TOGO

Fujiyama, a TOGO hypercoaster

TOGO (株式会社トーゴ, Kabushiki-gaisha Tōgo) was a Japanese amusement ride company that built roller coasters, giant wheels, carousels, flumes, dark rides, sky cycles and other amusement rides.

History

In 1935 Mr. Teiichi Yamada founded the Toyo Gorakuki Company and built his first attraction, a five-foot mechanical walking elephant that was a popular attraction at one of Tokyo's neighborhood parks.^[1] Yamada reorganized his company in 1949 and changed the name to TOGO. TOGO built its first roller coaster in 1953 at Hanayashiki Park in Tokyo. That coaster is still in operation and is the oldest coaster in Japan.^[1]

In 1965 TOGO built Cyclone at Toshimaen Park that at the time was the largest coaster in Asia. The company also began to expand its export business, selling coasters in Russia, Cuba and China.^[1] Although the company built a variety of different rides in Japan, its export business was primarily roller coasters. In 1979, TOGO installed standup trains on two of its existing coasters in Japan, Momonga Standing & Loop Coaster, at Yomiuriland and Thrill Valley, creating the world's first Stand-up roller coasters. These two installations captured the attention of Taft/Kings Entertainment company, who then purchased TOGO's Astro-Comet, the world's first coaster designed from the ground up as a stand-up roller coaster, installing at Kings Island as King Cobra.^[1]

In 1986 TOGO developed the Ultra Twister Coaster. This unique concept had rails on the side of the vehicle allowing the coaster to perform true heartline rolls as it navigated the course. TOGO also incorporated a vertical lift hill and near-vertical drop into the ride.^[2] TOGO built seven of these models, all similar, but not identical to each other. The original versions were not capable of making turns, so all seven operated as shuttles. However, TOGO did display a full-circuit model at the IAAPA trade show in the mid-1990s that was capable of making turns, but the ride was never built.^[2] In the fall of 1989, Arrow Dynamics began building a similar concept called the Pipeline, which failed to get past the protoytpe stage.^[3]

TOGO went bankrupt in 2001 due to a lawsuit by Knott's Berry Farm for problems with their Windjammer Surf Racers roller coaster. TOGO created several unique coasters, including its combination of a looping sit-down coaster and a hypercoaster with its Manhattan Express coaster in Las Vegas (now known as "The Big Apple Coaster"). The looping wild mouse by TOGO was a style of ride with a drop into a vertical loop, followed by the hairpin turns and drops of a wild mouse coaster. The former Windjammer coaster at Knott's berry Farm was a variation of the looping wild mouse; it didn't feature any hairpin turns.

TOGO is also renowned for inventing the Twist-and-Dive roll, an inversion maneuver that combines elements of a half-heartline roll with a half-loop. A version of this maneuver included a half-oblique loop instead of a half-loop, so riders exited the element at an angle. This was used on the now-defunct Viper at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Notable rides

• Bandit at Yomiuriland – It was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world when it opened in 1988 and inspired Richard Kinzel of Cedar Point to build Magnum XL 200.^[4]
• Fujiyama – A hypercoaster at Fuji-Q Highland, Japan. Until 2000, it was the tallest roller coaster in the world.
• King Cobra at Kings Island (1984–2001) – The world's first coaster designed specifically to be a stand-up looping coaster. It was taken down and scrapped after TOGO went out of business, making parts very expensive.
• Big Apple Coaster at New York-New York Hotel & Casino (first opened in 1997 as the "Manhattan Express").
• Ultra Twister – A pipeline roller coaster that uses single cars that ride between the rails. Because of the design, the cars are unable to make lateral turns and require switch tracks at either end of the ride.
• Viper at Six Flags Great Adventure – A roller coaster that featured a unique heartline roll. The ride was scrapped in 2005, and its station was re-used for El Toro.
• White Canyon at Yomiuriland – White Canyon was the tallest and longest Cyclone-style roller coaster in the world before it closed in 2013.
• Windjammer Surf Racers at Knott's Berry Farm – a twin racing coaster with 65-foot vertical loops. This coaster was a massive failure, and part of the lawsuits would lead to TOGO's bankruptcy.
• Shockwave – Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia. Built in 1986 Specifically for Kings Dominion, was retired August 9, 2015.
• SkyRider – Canada's Wonderland Opening date May 1985, retired in 2014 dismantled and sent to Italy.
• Freestyle is a stand-up roller coaster operating at Cavallino Matto in Tuscany, Italy. It opened as the park's fifth roller coaster on 18 July 2015. Freestyle originally opened at Canada's Wonderland in 1985 as SkyRider

