Twenty years ago, there was no Disneyland in Japan. Hard to imagine the place without it really. If not for the fact that I watched "Walt Disney Presents" every Sunday night as a kid, and visited "Epcot Center" just several months before coming here, I might swear that Mickey and Minnie were Japanese inventions: it's just so much in the blood. The Japanese were huge fans, of course, long before the spade broke soil in Chiba on the outskirts of Tokyo. You could even find paraphernalia (such as fake-fur coats with a Mickey and Minnie pattern) in Japan that must have been created here - unauthorized and 'royalty free'. But it was nothing compared to the fever, which has plagued us ever since "the mouse" moved in.

Though I stated right up front that there was no Disneyland in Japan 20 years ago, to be precise, it opened exactly 20 years ago in 1983. And I suppose I should also state up front that shortly after the opening I was invited to a PR event, after closing hours, which is the only time I have ever set foot in the place.

Regardless of my lack of patronage, however, Tokyo Disneyland has continued to expand and add major new attractions about every 3 years. The latest addition, (for anyone who may not already know), is called 'Disney Sea' and apparently recreates the Lagoons of Venice and other European cityscapes to the tune of 7.7 million visitors per year. The majority of these visitors will not be new to the "Magic Kingdom. 40.7% of visitors will have come and gone between 10 and 29 times, and 18.7% will have crossed the threshold a whopping 30 times. By contrast Narita airport, which is a neighbor and Japan's only major international airport, began construction in 1966. After 40 odd years of protests, delays, closures and inability to reach agreement with the farmers whose land they covet, Narita still has only a single runway that can accommodate jumbo jets. One can only speculate at the outcome if Disney had been given the rights to build and operate Narita. No doubt Mickeys and Minnies from all around the world would be, this very minute, landing on numerous and well-accepted sparkling runways, two by two, three by three four by four.

It's a bit of a puzzle, given Disney Japan's overwhelming success, why more American companies haven't followed suit. Universal Studios (Japan) finally took the plunge, opening a huge theme park in April 2001. Despite initial problems with contaminated drinking water and violations of the explosives law, they seem set to become the Disney of the West (Kansai not California), and one more Western (America not Osaka) success story, drawing nearly 12 million in the first year of operation. Of course not every company can boast the properties to work with that Disney and USJ can. Nor is the potential success without unseen pitfalls (USJ bought badly polluted land on which to build and had to clean it up before construction could start - several years behind schedule). But given the entertainment starved populace and the lack of native ability to build anything really fun, there seems no reason why America should not have the market as tightly sewn up, as do American movies, hamburgers and soft drinks.

I don't mean to imply that the Japanese character creation industry is totally asleep. After all this is a country that cannot live without cutesy little characters with squeaky little voices popping out at you every time you turn around. From selling products to explaining your taxes, Japan is awash in cute characters and their relations. Sanrio's "Hello Kitty" series of character goods is probably every bit as pervasive as the mouse and Sanrio stores are like mini amusement parks. They also have "Puroland", which is a Kitty Chan version of "The Kingdom". Then too the recent success of "Pica-chu" and "Tamagochi" not only domestically but worldwide, attests to the Japanese ability to do cute with the best of them. But many of these characters either fade after a few years or else travel poorly into adulthood. Mickey however is arguably deeper in the modern Japanese psyche than any native character could ever be. I myself have always argued for "Tetsuan Atom" (known outside Japan as "Atom boy"), as a Japanese pop icon on a level with Mickey himself. But you would find few takers for this argument here. Asked who they would name as the most well-known, well-loved image of the Japanese spirit of fun, I have no doubt that 9 out of 10 would name the mouse from America.

Although the Mickey frenzy is as strong as ever, and though it may be that every person in Japan owns some Mickey goods, I am happy to report that public display of these valued possessions is somewhat less overt than it was 20 years ago. At that time, women and men proudly wore their Mickey and Minnie print, matching fake-fur coats with pride. At a time when so-called 'pair dressing' was hot, couples cheerily displayed the allegiance to each other and to the great God mouse with garish matching red sweat suits, emblazoned with Disney characters. Perhaps increasing self-consciousness, a fashion boom that decried anything not designer-wear, as well as a greater reluctance for couples to be readily identified as such, has rendered such displays obsolete. Today, I have no doubt that every man woman and child in the country owns something Disney. But other than "chinpira" and people from Kawasaki, they tend to confine the use of such objects to the home, the car, the children and vacations to Hawaii and Guam.

Unfortunately, where one had previously to trek to the 'Mouse Mecca" for a dose, Disney stuff now assaults the populace in myriad ways. The Disney Stores seem to pop up in all the new shopping developments in the country, selling mouse related goods at every opportunity. Disney animation-turned-musical like "The Jungle King" holds forth from its own temporarily constructed theaters around the country. Of course, the animation's, which are the foundation of the empire, tour the movie theaters to sold out crowds of kids and adults alike. Recently the "Kingdom" has even taken to the TV, allowing old cartoons to be screened just as the sequels are coming to a theater near you.

For the future, there seems to be no end in sight, but neither is anyone complaining. As the population ages, I wonder if we will witness the birth of a Japanese mouse "musume" (daughter)? Will Mickey and Minnie start to finally show some age as they relate to the graying generation that grew up with them, while their male and female prodigy take on the mantle of prince and princess of character land? Will the future Empress of Japan insist on overhauling the Imperial Palace in Disney curtains, Disney sheets, Disney Pajamas and Mickey and Minnie slippers for visiting dignitaries? Will Governor Ishihara, in another desperate attempt to put Tokyo's finances on a solid footing, sell chunks of the public right-of-way in Shibuya and Shinjuku to Disney, for them to operate as they see fit? Will the Magic Kingdom meet the co-gal kingdom in one incredible burst of pink-tiled boulevards and streetcars shaped like the "Little Engine That Could"? The possibilities, as they say, are mind-boggling.