Immersive Fort Tokyo wants to give guests an experience they can’t get anywhere else.

In the spring of 2022, Tokyo’s Palette Town entertainment complex closed down, which also meant the closure of the building’s Venus Fort shopping center. Venus Fort’s claim to fame was that it looked like an Italian city state from the days of yore, complete with columned architecture, statuary and fountains, and even a simulated sky that changed from day to night.

A lot of work went into the Venus Fort visuals, so much so that it seems like it’d be a waste to just tear it all down. So instead, Osaka-based entertainment design company Katana Inc. is converting the facility into what it calls Japan’s first full immersive theater theme park, with horror and murder mystery experiences for guests to play a participative role in.

Despite their cool name, Katana Inc. isn’t a company most people are familiar with, but they’ve got some impressive credentials, with the company’s senior creative director, Shoichiro Tsuno, having served as general producer of Universal Studios Japan’s Halloween Horror Night events.

The all-indoor Tokyo theme park will be called Immersive Fort Tokyo, with its roughly 30,000-square meter (322,917-square foot) area housing 12 attractions and four restaurants, one of which transitions to an immersive show as diners eat.

The planners haven’t revealed exactly what the experience attractions will be, or whether there will be non-horror/murder ones as well. They do promise that one of the individual experiences lasts over an hour, and that “Joy, screams, excitement, and emotion” will ensue, along with their predications that guests will find themselves saying things such as:

“I was the only witness to the murder!”
“I’m the only one who knows the secret this story revolves around.”
“Now I’m the lead suspect in the investigation!”
“I’m standing at the center of the glittering stage.”
“Before I knew what was happening, I was tossed into the middle of a gunfight.”

▼ Left: “This totally hot guy says he’s in love with me…!?”
Right: “He’s been poisoned and they’re arresting me for it? Why?”

Katana Inc. says its goal for the park is for guests to have a strong sense of participation in the events that unfold during their visit, creating a highly individualized experience and the sort of heightened intensity that can only come from live entertainment.

Immersive Fort Tokyo is scheduled to open next spring.

Source, images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]