Japan can be a confusing place for tourists, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain some things about Japan that no one has ever attempted to explain before, such as "Why are there so many Ferris wheels in Japan?"
Indeed, Ferris wheels seem to pop up everywhere: on top of lone mountains in the countryside, at ski areas, at boat marinas, and even on the tops of department stores. While most tourists are befuddled by this, I urge them to ask not "Why?" but, "Why not?"
Japan is an amusement park culture. Amusement rides have been around for a long time, starting with the fairground-type movable ones set up along railway lines in the 1920s, to big concrete amusement parks in the '80s, and the theme parks of the '90s. In addition, the bubble economy helped to transform Japan's mere hobbies into full time obsessions.