MCA, Nippon Steel to Jointly Develop Japan Studios Tour
MCA, which has long sought to build a Japanese theme park similar to its Universal Studios Tour, announced Thursday that it has found a partner in Nippon Steel Corp. of Japan to develop a “Universal Studios Japan.”
No site or construction schedule was divulged, but Nippon--the world’s largest steel company--owns large parcels of land throughout Japan surrounding its 10 steel mills. In addition, “Nippon owns--through an affiliated company--substantial undeveloped land,” said MCA Vice President Charles S. Paul, who helped negotiate the deal.
The two companies said they have agreed to explore various types of ventures in the entertainment and leisure industries in addition to Universal Studios Japan. As currently envisioned, the studio project would include a movie and television production facility, a theme park and a real estate development similar to a project now under construction in Orlando, Fla.
Finding a suitable location has been Universal City-based MCA’s biggest obstacle in launching a Japanese theme park, according to Jay S. Stein, president of MCA Recreation, who made his first trip to Japan in 1970 to scout for a site.
“Property is very hard to find in parcels large enough to do (a theme park),” Stein said. “You need a minimum of 100 acres.”
The largest existing amusement park in Japan is Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983 on 114 acres of landfill on Tokyo Bay about six miles from the city. Walt Disney Co. developed the park and receives about 7.5% of the park’s revenues annually for royalties and fees from the attraction’s owner, Oriental Land Co.
Disney and MCA already compete for visitors to their Southern California attractions and soon will compete in Florida, where both companies have begun constructing studio tour attractions scheduled to open within two years.
4 Million Visitors
Disney spokesman Erwin D. Okun declined to comment on MCA’s proposal for a Japanese attraction, saying, “When we find out where it’s located, call us back.” For MCA’s part, Paul said, “We’re not doing this to compete with Disney.” Japan, he said, has “the second-biggest box office in the world. These people love American movies.”
Since 1964, MCA has operated a tour of its sound stages and studio lots in Universal City, attracting more than 4 million visitors in 1987.
In the past year, MCA has accelerated its efforts to compete in the theme park business. The entertainment company committed more than $100 million to expanding its California attraction, and confirmed last fall that negotiations are under way for a theme park site in Europe.
In early 1987, MCA found a partner for its long-delayed Florida project in Cineplex Odeon, a Canadian movie-theater operator 50%-owned by MCA. According to Thursday’s news release, Cineplex will have an opportunity to participate with MCA in the Japanese venture.
The companies said film director Steven Spielberg has agreed to serve as creative consultant on the Japan attraction, and cooperation is anticipated from Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, whose credits include “Ran” and “Seven Samurai.”
Seashore Parcels
Nippon Steel, for its part, views the MCA agreement as part of its diversification from the troubled steel business to the information and leisure industries. Last month, for example, Nippon announced that it plans to build a space camp and museum on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, using a license from the Space Camp Foundation of Huntsville, Ala.
Despite sales of $14.9 billion, Nippon posted losses of $89 million for the year ended March 31, 1987, due to troubles in the steel industry. The company has announced plans to shut down “five blast furnaces in three years’ time,” and is anxious to find new businesses for its workers, explained Nippon Steel USA President Eiji Umene in a telephone interview from his New York office.
Umene said some of the company’s steel mills are located on tracts of land measuring 500 acres to 700 acres, and “all of them are located along (the) seashore because we have to import raw materials.”
MCA stock closed Thursday at $39.25, up 75 cents in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The trading volume reached 887,300 shares.
In addition to its theme parks and movie and television production, MCA holdings include, among other things, recorded music, book publishing, toys, retail stores and a New Jersey television station.
