Japanese Park Sparks Battle Over Noise

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — Neighbors to a new amusement park in downtown Tokyo are complaining that the screams from people riding a popular roller coaster are making their lives unbearable.

About 110 residents of an apartment building near the LaQua amusement park, which features the Thunder Dolphin roller coaster, have asked Tokyo’s noise pollution screening committee to step in.

The trouble began on May 1 when the $141 million amusement park opened next to the Tokyo Dome sports stadium.

Neighbors had expressed concerns about the noise while the park was being built, but the operator told them it was designed to be below the city’s limit of 60 decibels in the day and 55 decibels at night.

Screaming from the riders, however, was not factored in.

“Does that mean we should tell them not to scream? They are having fun,” Tokyo Dome Co. spokesman Atsushi Yokozuka said Thursday.

That argument hasn’t swayed the neighbors.

“I didn’t expect the screaming from the rides to be so noisy,” said Tsutomu Tanaka, an official at the Adachi Ward Office, which is just blocks away from the park.

The Thunder Dolphin goes up to 80 mph and operates from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

A recent test found the noise level just outside the park reached 79 decibels, far exceeding the legal limit, said Adachi Ward official Tanaka.

“The level is comparable to riding on a train. It’s quite unpleasant,” he said.

Possible steps the Tokyo Dome could take to reduce noise include building a wall around the park or installing double windows at nearby residences, ward officials said.

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