Guests are presumably required to wear masks.
The cultural shift to adopting face masks has probably not gone more smoothly in any country than Japan, which has long enjoyed casual face-covering in public since back when “corona” was little more than a beer. And outside of minor pushbacks here and there, this pandemic has only strengthened our love of covering up our jaws.
They’ve been used as props in sexy political ads, the medium of artists, and sold at high-end boutiques. Just when you thought it’s all been done, along comes Tokyo Mask Land, the maskiest place on Earth.
Following in the footsteps of Chiba’s Tokyo Disneyland, this theme park isn’t even in Tokyo but will open in the Asobuild leisure complex in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture from 1 to 30 December.
The organizers announced that Tokyo Mask Land will feature photo booths and “attractions” as well as an area to make your own masks by hand. Little else is known about it except that admission will be 500 yen (US$4.75) in advance and 1,000 yen ($9.50) at the door. They also released this concept diagram:
▼ You get the idea
Now is probably a good time to mention that Tokyo Mask Land is being organized by Stars, Inc, which is the same group that set up Tokyo Tapioca Land last year. Although capitalizing on the bubble tea craze at the time, Tokyo Tapioca Land was widely criticized for “looking like a school festival.”
▼ Tokyo Tapioca Land
So while the name conjures up images of a full-on theme park, it’d probably be better to ground your expectations by calling Tokyo Mask Land a “themed indoor park-like space” with the same general vibe that Tokyo Tapioca Land had.
Most comments online certainly seem to suggest that people are once bitten, twice shy when it comes to these trendy “Tokyo Lands.”
“If a cluster breaks out there, it would be the most ironic thing.”
“That is a notorious company…”
“Wasn’t Tapioca Land a huge flop?”
“This is totally going to lead to a mass infection.”
“This is great because I didn’t get to go to any school festivals this year.”
“This looks exactly the same as Tapioca Land.”
“They’ll probably sell tapioca masks.”
“Tapioca Land was just a bunch of black balloons, so I guess Mask Land will be a bunch of white balloons.”
White balloons do appear to be in the concept sketch, so that last comment is probably correct. We can also expect souvenirs for sale such as face masks and maybe even white buttons to complement the pure black buttons sold at Tapioca Land.
▼ 300 yen ($2.85)
Expectations appear quite low for Tokyo Mask Land, but this could be a prime opportunity for Stars, Inc. to completely wow everyone with an unprecedented, wild mask-themed experience. A fun-slide where you ride down on a mask-shaped mat and land in a ball pit full of little coronaviruses might be interesting, if not in questionable taste.
Regardless, the tapioca ball is fully in their court and the public waits with bated breath to see if they can pull off an amusement area that fittingly celebrates our current dystopia.
Event information
Tokyo Mask Land / 東京マスクランド
Kanagawa-ken, Yokohama-shi, Nishi-ku, Takashima 2-14-9, Asobuild 3F
神奈川県横浜市西区高島2-14-9 アソビル3階
1 December to 30 December, 2020
Open: 11am to 9pm
Admission: 500 yen in advance, 1,000 yen at the door
Website
Source: PR Times, J-Cast News, Hachima Kiko
Top image: PR Times
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