SEGA and BBC Earth's First Orbi Park Opens in Japan

Orbi floor plan

On August 19, the SEGA Corporation and BBC Worldwide opened their first Orbi park at the new Mitsubishi Estate Group development MARK IS minatomirai in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Orbi is a new entertainment facility is the first attraction of its kind in the world. It's development was lead by two teams, one in Japan and one in the UK, which began just over two years ago.

The facility fuses BBC Earth's world-leading nature content with SEGA's experience in cutting edge technology to create an immersive entertainment experience that plunges visitors into the heart of the natural world.

Orbi is a multi-sensory experience, inviting you to touch, smell, see and hear our planet, exploring each interactive experience, and every step bringing you closer to our planet.

The facility encompasses a three stage journey: the pre-show area, the main show and the post-show area. In the pre-show area, visitors will journey through 12 walk-through entertainment experiences, including 'the skies above', 'the deep ocean', 'the jungle' and 'the arctic'.

The main show area is a cinema-style theatre which is now home to one of Japan's largest theatre screens (it is 40 meters wide and 8 meters tall) and shows new films from BBC Earth, produced and edited with SEGA, with an immersive 5D experience - exclusive to Orbi.

And the post show area is a place where visitors can relax and look back on their experiences. With photos of their journey available for purchase and special behind-the-scenes footage of what it takes to be a ground-breaking nature film buff. This area also includes a cafe and gift shop.

Each entertainment experience draws on animal and nature themes, allowing visitors to experience the full variety of life on Earth, all brought to life using physical sensations, HD imagery, high-tech sound installations and scent technology.

Whether we will see any more of Orbi facilities pop-up around the world is a matter of wait and see, but it would be amazing to see an edutainment facility such as this make it's way out West.