OLC: Disneyland execs punished over mishap - Japan Times, 2/5/04

[Darkbeer]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/...20040205a8.htm

CHIBA (Kyodo) The operator of Tokyo Disneyland in Chiba Prefecture has disciplined 17 officials over the derailment of a vehicle on the Space Mountain roller coaster in December, the company said Wednesday.


Oriental Land Co. said it will cut executive remuneration for a managing director in charge of engineering services by 10 percent over a three-month period.

The company also reduced the salaries of or reprimanded 16 others, including President Toshio Kagami, who said he would voluntarily give up 10 percent of his executive remuneration for three months.

One of two "rockets" on the popular ride derailed Dec. 5. No one was injured.

An investigation traced the cause of the accident to faulty axles. The ride has remained closed to the public since the derailment but will be restarted Feb. 18, Oriental Land said.

Interesting, when the same things happens at the DLR, Michael Eisner is given a bonus....:rolleyes:

[JoeInJpn]

Thanks Darkbeer. Here is more information from the official site for Oriental Land Company:

February 4, 2004
Oriental Land Co., Ltd.

Space Mountain To Reopen at Tokyo Disneyland Park

Oriental Land Co., Ltd. announced today that the Space Mountain attraction at Tokyo Disneyland Park, which has been closed since December last year, will reopen and begin regular operations on Wednesday, February 18, 2004.

The attraction was closed following a derailment incident in which no guests were injured.

Following the recommendations of a third party investigation, the following measures have been implemented:

• Reinforcement of control and management by establishing a "Ride Control Group" to be responsible for a unified system of ordering, inspection upon delivery and quality control of important ride vehicle parts as well as maintenance of design drawings.
• Thorough use of gauges made exclusively for measuring parts at the work site.
• Strengthening of the axles on the attraction.

Space Mountain will reopen upon confirmation of safe operation through implementation of the above measures and thorough testing. We are confident that the design of the ride is sound and that this attraction is safe for our guests.

Link: http://www.olc.co.jp/news/20040204_01en.html

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

[JoeInJpn]

Nice, jonvn, just nice. :rolleyes: And by the way, it is not "hari kari" nor "harikiri", it is "seppuku".

JoeInJpn
http://www.jtcent.com

[MattO]

I'll take Michael Eisner's bonus over the scary prefrecture government anytime. BTW, where are the reparations?

[raisun]

Lets try and keep this discussion on track, and be sensitive of others.

Thanks.

[COLUMBIAD]

I can never imagine that fine being imposed on an American Executive. Here they just would be fired. Is this sort of punishment common in Japan? What would have happened to them if someone had died (punishment wise)?

[jonvn]

Lets try and keep this discussion on track, and be sensitive of others.

Thanks.

Just kidding around, folks. I didn't mean for anyone to really take offense.

[VideoMan]

I think this is one of the reasons I admie the Japanese the most. They have great honor. The accept responsibilty for things that happen under their watch.

[MattO]

Almost bordering on racist, don't you think? Certainly counts as stereotyping. Very impressive. I guess I'll have to put you back on my ignore list afterall.

Let's forget history.

[MattO]

I think this is one of the reasons I admie the Japanese the most. They have great honor. The accept responsibilty for things that happen under their watch.

Interestingly they do not take honor nor responsibility for Pearl or the genocide they practiced in China. WWII isn't even part of standard history curriculum in Japan, and they have gotten flack for that. So much for responsibility. At least American education admits to the history of wrongdoings committed at the hand of the government.