News

Universal Studios Japan, One Piece Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea Close Until Mid-March

Oriental Land Co announced on Friday that its Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea theme parks will close from February 29 through March 15 in hopes of curbing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus illness in Japan. Similarly, Universal Studios Japan also announced on Friday that it will close during the same timeframe. The Tokyo One Piece Tower also announced on Thursday that it is closed from Friday until March 17.

This will be the first time that the Disney parks will close for an extended period since the time period after the March 2011 earthquake in the Tohoku region.

Universal Studios Japan is currently hosting several anime-themed events as part of the "Universal Cool Japan 2020" campaign.

Similarly, the Shizuoka Hobby Show, Japan's largest hobby and model kit show which was planned to be held on May 13-17, announced on Friday that the event has been cancelled.

Other cancellations include:

• Square Enix's "The Primals Live in Tokyo - Bringers of Shadow" concerts planned for April 14-15
• Square Enix's "NieR:Theatrical Orchestra 12020" concert planned for March 28-29
• 22/7's fifth single live event planned for February 27
• "KSL Live World 2020 ~REFLECTION BLUE Summer~" event planned for April 29

Additionally, Microsoft has also pulled out of the GDC event that will take place in San Francisco from March 16 to 20. Other companies that have cancelled attendance at the event include Kojima Productions, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and Facebook Gaming.

NHK and The Japan Times reported on Thursday that the number of cases of the new coronavirus in Japan now exceeds 200. The news outlets reported that the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, additionally has more than 700 infected passengers. NHK reported that 10 people in Japan have died from COVID-19 as of Friday evening.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced on Thursday that the government will ask all elementary, junior high, and high schools in Japan close from March 2 until the end of students' regular spring break, which is typically early April.

The first reported cases of the COVID-19 disease occurred in Wuhan, China in December, and then began to spread in varying rates and intensities across many parts of the globe through incubation in human hosts. The WHO declared a world health emergency on January 30. As of Thursday, the WHO reported that there are 82,294 infected individuals worldwide, with 78,630 of them in China and 186 official cases in Japan proper. 2,747 individuals have died from the disease in China.

Thanks to Kougeru for the KSL Live World news tip.

Sources: Kyodo News, Oricon News, USJ, Tokyo One Piece Tower, Shizuoka Hobby Show, 4Gamer, Visual Arts' Twitter account, 22/7 press release, Microsoft via Siliconera