Located in Osaka, Universal Studios Japan is one of six Universal Studios theme parks, owned and operated by USJ LLC, which is wholly owned by NBCUniversal. The park is similar to the Universal Orlando Resort since it also contains selected attractions from Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. The park opened on 31 March 2001, in opening year, Over 11 million guests visited the park in its opening year, making it the world’s fastest amusement park to have achieved the 10 million milestone at the time. Since then, Universal Studios Japan has had approximately 8 million visitors every year. Most visitors are Japanese tourists and tourists from other Asian countries such as South Korea and China.
Universal Studios Japan currently has eleven sections. Visitors are able to enjoy many amusement rides, ranging from child-friendly carousels to thrilling roller coasters and simulators based on popular movies such as Spiderman, Back to the Future, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park. In addition to rides, the theme park offers many opportunities to take pictures with popular characters’ mascots such as Snoopy, Hello Kitty and the Muppets. There are also various shows put on every day, including a night parade featuring illuminated floats that are paraded through the streets.
Outside the park’s gates, there is Universal Citywalk Osaka, which is a shopping mall with multiple official Universal hotels and many restaurants and shops, including stores selling Universal Studios merchandise and Osaka souvenirs. Furthermore, the Osaka Takoyaki Museum, which is essentially a collection of several popular vendors of the local dish gathered under one roof, is located on the mall’s fourth floor.
Park Information
Style: Amusement Theme Park
Theme: Show Business and Universal Entertainment
Address: 2 Chome-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana Ward, Osaka, 554-0031, Japan
Information Center Telephone: +81 570-200-606
Opening Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (Hours may be different depends on days)
Roller coasters: 5
Area: 54 ha
Opening day: March 31, 2001
Ease of Access
The entrance gate of the Universal Studios Japan is located a five minute walk from Universal City Station on the JR Yumesaki Line (also referred to as JR Sakurajima Line).
Admission Fees and Ticket Types
Studio one day passes
Adult 7,800 yen
Child 5,400 yen
Seniors 7,100 yen
Studio two days passes
Adult 15,400 yen
Child 10,500 yen
Lands and attractions
The park is 54 hectares large. The attractions are spread across nine different areas of the park. A tenth area, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, opened on 15 July 2014 with its flagship attraction, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The area was modeled on the areas of the same names at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. There are also attractions that are not in the United States and are unique to Universal Studios Japan, such as Black Lake and Hogwarts Express Photo Op. Also the eleventh area, Super Nintendo World was opened on 18 March 2021.
Official Hotels
Hotel Keihan Universal City
Hotel Kintetsu Universal City
Hotel Keihan Universal Tower
Hotel Universal Port
Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan
Social Media
Website: https://www.usj.co.jp/web/en/us
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UniversalStudiosJapan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/universal_studios_japan/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/usj_official?lang=en
