Kamakura Cinema World

[Aaron Gerow]

Shochiku announced yesterday that it will close its Kamakura Cinema World 
movie theme park on December 15th.  The park, which opened in 1995 at the 
cost of 15 billion yen, has been suffering a steady decline in attendance 
and has already accumulated nearly 4.5 billion yen in debt.

Maybe other people have other opinions (though no one I know has said 
they liked the place), but I felt it was poorly designed from the start: 
too dependent upon Tora-san and featuring attractions that could never 
appeal to anyone over 6 years old.  I always wondered whether the people 
who designed it were the same ones who've been planning much of 
Shochiku's recent fare.  While the movies can get by on the advance 
ticket system, real customers clearly turned down Shochiku's vision of 
family entertainment.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
International Student Center
Yokohama National University
79-1 Tokiwadai
Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501
JAPAN
E-mail: gerow at ynu.ac.jp
Phone: 81-45-339-3170
Fax: 81-45-339-3171