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Shanghai Disneyland re-opened last month, and Hong Kong Disneyland will follow this week. Universal Studios Japan will also re-open this week (see video) but Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea are still biding their time, after closing on February 29th.
Tokyo Disneyland is, of course, in Urayasu, Chiba, rather than Tokyo. It might have been built in Nagano, or Ibaraki instead. The foot of Mt.Fuji was also a very strong contender. If one businessman's plans had worked out, it would have been in Nara, over 20 years earlier.
The basic history of Tokyo Disneyland is on the website of Oriental Land, the firm which owns and operates the theme parks. Oriental Land wasn't set up originally to run Disneyland, however. http://www.olc.co.jp/en/company/history/history01.html
Oriental Land was a joint venture between Keisei Rail, and two real estate firms, Mitsui and Asahi (Mitsui later absorbed Asahi). They negotiated with Chiba Prefecture to reclaim, and develop, land around Urayasu.
Before it was redeveloped, Urayasu was a fishing town, famous for seaweed and clams.
However, in 1958, a mill run by Honshu Paper started discharging dark run-off into the Edo River, polluting the Urayasu fishing grounds, and killing most of the local aquaculture. It was known as the 黒い水事件 ("Black Water Scandal".
Fishermen attacked the mill in May to halt the pollution. In June, hundreds travelled to Tokyo to petition the Diet. Some stopped at the mill on the way back, and attacked it again, before 600 police, and a couple of armoured cars, broke up the protest. https://urayasu.weebly.com/122952641224030350693202527738277002010720214.html
The incident led to new regulations on water quality but the damage was already extensive. One report says around a third of local families and businesses could not pay their municipal tax that year.
Chiba Prefecture and Urayasu City decided they needed a change in direction. There was growing demand for housing near prosperous Tokyo, so Oriental Land was given reclamation and development rights with a major condition: Chiba also wanted a large-scale recreational facility.
Keisei Rail boss, Chiharu Kawasaki, is often credited with the initial idea to solicit Disney. He was in the US on business, and visited Disneyland in Anaheim soon after it opened in 1955. He was immediately impressed.
When you visit Tokyo Disneyland, though, a window display names Masatomo Takahashi as the founder. Arguably, without Takahashi, Tokyo Disneyland would not have been built.
When Takahashi was working for an oil distributor, he met this man, Hideo Edo. Edo ran Mitsui Real Estate, one of the founding firms of Oriental Land. He realized the new company could use a man of Takahashi's talents.
Takahashi was a strong drinker. Kawasaki needed a straight-talker to negotiate with local fisherman who, you will recall, had only recently stormed the Honshu paper mill. Edo recommended Takahashi, and he came on board.
Keisei and Mitsui thought it might take years to convince the fishermen to give up their fishing rights. Takahashi won them over in six months, through an intensive campaign of wining and dining. A TV show imagined how this might have played out:
This cleared the way for reclamation work to start, and planning began for a suitable keynote recreational facility. The original proposal was a park theme of すばらしい人間とその世界 showcasing "the world of wonderful people", with hotels and shops.
Eventually, Oriental Land decided to solicit Disney. Walt Disney himself had vowed never to have dealings Japan again, after a bad business experience with Kunizo Matsuo, which we'll look at later. However, Walt died in 1966, and his successors were more amenable.
Kawasaki was the key man pushing for Disney but, when the oil shock caused business at Keisei Railway to slump, he had to resign. Mitsui had always been lukewarm about Disney, so it was up to Takahashi, who took over at Oriental Land, to seal the deal.
Disney was already on board, having settled on Urayasu over the competing offer by Mitsubishi at the foot of Mt. Fuji. A presentation in Tokyo, and helicopter ride over the site, had convinced them.
However, Mitsui thought Disney's demand for a 50 year deal with a 10% licence fee, and 5% of merchandise, was outrageous, especially as the US firm was investing none of its own money. Talks were called off several times. Ultimately, Takahashi brought everyone back to the table.
Construction went way over budget, so Takahashi had his work cut out keeping credit lines open. The park we know today finally opened in 1983. It was raining, so the opening ceremony was held under cover.
You'd think with a railway as a major shareholder, it would have been easy to get to Tokyo Disneyland. Actually, Maihama Station wasn't built until 1988. If you didn't travel by car, for the first five years, you had to go by subway to Urayasu, then take a 20 minute bus ride.
Chiba, Urayasu, Oriental Land and JR East wanted Maihama Station to be called ディズニーランド駅 (Disneyland Station). "Tokyo Disneyland Station" was probably a step too far for proud Chiba residents.
Allegedly, Disney nixed the idea. When a business has a store near a station in Japan, it's often called the 駅前店. Fiercely protective of its licensing, Disney didn't want anyone to have a ディズニーランド駅前店, especially a pachinko parlour, or nightclub.
I mentioned earlier that Walt Disney had fallen out badly with former kabuki actor Kunizo Matsuo, over the latter's theme park plan for Nara. This thread is already too long, so I'll tell that story separately.
