This is the second installment of a series featuring untold stories that came to light a decade after the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in March 2011.
On March 11, 2011, the largest theme park group in Japan was hit by the biggest earthquake it had experienced since its opening. Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, comprises Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea and has about 30 million visitors a year.
There were about 70,000 visitors at TDR when it was hit by the quake, which measured upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7.
The site, which is on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, shook violently. The theme parks echoed with people's screams.
How was the situation inside this "dreamland," which draws visitors with richly entertaining attractions as well as high-quality service and hospitality? The following report is based on research and interviews conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
"It's really cold, so please place this under your bottom," said Momoko Tamori, 38, a part-time worker at the popular attraction Haunted Mansion at Tokyo Disneyland, while distributing cardboard boxes to visitors who had escaped outdoors after the quake.
That day, it was cold and drizzling. On seeing people leave, Tamori made a quick decision and ran to the back of the facility to fetch some cardboard boxes there, to protect them.
She was not instructed by anyone nor did she ask for her supervisor's permission.
"I just did what I'd been taught, which is to put the greatest priority on visitors' safety if we have no idea how to act," Tamori said, recalling her actions.
It was a Friday and Tokyo Disneyland and the adjacent Tokyo DisneySea were crowded with university students enjoying their spring holidays and families with children.
In addition to about 70,000 visitors, there were about 10,000 workers, called "cast members," 90% of whom were part-time workers like Tamori. After the earthquake occurred, each of them did what they thought appropriate depending on where they were.
For example, one worker did not allow visitors to pass under chandeliers as it was dangerous. Another worker distributed stuffed animals that were for sale in place of disaster hoods.
"I felt we must not let visitors feel uneasy as our park is a magical dream world," said Takayuki Nakajima, 55, who was responsible that day for the area that has Splash Mountain in it.
About 20,000 visitors were unable to return home mainly due to canceled trains and were forced to stay there overnight. The next day, when they left the theme parks, they saw roads caved in, mud spewing out and manholes protruding from the ground. Despite the terrible conditions, nobody was injured.
-- Standards of conduct
"We could die at a time like this." This is what a 38-year-old woman from Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, felt when the quake occurred. She was having a meal with her 2-year-old daughter and 11-month-old son at Restaurant Hokusai near the entrance of Tokyo Disneyland.
Unfortunately, her husband was somewhere else in the park at the time. She managed to push her son under the table. She then held on to the stroller her daughter was in. It was very difficult to keep holding it as the shaking was so violent. When she thought, "I can't do this any longer," a young worker ran to her and firmly held the stroller.
"He was defenseless too, but he risked his life to protect us," she said, moved.
After the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake hit Kobe and the surrounding region badly, Oriental Land Co., the operator of the two theme parks, had conducted 180 disaster drills each year imagining a serious scenario in which an earthquake measuring upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 occurs at 6 p.m. in winter when there are 100,000 visitors.
Cast members are told to thoroughly observe four standards of conduct at work -- Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. Among them, the safety of visitors is given the highest priority.
When the earthquake occurred, about 10,000 cast members acted based on the drills and the standards of conduct, telling visitors things like, "Please protect your head and squat down."
-- Going off-limits
In the evening, it was getting colder and colder, so visitors needed to be inside the buildings. But the required building safety check did not go smoothly, especially at Tokyo Disneyland, which has more buildings.
"If this situation continues, we won't be able to accommodate visitors indoors. We want to transfer visitors from Disneyland to DisneySea. Is that all right?" This was what the TDR quake safety headquarters asked Keiji Tamura, 53, who was supervising DisneySea that day.
The problem was the transfer route. To move from Disneyland to DisneySea, people usually need to go outside. But it was dark out and, moreover, ground liquefaction made it dangerous. In reply, Tamura said, "I want them to go through the backyard [a safe shortcut]."
Visitors are usually only allowed to see "onstage" places as the theme parks must be a "dreamland" for them. It is natural that the backyard is off-limits.
Yasuhiro Sakamoto, 55, who served as the headquarters' administrative director, and other officials nevertheless quickly agreed as they were aware that they "must not make visitors walk the longer distance when it's cold and dangerous." As a result, about 1,500 visitors passed through the "secret backyard alley" to reach DisneySea at 2 a.m. on March 12.
Yuji Hara, 54, a company president from Toshima Ward, Tokyo, stayed at a restaurant at Disneyland with his wife and their 4-year-old son. He said that he was very surprised that its restroom, which served about 1,900 visitors staying overnight at the restaurant, was always very clean thanks to frequent cleaning by cast members.
Hara also says that as the theme park was illuminated until late at night, he did not feel uneasy.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
