Universal Studios Japan Chief Resigns

The president of Universal Studios Japan resigned Thursday over operating problems that have slashed attendance, tarnished the park’s image and delivered visitors thrills they hadn’t bargained for: restaurants serving expired food, drinking fountains spewing unsanitary water and shows using excessive explosives.

Akira Sakata, president of USJ Co., which operates the park, apologized for the trouble.

He will be replaced by Shin Sasaki, a former official of the Osaka city government, the park’s largest shareholder, owning about 25%.

The L.A.-based senior vice president of Universal Parks and Resorts, Jim Yeager, said he did not believe the controversy affected attendance. Other executives said the problems have been resolved.

The Hollywood-inspired theme park--the first outside the U.S. for Vivendi Universal’s Universal Studios--opened in March 2001 to rave reviews. It reached its first-year target of 8 million visitors by November, about four months ahead of schedule.

But the park was plagued by problems that grew even bigger over the summer.

In July, health officials found high levels of bacteria in the water at six drinking fountains. The park acknowledged that cooks had been routinely using outdated salami sausage, rice crackers and other ingredients to prepare food at the park’s 21 restaurants. It also admitted it had falsely reported the explosives it had used and stored for four shows.

Attendance plunged to 1.26 million in July and August, down a quarter from 1.67 million in the same period a year ago.