On Jan. 23, Tokyo Disneyland held a preview event for the media in anticipation of the park's 20th anniversary, which will be celebrated April 15. About 1,400 celebrity guests showed up trailed by 50 camera crews, all from domestic television stations, which means that most of them were from outside of Tokyo.
What is it about Tokyo Disneyland? It is a much more successful franchise than either of the American Disney parks or the one in France. Twenty-five million people visited Tokyo Disneyland last year, or about a fifth of Japan's total population. The average amount of money spent by each visitor, including admission, was 9,600 yen. Sales of merchandise in the park brought in 300 billion yen.
This success cannot be explained solely by the park's family-oriented atmosphere -- 70 percent of the visitors are over 18 and most are women -- nor by the theory that Japanese will embrace anything that's cute. It can only be explained by the power of the Disney brand and a kind of self-perpetuating momentum.