David Fickling, Columnist

Japan's Amusement Parks Are No Joke

Contrary to popular perceptions, the country is a lucrative consumer market.

March 1, 2017 at 6:05 AM UTC

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

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What use would a country with more people over the age of 70 than under 20 have with amusement parks? More than you might think.

U.S. cable giant Comcast Corp. certainly seems to think so, judging by its decision to spend $2.3 billion buying full control of Universal Studios Japan. Comcast's NBCUniversal unit previously paid $1.5 billion for 51 percent of the Osaka theme park back in 2015, suggesting a 60 percent jump in equity value in less than 18 months.