Something strange has happened at Shima Spain Village, which was said to be “always empty” and “always deserted”…!?

Shima Spain Village is a complex resort facility with a hotel and natural hot springs, centered around the theme park Parque Espana. Since its opening in 1994, the number of visitors has been declining, and fans living in the Kinki region have said they are worried the park will go out of business.

However, a post on X stated that some attractions had wait times of up to 100 minutes during this year’s Golden Week, and the timeline was flooded with comments of surprise.

In 2019, Shima Spain Village ran a self-deprecating campaign on its official website, stating, “Because it’s not crowded, you can have 2000% more fun than at other facilities,” “Almost no waiting time!” and “It’s empty, so you can take as many photos as you want.” This led to comments from X and others saying that they were rather “refined!”

What on earth happened that there was a 100-minute wait at such a local theme park?

“We had a lot of visitors this year as well, and the hotel on the premises was fully booked most days during Golden Week, making it a great success! However, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not like anything big has happened or changed. It’s actually just business as usual… The number of visitors this year was roughly the same as in previous years.” (Uemura, same below)

So what does that mean? So is the commonly held image of it being “always empty” wrong in the first place?

“That may be true (laughs). The campaign we ran in 2019 may have somehow caused some misunderstanding this year, but that campaign spread in a way that was different from our intention.

This was a “student discount campaign” that was held in February and March to attract students who had time during spring break. It is true that this is the off-season, but we didn’t intend to do it with the intention of saying “It’s always empty and difficult, so please come and visit us.”

However, it was perceived as self-deprecating on the Internet and became a hot topic, and I believe that the image that it is ‘always empty’ has taken on a life of its own.”