The 3D maze facility at Tojoko Omocha Okoku (Lake Tojo Toy Kingdom), the site of an accident, is seen in the city of Kato, Hyogo Prefecture, on Oct. 10, 2021, in this photo taken from a Mainichi Shimbun helicopter. (Mainichi)

       KATO, Hyogo -- The edge of a wooden beam supporting a 3D maze floor that partially collapsed on Oct. 10 at an amusement park in this west Japan city had possibly been corroded by rain, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned from Hyogo Prefectural Police.

       The accident at Tojoko Omocha Okoku (Lake Tojo Toy Kingdom) left six people injured. The prefectural police are investigating the case including the management system of the park on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in injury.

       According to police, about a 1-meter by 2.3-meter part of the third-story floor in the wooden five-story 3D maze gave way. The edge of a beam supporting the center of the floor was apparently corroded and chipped away. Because the structure does not have a roof and its walls have open parts and gaps, rainwater could enter inside. Construction of the maze was completed in 2013 and it was later extended.

       A similar accident occurred at the amusement park's sister facility Karuizawa Omocha Okoku (Karuizawa Toy Kingdom) in the east Japan village of Tsumagoi, Gunma Prefecture, in 2014, in which a floor of a 3D maze collapsed, leaving two people injured. In that incident, a nail fixing wood had been corroded.

       In the accident in Hyogo Prefecture, the wood around a nail was corroded, and the prefectural police are investigating the details, believing that rain was a factor in the corrosion.

       The structure was built by Chiba Prefecture-based Kiitos Co. Though the company has installed similar 3D mazes at some 35 locations across Japan, the company said it has not received a report of defects from other facilities. Kiitos issued an apology over the incident on its website on Oct. 12.

       Following the latest accident, Karuizawa Omocha Okoku suspended the operation of its 3D maze. Meanwhile, at the Lagunasia theme park in the central Japan city of Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, operated by resort complex Laguna Ten Bosch, the use of its 3D maze has also been halted until safety is confirmed.

       Though regular inspections and reports to local governments are required for attraction facilities such as roller coasters and Ferris wheels under the Building Standards Act, 3D mazes without roofs are said not to be subject to the law. Tojoko Omocha Okoku had conducted visual inspections twice a day and there were apparently no abnormalities before the accident.

       (Japanese original by Kwanghoon Han and Kenji Tatsumi, Kobe Bureau)

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