Thanks Love Month 2025 is a special commemorative period for spreading gratitude and love.
We asked its originator
about the hopes that inspired the event.

Universal Studios Japan launched Thanks Love Week in 2022. Starting the following year, this was expanded into Thanks Love Month, a new, month-long event for expressing gratitude. Now in its fourth year, the concept has evolved into a massive event that has captivated society, with activities held not only at the Park but also at various Aeon Malls and at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

In this feature, we will share the reasons why Universal Studios Japan decided to organize Thanks Love Month. This event is actually more than just an opportunity to express gratitude. It also highlights trends unique to modern society, such as the evolving significance of Mother's Day and Father's Day amid increasingly diverse lifestyles and family dynamics.

The USJ PR team reached out to the Marketing Headquarters to interview its Senior Vice President, Yukiyo Asai, who was responsible for organizing Thanks Love Month. She shared with us the story behind the event and the hopes that inspired its creation.

— Let's jump right in. What is the story behind the creation of Thanks Love Month?
Asai: In 2022, a member of our social media team proposed a social media initiative related to Mother's Day. On Mother's Day, social media is filled with posts expressing thanks. The aim of the project was to use that momentum to generate buzz.

However, I started to have doubts about whether it would be appropriate for USJ to celebrate Mother's Day, so I decided to try thinking of another approach.

— What doubts did you have about celebrating Mother's Day?
Asai: In this day and age, it's not uncommon to see families without a mother or a father. Despite this, around this time every year, references to Mother's Day and Father's Day inevitably pop up all around town. As we touched on in the Peppermint Patty commercial we aired on TV this year, this can be a painful experience for some kids out there.

Asai: I joined USJ because I wanted to do work that brings joy to children, which is exactly why I came to think that a theme park dedicated to bringing smiles to children should never be a place that triggers such feelings of sadness. 

That's why when the Mother's Day proposal came up, I instinctively spoke up to say, "Let's back up for a second!" 

— Were you always conscious of this problem regarding Mother's Day and Father's Day?
Asai: I suppose so. When I was in elementary school, we used to have fathers' visiting day events. Nowadays, they're probably called Sunday open school days. My parents were divorced, so every time I had to give my mother the event notice that they handed out, I remember experiencing this indescribable feeling of sadness.

When I shared this story with others, some people told me they'd been through something similar. That made me realize it's a feeling that many others have likely felt as well. For children who don't have a mother or a father, Mother's Day and Father's Day must be tough. This realization was the origin of what we now call Thanks Love Month.

— What are your expectations for Thanks Love Month going forward?
Asai: I want Thanks Love Month to expand further beyond the Park and develop into an effort embraced throughout society. When that day comes, it's possible that most people will no longer associate the event with USJ. But I think that would only show that the initiative was all the more successful.

If social initiatives like this are only used as a branding effort by a single company, they won't gain wider traction. If we really want to make an impact on society and spare more kids from such sad experiences, the event will ultimately have to leave USJ's nest. That's why I feel that the growing number of partner companies endorsing this initiative every year signals a very positive direction.
Through CSR activities carried out inside and outside the Park under the theme "LOVE HAS NO LIMIT," USJ LLC aims to continue creating an inclusive workplace where people with diverse backgrounds and ways of thinking can work together with mutual acceptance and respect, and a Park where everyone can enjoy themselves with peace of mind.