is a

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

located at

Yomiuriland Yomiuriland (よみうりランド, ''Yomiurirando'') is an amusement park in Inagi, Tokyo, Japan that first opened in 1964. It is situated on hillsides, and features rides such as roller coasters and water flumes. It is home to Yomiuri Giants ...

in the city of

Inagi file:Inagi City Hall.jpg, 270px, Inagi City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 92,585 in 41,592 households, and a population density of 5200 persons ...

, near

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Built in 1988 by the TOGO company, it was the fastest roller coaster in the world when it was built (taking the record from

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great America is a amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the Ma ...

). It lost the record to

Magnum XL-200 Magnum XL-200, colloquially known as simply Magnum, is a steel roller coaster built by Arrow Dynamics at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. When it opened in 1989, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest complete-circuit roller coaster in the wor ...

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and op ...

one year later.

Ride layout and experience

Bandit's course is laid out as a

terrain roller coaster Terrain roller coasters are roller coasters which take advantage of the usually-natural undulations of the land upon which they are built. Such rides may often weave through forests, and some may even dive down cliffs. Because they tend to stay c ...

. This means that it was custom-built to closely follow the contours of the hilly

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of Yomiuriland. Although the coaster's height is officially listed at , the layout of the terrain means that the difference between the highest and lowest points on the ride is actually (also a record when it was built). When Bandit was built in 1988, it held the record of being the fastest roller coaster in the world. The ride passes through the treetops of hundreds of

cherry trees A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

. This is highlighted during the park's annual

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

(''sakura'') festival. During the festival, Bandit is marketed as being the fastest ever " flower viewing" (''hanami''). The cherry blossoms around Bandit's course are also lit at night. The majority of Bandit's course is somewhat isolated from the other rides and buildings in Yomiuriland. From the top of Bandit, riders can see views of the distant

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

skyline of Tokyo. Rides on the coaster cost 1000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

Reviews

Bandit is the most popular roller coaster at Yomiuriland. In 2013, the coaster was identified by ''RocketNews24'' as No. 9 of the "10 unmissable roller coasters in Japan". In 1990, roller coaster enthusiast magazine ''Inside Track'' rated Bandit as being the 24th best roller coaster in the world.

References

External links

Bandit's page on Yomiuriland's official website
{{s-end Roller coasters in Japan Roller coasters introduced in 1988