JOYPOLIS ATTRACTIONS

Basking in the phenomenal success of the first Ring film, Kadokawa Shoten (the company that publishes the Ring novels in Japan) teamed up with Sega's "Joypolis" chain of mega-arcades to present some limited-run Ring attractions. The first two were officially launched on July 17, 1999, and utlized elements from the movie and original novel.  To the left is a photo of Joypolis Tokyo.

The first attraction, Ring: 3D Sound, was a five-minute feature that had participants put on a pair of headphones for "an experience in palpable terror." This attraction was featured at all Joypolis locations. The second attraction was of the traditional "walk-through" variety. Dubbed Ring: "Spreading the Ring Virus" Tour, it featured 10 rooms that allowed participants to "wander through the world of The Ring for an experience in terror." Walk-through time was limited to 3 minutes and 30 seconds. This attraction was only at Joypolis Tokyo.

Six months later, on January 22nd, 2000, Joypolis Tokyo unveiled two new Ring Ø-themed attractions. Before the attractions went "live," a press junket / blessing ceremony performed by a genuine Shinto priest was held on December 3rd of 1999. In attendence were representatives from Sega and Kadokawa, as well as Ring Ø star Nakama Yukie. Following the ceremony, the guests experienced the attractions for themselves. The comments were extremely favorable, with Nakama calling the attractions "scary."

The first attraction, Ring Ø: Sadako, was also a "3D horror," though it made additional use of "vibrations, wind, and other elements." The attraction, which was later unveiled at all six Joypolis branches, had a running time of five minutes. Conversely, Ring Ø: Love and Horror was of the traditional walk-through type. Spanning 103 meters and eleven "scenes" of horror, it had a total participation time of around eight minutes.

In Japan, February 3rd is Setsubun, a tradition where people throw beans meant to ward off evil while chanting, "Devils out, fortune in!" For Setsubun, Joypolis Shinjuku had an attraction where patrons threw balls labeled "bean" at employees dressed as Sadako, while other Joypolis locations promised that Sadako would be appearing in various other special attractions. She also popped up a few weeks later for a series of Valentine's Day attractions, which included special merchandise such as Sadako chocolates.

Finally, Joypolis Tokyo also held a "Roots of the Ring" exhibit that included actual props used in the filming of Ring and Rasen (like Takayama Ryuji's cadaver!) For photographs, be sure to visit the Ring Photograph page at the Japanese fansite "LoopKai" Project.

THE GOODS

When the Ring advertising machine was in full swing, Joypolis featured an array of exclusive merchandise that included pens, mugs, and T-shirts. Crane games featured special plush dolls of Sadako, "towel man" and videotapes.

In order to promote Ring Ø, Joypolis even devised a special menu. The items featured fell into two basic categories: those with a ring shape, or those that contained apple (in Japanese, the word for apple is ringo, which of course resembles Ring Ø). On the apple side were "Sadako's tears" (apple juice and tapioca), "Sadako's makeup" (round, sugar-frosted apple fritters) and a bagel sandwich filled with crushed apple. On the ring side was the dinner combo which featured a "Ring Burger" (with fried calamari rings in place of a beef patty) served with a side of onion rings. It also came with "well water," a murky brown substance that was actually Oolong Tea with tapioca.

Joypolis has since discontinued all Ring-themed attractions and merchandise.

On July 20th, 2003, the Tobu Zoo in Saitama opened a Ring-themed haunted house dubbed "Ring: Sadako's Nightmare." The attraction, which claimed to be "so frightening that scores of people give up and head for the exit," consisted of at least five separate rooms--"hospital waiting room" (where the cursed video appeared on the television monitor), "abandoned house" (where it would seem a certain someone had been restrained), "Sadako's well," "inside the well" and "dark corridor."

The attraction, which was planned as a limited run, has since been discontinued.