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Japanese theme park lets you work from a Ferris wheel

Finally.

Daniel Van Boom Senior Writer
Daniel Van Boom is an award-winning Senior Writer based in Sydney, Australia. Daniel Van Boom covers cryptocurrency, NFTs, culture and global issues. When not writing, Daniel Van Boom practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reads as much as he can, and speaks about himself in the third person.
Expertise Cryptocurrency, Culture, International News
Daniel Van Boom
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Pictured: the dream.

Yomiuriland

The chaos of COVID-19 was sure to forge new ways of working, but here's one you probably wouldn't think of: a work-from-home theme park. 

Last week Yomiuriland, a Tokyo amusement park, began offering a "workcation" package that allows people who work from a laptop to do so by a resort-esque pool or even on a Ferris wheel, which has Wi-Fi points throughout.

WFH? We're officially in the WFFW era. Yomiuriland charges 1,900 yen ($18, £14, AU$25) for weekday passes, which includes a poolside booth and an hour pass for the Ferris wheel. 

As in other developed nations, Japan's workforce has heavily shifted from office to remote work since March. In June, its government asked businesses to aim at having at least 70% of their employees work from home. A Reuters poll in August showed that 65% of businesses encouraged staff to work remotely. Fujitsu, like Twitter, announced a permanent work-from-home arrangement for its 80,000 employees.

Japan has done relatively well with the pandemic. With 1.32 deaths per 100,000 people, it's suffered far less than the UK (65.68 deaths per 100,000), the United States (67.03), and hard-hit South American nations as Brazil (73.36) and Peru (105.19). There have been just over 92,000 cases in Japan, with 1,670 deaths.

After a day of work at Yomiuriland, you'll be able to pay extra to hit the park's fun areas. But squealers beware: Japan's coronavirus rules mean screaming isn't allowed on roller coasters.