After Johor Bahru in Malaysia which will open its doors next September, Legoland wants now to develop a theme park in Japan.
TOKYO- On June 16, British amusement park operator Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd opened to the public its first Legoland Discovery Center in Tokyo. The smaller scale version of the Legoland theme park is located inside Decks Tokyo Beach, a shopping and entertainment complex in the city’s Odaiba waterfront area. Destinated mostly to care for kids aged 3 to 10, it has areas where kids can build with Lego blocks, a play zone, a cafeteria and a special room for birthday parties. Highlight of Legoland Discovery Center Tokyo is a huge diorama of the capital’s cityscape made from 1.67 million Lego pieces. The mini-theme park is the eighth Legoland Discovery Center around the world.
The launch of Legoland Discovery Center was also the right time for Merlin Entertainments to announce its willingness to further develop in Japan with a proper Legoland theme park. According to Japan’s news agency Kyodo, UK officials revealed to be currently in negociation to obtain a concession for an area in Nagoya. Lego management visited recently the Japanese city to seek support from Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura for its bid to open a park around 2016. During a meeting at the city office, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, chairman of Kirkbi A/S, the largest shareholder of Lego A/S, said Lego hoped by “early August or autumn” to officially select Nagoya as the site for the theme park, and Kawamura responded, “We’ll cooperate in the construction.” Lego officials subsequently visited a 10-hectare candidate site in Nagoya Port. If opened in Nagoya, it will be the first theme park in Japan featuring products of the Danish toymaker.
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