Junglia Opens with Hope of Revitalizing Northern Okinawa

Nakijin, Okinawa Pref., Aug. 19 (Jiji Press)–Junglia Okinawa, a large-scale nature-themed amusement park, opened in the northern Yanbaru region of Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, on July 25 with the aim of revitalizing the local economy and tourism.

“Junglia is not an amusement park made of iron and concrete,” said Tsuyoshi Morioka, CEO of Katana Inc., a marketing company, based in the city of Osaka, western Japan, that designed the park.

Straddling the village of Nakijin and the city of Nago, the park showcases Yanbaru’s nature. Local communities expect the park to attract tourists to northern Okinawa, which they have tended to skip.

The park will have an economic impact of 6,808 billion yen and create 880,000 jobs over the next 15 years, according to an estimate by Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor emeritus at Kansai University in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, and others.

To ward off concerns about traffic jams in surrounding roads, the park plans to operate free shuttle buses. The Okinawa prefectural government will also take measures, including widening roads.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]