KDDI Buys Operator of KidZania Job-Experience Theme Parks

October 11, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese mobile phone carrier KDDI Corp. said Wednesday that it has acquired KCJ Group Inc., the operator of KidZania work-experience theme parks for children.

KDDI bought a majority equity stake in KCJ on Oct. 1. The acquisition value has not been disclosed.

The move, part of KDDI's business diversification efforts, is aimed at beefing up its education-related operations utilizing information technology.

The two firms also announced a plan to open a new KidZania facility, in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in fiscal 2020.

This will be the third KidZania in Japan, following ones in Tokyo and the western prefecture of Hyogo.

Working together, KDDI and KCJ will install at each of the theme parks an area where children can experience jobs involving cutting-edge technologies such as fifth-generation, or 5G, telecommunications and the Internet of Things.

"We want to propose a new society model and provide opportunities for children to experience new jobs," KCJ President Einosuke Sumitani told a press conference in Tokyo. Jiji Press