors to go there when they come all the way to Okinawa.”
He added: “We must provide something that people cannot experience in urban areas. We’d like to create [a theme park] that maximizes the excitement that people will get from the overwhelming nature.”
The 60-hectare park will centre around the UNESCO World Nature Heritage registered ‘Yambaru’ subtropical forest region of Okinawa Prefecture.
Katana‘s ¥70 billion ($470 million) destination will include air balloon rides, zip lines and a dinosaur-themed experience.
“By proving that this scale of investment can be successful in this location, we hope that this project will be an impetus for more investment in Okinawa,” Morioka said.
New park by subtropical forest of Yanbaru
Morioka is known for reversing declining attendance at Universal Studios Japan in 2010. Not long after joining the park, he started working on plans to introduce a Wizarding World of Harry Potter land.
Osaka-based Katana recently announced a new theme park in Tokyo called Immersive Fort Tokyo. The 30,000-square-metre attraction, located in the city’s Odaiba area, will house 12 immersive attractions.
Elsewhere, Japanese city Yokohama has unveiled plans for a new theme park called Kamiseya Park, due to open in 2031.
Images courtesy of Japan Entertainment, a Katana group firm
