is a

wooden Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

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 ...

Kijima Kogen Kijima (written: , or , ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ai Kijima Ai Kijima, born in 1970 in Tokyo, Japan, is a contemporary artist residing in New York City. She is noted for her use of traditional quilting tech ...

, an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,136,245 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumam ...

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 ...

. Opening in 1992 (although other sources report that it opened in 1993), Jupiter was the first wooden roller coaster in Japan and the only wooden roller coaster in Japan until White Canyon opened 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 ...

amusement park and White Cyclone opened at

Nagashima Spa Land is an amusement park in Kuwana, Mie, Japan. It features several roller coasters, thrill rides, and kid rides, a giant Ferris wheel, a water park, and 3 official hotels. As of 2012, Nagashima Spa Land is the 18th most visited amusement park in ...

amusement park (both in 1994). At over in length, Jupiter is the 7th longest wooden roller coaster in the world.

History

Although Japan has had numerous notable roller coasters—including coasters that have held the record of world's longest, world's fastest, and world's tallest roller coaster—it has had relatively few wooden roller coasters. This resulted from Japanese

earthquake engineering Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An earth ...

regulations that restricted the construction of tall wooden structures. It was not until after these restrictions were modified that Jupiter (and later White Canyon and White Cyclone) could be constructed. Jupiter was built by

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement ins ...

out of

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

and it cost a total of 2.5 billion

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 ...

to construct. The coaster was also the last to be designed by noted roller coaster designer

Curtis D. Summers Curtis D. Summers (September 17, 1929 – May 11, 1992) was an American engineer and roller coaster designer credited for designing or providing structural engineering on 25 wooden roller coasters around the world. He earned a degree in Archite ...

before his death in 1992 and it was one of only two coasters that he produced with Intamin. The roller coaster Jupiter is also notable for briefly appearing in the 1994

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

movie, ''

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is a 1994 Japanese Kaiju, ''kaiju'' film directed by Kensho Yamashita, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho, Toho Studios, it is the 21st film in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' ...

''.

Ride experience and theme

While it is reported to be the most popular ride at Kijima Kogen, Jupiter is described by a number of sources as having a rough and somewhat uncomfortable ride experience. Single rides on Jupiter cost 1,000 yen. Outside the ride is an example roller coaster train car, as well as a small "Jupiter"

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

in a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

motif.

References

{{Intamin Roller coasters in Japan