OSAKA: Universal Studios Japan will open a new attraction area featuring popular video games from Nintendo Co.  on March 18, the operator of the movie theme park in the city of Osaka, western Japan, said Monday.

The move comes as the Japanese government lifted its second state of emergency over the new coronavirus epidemic for Osaka Prefecture at the end of last month.

The opening of the area, dubbed Super Nintendo World, has been postponed twice due to the virus crisis.

Visitors will be asked to get tickets to enter the new area for the time being. The tickets will be distributed inside the theme park, with entry to the Nintendo area only to be allowed during the designated time, printed on the tickets.

The area was originally scheduled to open in summer 2020, but the launch was postponed to early February 2021 due to the virus crisis. The USJ operator decided in January this year to put off the opening again, following the government’s declaration of the state of emergency that month, which initially covered Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures and was expanded later to cover Osaka and six other prefectures.

The emergency is now in place only for Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.

Since March 1, the theme park has been limiting the number of daily visitors at around 10,000.

JIJI Press