A new theme park focusing on immersive experiences is set to debut on Friday in Tokyo¡¯s popular Odaiba area with the aim of introducing a new style of live entertainment.
The park, called Immersive Fort Tokyo, could become a new landmark in the Odaiba district by the Tokyo Bay, as it seeks to update the typical theme park experience with 12 attractions designed to enable visitors to feel more personally involved.
One attraction called Spy Action, for instance, puts audience members in the middle of a situation where mafia and spy agents engage in a gunfight. Mafia members point prop guns at the audience and order visitors to stay back, while some are even taken hostage.
Another attraction, the Sherlock, features a live performance featuring Sherlock Holmes at a two-story, 3,000 square-meter theater. The show recreates scenes of 19th-century London and visitors are allowed to freely stroll on the stage, so they get to feel that they are actually part of the show¡¯s world and watch the performers acting close to them.
Other attractions include a cabaret-style live performance show and an escape-room type attraction where visitors have to work together to evade an enemy, which focuses on providing participants with an immersive experience.
In addition, there are attractions that collaborate with some popular anime titles, such as ¡°Oshi no Ko¡± and ¡°Tokyo Revengers.¡±
Immersive Fort Tokyo is operated by marketing and entertainment firm Katana and is located at the 30,000 square-meter site formerly occupied by the Venus Fort outlet shopping mall. Katana claims that it is the world¡¯s first theme park focused on providing immersive experiences on this scale.
Basic one-day tickets are priced at ?6,800 for adults and ?3,000 for children age 4 to 11. Visitors need to pay extra to experience some of the attractions.
Osaka-based Katana is keen to boost its presence with its theme park business because it expects live entertainment demand to grow further. The firm is headed by Tsuyoshi Morioka, who is known for his role in turning around Universal Studios Japan when he was an executive there.
On top of Immersive Fort Tokyo, Katana is looking to open a massive theme park in Okinawa Prefecture in 2025.
Integrating vast forestry, the new nature-inspired theme park, called Junglia, will be built on a former golf course site that stretches from the village of Nakijin to the city of Nago.
Katana was also involved with the renewal of Seibuen Amusement Park in Saitama Prefecture, which reopened in 2021. And the firm has been helping with the rebranding and management of Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki Prefecture.
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