The first time I learned of the existence of a Universal Studios in Japan was when I was in middle school. My sister and father were traveling to Japan, but I wasn’t able to go with them.. In addition to my interest in everything Japanese at the time, I had wondered what a Universal Studios there could look like, and what would make it different from the one we have in California.

The biggest draw at the time was ‘Super Nintendo World’, a section of the park dedicated to the iconic plumber in overalls: Mario. Because of the popularity, there was a reservation system in place to enter.

There were two options: Pay hundreds of dollars to guarantee entrance, or use the app to make a reservation once you’ve entered the park. We opted for the second, cheaper option. Because of this, we were unsure if we’d be able to enter Super Nintendo World, since booking could fill up quickly. Luckily, We were able to secure an 11am entry time, which gave us a couple of hours to explore before heading there.

After entering, the first thing that struck me was the size of the park. Although Disneyland in Japan is much smaller than the Los Angeles counterpart, Universal Studios Japan is much larger than the Hollywood version. I’m sure this has to do with the fact that most of the land in the Hollywood location is situated on a hillside, making expansion difficult. Though the Japan version doesn’t offer the studio tour that Hollywood does, so there is a sort of trade off.

Our first stop: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man!

Since the park had just opened, we didn’t have to wait at all to get on the ride. We zoomed through the queue and made our way to the start. Though I’m happy about absence of a wait time, it was a bit of a shame to not be able to appreciate the atmosphere in the line a bit longer.

This attraction is basically like the ‘Transformers’ ride at Universal Studios. We were given 3D glasses and got into the cart. We then traveled around following Spider-man as he fought against his familiar foes trying to take over the city. Overall, I really loved this attraction! It was fun, engaging, and If we could have, we would have ridden it several more times! Of course, by the time we wanted to the line had shot up from being a ‘walk on’ to being about an hour. Not a problem, there was still plenty more of the park to see.

From spiders to sharks, the next stop on our journey was the ‘Jaws’ attraction. I was curious about this one since I never had the chance to ride it in the States. The Orlando location closed down their ‘Jaws’ ride, and the Hollywood location never got it (since the shark is on the ‘Tram Tour’).

The attraction is a slow moving boat ride, similar to something like ‘Jungle Cruise’ at Disneyland. The tour guide leads the guests through Amity Island, showing the sites and great sight seeing spots. Of course, something has to go wrong and the boat is repeatedly attacked by a hungry great white shark. Eventually, the tour guide gets the shark to bite into an electric cable, electrocuting it and saving the guests (similar to the ending of Jaws 2).

I thought the animation shark was fairly well done, and it’s a shame that the Hollywood Universal Studios never got to see this attraction. There are several YouTube videos showing the ride for those interested, including ones for the Orlando attraction that’s no longer there.

We still had about an hour before we could enter Super Nintendo World, so we decided to stop by the’ “Harry Potter area.”‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter’.

The line for the main attraction was quite long (well over an hour), and from what I could tell it’s the same as the Hollywood location (not a bad thing). We decided to instead pop into “The Hog’s Head” for a pint and a rest before our big journey. We had to wait for a bit, but it was nice to sit back and relax while we sipped on our tasty beverages.

After finishing our drinks and feeling refreshed we headed out. We could see a glimpse of our next destination from where we were, and we would be spending the majority of our day there. Next stop, Super Nintendo World!