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Japan's pride, the giant theme park Universal Studios Japan (USJ), boasts the largest number of visitors in Asia. Christmas events are being held in the park, and it is bustling with many people every day, but what happens at USJ after closing, which is not usually seen? Therefore, our company's employees closely followed USJ at midnight. It operates 24 hours a day. Since the work can only be done at night, what we saw was the sight of crews struggling late at night to make guests smile. The park is quiet after closing. The crews who finished their work came one after another, saying, "Thank you for your hard work." "Thank you for your hard work." "Please." "Thank you for your hard work." This is the wardrobe floor, where uniforms and other items are managed. "Check the pockets." "Yes." "We're checking to see if there are any pen marks." With practiced hands, they examine the contents of the pockets, and one after another, the items are placed in the washing machines. The number of wardrobes washed in the park in one day is up to approximately 5,000 items. The crews here work in shifts and operate 24 hours a day. The washed wardrobes are managed by area on racks. The total number stored is approximately 100,000 items. "There's so much, when I first joined the company, I couldn't remember it all, and there were times when I didn't know which wardrobe was which." This is Mr. Okuda, who has been working as a wardrobe crew for 16 years. He now has a perfect grasp of the uniform features. "Yes. This wardrobe is for the Discovery Restaurant in the Jurassic Park area." "There's a picture on it that you can line up and take." "Yes." "Oh." "It's a design that guests can enjoy looking at." "Yes." "And this one has been ingeniously designed, with padding here." The wardrobes of the crews working in the popular Sesame Street zone for children have knee pads. The crews value talking to children at their eye level. They say that the padding was added because they often have to kneel. "Button is off." Repair is also an important job for wardrobe crews. "For the crews to be able to work in a very comfortable state is what I want to achieve the most, and I complete it with the hope that they will be able to do so." Now, at the Christmas market where you can experience a foreign atmosphere, there is some activity at the cart selling food. "At this temperature, I think it will still be served piping hot even after taking photos for a while." They were adjusting it so that guests could drink it warm even after taking photos. "It's a very enjoyable moment to see the moment when guests pick it up and say 'Wow, amazing!' or 'Wow!'" "Our mission is to provide safe and secure meals and to offer dining experiences that can only be had at USJ." There are also facilities within the park to support the night shift crews. This is the crew cafe, a dining hall for employees. It is open from 7 AM to 4 PM, in addition to daytime hours. It is a dining hall for the 15,000 crews working in the park. The menu includes ramen and curry rice, as well as a hearty value set for 360 yen. Furthermore, Unibat, which offers USJ-style dishes such as pizza and fries, is also available at an affordable price of 360 yen, with daily changing menus. There are about 150 kinds of menus. "It's delicious. It's really helpful that we can eat something warm like this at night." What this crew member was eating was the healthy set for 340 yen, which takes health into consideration. "I've been conscious of my fat intake lately, so I chose the lower-fat option." The dining hall was originally open only during the day, but two years ago, late-night hours were introduced so that crews working in the middle of the night could also enjoy their meals. "Our mission is to deliver nutrition to the hearts and bodies of our crews. We strive to provide customer service that allows crews who are working hard in front of guests to find peace of mind during their brief breaks." Furthermore, something used in the crew cafe is surprisingly entertaining guests. That is the illumination that decorates the park. In fact, the lighting uses biofuel, which is recycled from the actors from 28 facilities in the park. Biofuel is also used in the boats of popular attractions. "321 tents, please." "Yes, thank you." "Okay." This day, there was an inspection of the illuminations, and also checks for guests getting caught. In addition to checking the bulbs, they were also checking if the balance of the lights was disrupted by growth. USJ at midnight. The sight of people working with lights in their hands. "What are you working on now?" "I'm inspecting the props." For items where the paint has peeled off, repairs and repainting are necessary. Mr. Sakurai meticulously checks for problems with the paint on the various decorations installed in the park. "This is not just regular painting. We use a technique called aging paint." "Aging paint." "Yes." "It's a technique of painting to make things look old or rusty." At USJ, aging techniques are used to paint according to the world view of each area. For example, these two areas are set by the sea. The Waterworld area has a world view of a civilization that sank to the bottom of the sea and perished once, so the decorative plants emphasize rust and damage. On the other hand, the area set in a movie setting is a fishing village, so weathering from salt is realistically reproduced. The area where painting work is being done this time is Amity Village, set in a movie. "The paint on this wooden box has deteriorated quite a bit, so I'm going to partially repaint it today." Indeed, the paint on the top surface of this wooden box has peeled off. What kind of painting will be done? First, colors are mixed on the spot with multiple paints. The base color is applied to the entire surface to match the original color of the box. "The base painting is finished around this much." "Yes." "Yes." "From here, I'm going to apply some paint to make it look more weathered." From here, brushes and towels are used to reproduce damage and dust from salt wind. Approximately 50 minutes after starting the work. "It's finished." "Is it finished?" "Yes." This is the wooden box after aging paint has been applied. Compared to before painting, the appearance of the wood, exposed to salt wind, is realistically reproduced. "We want to create a place where people can immerse themselves in the world when they come to play." There are 5 hours until opening. What was being done in the park was a process called "flooring," where the floor surface is washed with water. Using a hose about 100 meters long, dirt and dust are washed away. Furthermore, there is also the work of wiping the windows of the photo spots where many guests take pictures. It is said that the number of windows to be wiped before opening is hundreds every day. USJ welcomes the morning. Even though it is still an hour and a half before opening, there are many people in front of the gate. Amidst this, crews are also arriving one after another. The wardrobe team picks up the uniforms they have arranged and heads to their assigned areas. And then, "Open." The special time in the park began again that day. Looking at the park after opening, temperature checks were being done at the Christmas market, and many guests were buying soup. "It's very hot. It's delicious." "Please eat it. It's delicious." "Let's go. Delicious." In the Sesame Street zone, crews were kneeling to attend to children. Furthermore, when a regular guest was shown the wooden box that had been aged painted in the middle of the night, they said, "Oh, this. Oh, it looks so old." "It really feels like you've entered that world. It's full of worldliness." Thanks to the efforts of the crews in the middle of the night, the park was filled with smiles that day as well. The midnight work that supports USJ. In fact, there is another large-scale task: in the lagoon. There are other jobs done after the park closes at midnight at USJ. There is a large lake within the park, and a diver team cleans the lake and collects fallen objects. They also pick up lost items from guests. It's not exactly at midnight, but rather because it's difficult to work when it's dark, so they do it as the sun begins to rise. They also work in winter. "They are providing something perfect." "Yes, to immerse yourself in that world view, you can't let your guard down even with a single box." "That's true. I wonder what the home of the person doing the aging paint is like." "Is it a great world view?" "Or are they practicing, or is it completely different?" "Yes." "And the crew cafe is also nice because you can eat warm food." "It was all in the 300 yen range. It's a reasonable price." "And I think the people who manage everyone's uniforms are wonderful. If the people in charge of the uniforms aren't neat and tidy, you can't enjoy yourself, can you?" "That's true."