So Jōzu (ジョーズ): The JAWS Ride Universal Studios Japan

In January (2023), after a three year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the very harsh border restrictions, I returned to Japan. This trip had been postponed since December 2021 and was primarily a research trip to help with updating my book “Japan: The Basics” to a second edition.

But, of course, there was a bonus (or maybe it was the real reason)… USJ still has an active Jaws ride. In fact, it’s the only proper Jaws ride in the world as the one in Florida was shut down (as discussed in the book “Adventures in Amity: Tales from the Jaws Ride“). This wasn’t my first visit to USJ (I also went in 2013), but it’s the first time since I really got back into Jaws (as discussed in posts such as ‘Jaws for a Day‘)

Having got to USJ, I went straight to the Jaws ride.

The queue for the ride was long, but not excessive compared to what I’m sure it would be like in summer. But I didn’t need to worry about the queue at all – as a single rider, there was a special line, meaning that from entering the building in the photograph above to boarding the ride itself took less than 5 minutes. It would have been even less had I not stopped to take some photos of the inside of the buildings where you queue. Most of these items are nice hints to what Amity itself would be like if it were a real place, rather than particularly links to the film itself. In that respect, it feels a little different to many other rides I have been on where they seem to be recreating parts of a film. There are a few hints to the films and a few places where you can see items connected with the films, as you can see in the following photograph.

I then boarded the ride itself. There are two things to note about the ride at this point. First, you are not allowed to use any electronic devices – so no phone calls, no videos, and no photos. Second, the ride is in Japanese only. This is not an issue for me as I understand Japanese. But for those who don’t, it will undoubtedly impact their enjoyment. This, in itself, was useful for my research. It was very apparent during the day that USJ is primarily interested in its Japanese customers. There is some English on some of the signs, but there is no Mandarin or Korean, for example, despite the fact that more tourists come from these countries than English-speaking countries. More and more you see Mandarin, Korean, and sometimes other languages on signs in Japan – but not at USJ. That there’s no option to have a headset with the commentary (and compared to some on the Florida ride, based on what I read in the aforementioned book, I get the impression that there isn’t much deviation from the standard script so having a standard translation would be easy) is a bit surprising. I don’t think it’s even a COVID-related thing – there are plenty of other rides where items are given out and then returned and cleaned at the end of the ride.

Even though I was wearing a face mask (at this time, face masks were advisable in many places in Japan, but USJ was very insistent that people use them on rides, even if outdoors, and preferably as you’re walking around too), I’m pretty sure that everyone would have been able to see me smiling. It was so much fun immersing myself into the experience. I don’t think the ride itself is that different to the Florida one ended up being, but in a nutshell, the key points were – having Chief Brody’s house pointed out (looks nothing like the one in Jaws), going past a similar boat to the one you’re on that is sinking, seeing a shark swimming at a distance (right hand side of the boat), going into a dark warehouse to shelter from the shark, said shark comes into the warehouse & comes out of the water (right hand side of the boat), escaping from the warehouse, the guide accidentally shooting their rifle & blowing up a petrol storage area, the shark reappearing (left hand side), the shark getting electrocuted and killed (left hand side), the ride coming to an end.

Photograph taken close to the exit of the loading area and first part of the Jaws ride

Once you get off the ride, your exit takes you through a souvenir shop – which I’ll come back to. I then went to have my picture taken with the hanging shark by the entrance to the ride. They will take one photo with your own device, as well as take an official photo – which you can buy either digitally or get a printed version. I was happy with the photo taken on my phone:

However, I got caught up in the moment and so also got the digital copy of the official photo. I had been told to pose in this one like… well, I’m not sure what look they thought it was. I suppose it’s meant to be like a scary monster. It’s not very shark-like, that’s for sure. In the end, I feel like I’ve done the worst impression of Sean Brody miming his dad ever seen:

It was now time for lunch. A Jaws-themed lunch.

Of course, I had to have one of each of these. And, I have to say, unlike many fast-food restaurants that come to mind, the actual things looked very similar to the pictures.

Having said that, was it actually shark meat nuggets? I don’t know. I’ve not really had shark much before (and refuse to have shark-fin soup due to the awful way that the sharks are left to die), so I couldn’t say.

After lunch, I decided to explore the park some more… which meant walking through the rest of Amity. While most of this doesn’t look like Amity in the films or Martha’s Vineyard (there aren’t enough white buildings), there was at least one thing that was a great nod to the original film.

Having passed this sick vandalism, I went off to watch a Waterworld show (which was entertaining, but I had other issues with) and some other rides – most of which made me feel sick due to their heavy use of AR and swinging motions.

I also went to the Information Centre to see if I could find someone to interview about my research. My attempts to set up an interview before arriving (by phoning) had failed. There was nobody available to comment on my questions (which I had printed out), but they told me where I could send the questions after my visit (for note, I have done this, but, as yet, the questions haven’t been answered).

