Japanese theme park gives visitors mask stickers to make it look like they’re screaming on roller coasters

Park-goers told to ‘scream inside their heart’

A theme park in Japan has taken the innovative approach of giving visitors stickers adorned with screaming mouths that they can attach to their masks.

The idea is to give park-goers a way of expressing their enjoyment on the rides without actually having to resort to screaming or cheering.

Greenland, a park in Kumamoto, eastern Japan, unveiled the concept on social media, posting a video that showed a visitor wearing the sticker while whizzing around one of the attraction’s roller coasters.

“This is Greenland’s new scream style,” says the theme park’s Facebook page.

Stickers are being given out on arrival, with guests able to choose between several designs.

The move comes after many Japanese theme parks announced earlier this summer that screaming on rides was banned due to coronavirus.

As the presumption is that Covid-19 spreads via droplets, activities such as singing, shouting and screaming are thought to increase the chance of spreading the virus.

Theme park officials told visitors to “scream inside their heart” instead.

It’s not the only inventive measure to be taken in order to limit the spread of coronavirus.

A café at a zoo in Japan got creative when it came to encouraging diners to practice social distancing.

Izu Shaboten Zoo in Shizuoka has filled its café with huge stuffed capybaras – giant rodents that are native to South America.

The cute toys are sitting around the café’s tables, meaning patrons are forced to sit further apart from one another and therefore maintain a 2m distance.

The café is also dotted with giraffes, tigers and what appears to be a lemur.

Johnny Suputama, who shared the pictures on social media, wrote: “Why capybaras, you ask? Well this zoo is credited with being the first (in 1982) to introduce the animals to hot baths and ever since then it’s become a thing.”