Putting that disappointment to one side, I decided it was time to return to Amity.

As before, I was able to the rush past the others who were queuing for the Jaws ride. Again, I boarded the boat. Again, we were introduced to the boat, the rules, and had the Chief’s house pointed out. But, no sooner had the sunken boat been pointed out to us, than the ride came to a halt. Now, I was familiar with this having been an issue on the ride in Florida from reading all about its history. I had even included a question about reliability in my list of questions. I had not expected to get caught up in a problem myself (for note, I have had similar problems at Disney in LA, for example). Somewhat bizarrely (compared to normal people), I was quite happy to have this experience. After our guide chatted with HQ, he then proceeded to try to keep us entertained… at least those of us who understood Japanese. We did three multiple choice questions about the Jaws ride, or, more specifically, the hanging shark and had a few other things pointed out. Eventually, (probably 10 to 15 minutes later), another boat appeared and pushed us back to the starting point, where we had to get off. We were given fast passes (not much use for me as a single rider) and shown the exit (via the souvenir shop). I did try to go back and queue again, but was told that the ride was temporarily shut. Instead, I went off to some other rides – including in the Super Nintendo World (the popularity of which is such that you have to book an entry window (the same applies to the Harry Potter section, which I had no interest in going to)).

It was now time for a snack. Back to Amity for an infamous shark hotdog.

I had come across mentions of this snack on the Internet and also when talking to the hosts of the fabulous Let’s Jaws For A Minute podcast when I appeared on one of their episodes. Here is a close up image of the hotdog.

Compared to lunch, I wasn’t really getting a strong shark or Jaws vibe from the hot dog. Adding ketchup perhaps helps as a stand in for blood, but honestly, the main thing I got from the hot dog was a healthy dose of grease landing on my trousers. It tasted OK, but the curved stick definitely got in the way of eating easily.

After a few more rides in other parts of the park, it was getting dark. That could mean only one thing. Time to return to Amity. I had read that the Jaws ride has a different feel in the dark to daylight, so I really wanted to try this. I was relieved when I got back to find that the ride had reopened. Now, while I couldn’t take any photos of the ride itself, even the entrance to the attraction looked so cool in the dark (though it would probably look even better without the advert for the credit card).

As a single rider, it meant that each time I went on the ride, I ended up on the right hand side. I nearly asked if I could be put on the left, but didn’t bother in the end. As for going on the ride in the evening rather than the daylight, it definitely had a different feel to it. If you could only do the ride once, I’d suggest the night time one.

After the ride, I went to the souvenir shop. I had already had a quick look before. I was disappointed by the choice of clothing – I would have got a T-shirt or hoodie had it had the Jaws design on it with USJ details, but all there was was a sleeveless jumper in a colour which I couldn’t imagine ever wearing. Despite knowing I’d unlikely ever wear it, I was still quite proud of myself for resisting any urges to buy it. I did end up buying other items though. This is a picture that I took after I got back to the UK.

Jaws souvenirs from USJ. A tall cup with the Jaws poster logo on it. A pen with the Jaws poster logo on it. Three small sharks on strings for attaching to mobile phones or bags. A photo holder in the shape of the hanging shark. A metal 3D jigsaw of the hanging shark.

All in all, my day at USJ was enjoyable and I achieved many of the things that I wanted to do on the research front too. But I can’t finish this post without returning to the title of the post, which contains Japanese script. For whatever reason, the Japanese name of the film, ジョーズ, appears on merchandise which can be found in the UK, amongst other places (yet is hard to find in USJ). The name is not as poetic as the French version (“Les Dents De La Mer” – literally “the teeth of the sea”), it’s merely using the phonetic script, katakana, often used for foreign words and is the closest that the phonetics allow to get to the word “Jaws”. Reading it, it could also be read as “Joe’s”, which is an ice cream company where I live. Now I am ashamed to say (given how much I love Jaws and love puns) that it was only while at USJ that I realised that ジョーズ is a valid reading for 上手 which means “very good” and is often used as the way that Japanese people comment on foreigner’s Japanese (out of politeness rather than really think it is). Accordingly, I felt obliged to add the following post on my Instagram account. (The picture is included, with many others in this post, in the following Reel (with accompanying Jaws-related music) and Highlight.)

While I wouldn’t say that USJ is the best value for money theme park that I have ever been to (especially as many rides were closed), if you’re a Jaws fan, you can have a great time. I don’t know whether there are any plans to close the ride – I assume that, as they have already managed to fit in Super Nintendo World and Harry Potter, there is no real pressure to close it. But, if it does suffer from reliability issues, even if not to the same degree as the Florida used to have before it closed, who knows? For now the ride is open, and everyone is having a wonderful time.

Words and images by Christopher Hood

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