List of roller coasters

As of 2018, TOGO has built 61 roller coasters around the world.^[5]

Name	Model	Park	Country	Opened	Status	Ref
Jet Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Nagashima Spa Land	Japan	Unknown	Operating	[6]
SL Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Yomiuriland	Japan	Unknown	Removed	[7]
Roller Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Beijing Amusement Park	China	Unknown	Removed	[8]
Zola 7	Sitdown Coaster	Fuji-Q Highland	Japan	Unknown	Removed	[9]
Diving Shooter	Sitdown Coaster	Itozu No Mori Park	Japan	Unknown	Removed	[10]
Cycle Coaster	Cycle Coaster	Enakyo Wonderland	Japan	Unknown	Operating	[11]
Jet Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Kagoshima Jungle Land	Japan	Unknown	Removed	[12]
Crazy Mouse	Looping Mouse	Kagoshima Jungle Land	Japan	Unknown	Removed	[13]
Jungle Mouse	Wild Mouse Coaster	Yoshinogawa Yuenchi	Japan	Unknown	Removed	[14]
Unknown Formerly Ultra Twister	Ultra Twister	Six Flags America Six Flags AstroWorld Six Flags Great Adventure	United States	Unknown 1990 to 2005 1986 to 1988	Removed	[15] [16] [17]
Roller Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Hanayashiki	Japan	1953	Operating	[18]
Jet Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Tokyo Dome City	Japan	1955	Removed	[19]
Cyclone	Sitdown Coaster	Toshimaen	Japan	1965	Operating	[20]
Diving Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	GrinPa	Japan	1973	Removed	[21]
Bobster	Bobster	Takakonuma Greenland	Japan	1973	Removed	[22]
Jet Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Yatsu Yuenchi	Japan	1976	Removed	[23]
Momonga Standing and Loop Coaster Formerly Standing and Loop Coaster	Stand-Up Coaster & Sitdown Coaster	Yomiuriland	Japan	1979	Operating	[24]
Crazy Mouse	Looping Mouse	Tobu Zoo Park	Japan	1981	Removed	[25]
Bobster	Bobster	Shirakaba Resort Family Land	Japan	1982	Operating	[26]
Dangai	Stand-Up Coaster	Thrill Valley	Japan	1982	Removed	[27]
Ultra Twister	Ultra Twister	Nagashima Spa Land	Japan	1984	Operating	[28]
King Cobra	Stand-Up Coaster	Kings Island	United States	1984	Removed	[29]
Standing Coaster	Stand-Up Coaster	Rusutsu Resort Otaru Expo	Japan	1985 1984	Operating	[30] [31]
Ultra Twister	Ultra Twister	Tokyo Dome City	Japan	1985	Removed	[32]
Montaña Rusa	Bobster	Parque Lenin	Cuba	1985	Removed	[33]
Shockwave	Stand-Up Coaster	Kings Dominion	United States	1986	Removed	[34]
Star Jet	Stand-Up Coaster	Brazilian Park Washuzan Highland Tsukuba Expo	Japan	1986 1985	Operating	[35] [36]
Bandit	Sitdown Coaster	Yomiuriland	Japan	1988	Operating	[37]
SL Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Minamichita Beach Land & Minamichita Toy Kingdom	Japan	1989	Removed	[38]
Unknown	Sitdown Coaster	Fantasy Dome Tomakomai	Japan	1990	Removed	[39]
Milky Way Formerly Fujin-Raijin Formerly Ultra Twin	Stand-Up Coaster & Sitdown Coaster	Greenland	Japan	1991	Operating	[40]
Ultra Twister	Ultra Twister	Brazilian Park Washuzan Highland	Japan	1991	Operating	[41]
Fujin Raijin II	Stand-Up Coaster	Expoland	Japan	1992	Removed	[42]
Geopanic	Sitdown Coaster	Tokyo Dome City	Japan	1992	Removed	[43]
Super Roller Coaster DIOS	Sitdown Coaster	Odakyu Mukogaoka Yuen	Japan	1992	Removed	[44]
Aladdin Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Aliba City	Japan	1992	Removed	[45]
Surf Coaster Leviathan Formerly Surf Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Sea Paradise	Japan	1993	Operating	[46]
Ultra Twister	Ultra Twister	Rusutsu Resort	Japan	1994	Operating	[47]
Unknown	Sitdown Coaster	Fantasy Dome Seiro	Japan	1994	Removed	[48]
Unknown	Sitdown Coaster	Fantasy Dome Kishiwada	Japan	1994	Removed	[49]
Ultra Twister Megaton	Ultra Twister	Greenland	Japan	1994	Operating	[50]
White Canyon	Wooden Coaster	Yomiuriland	Japan	1994	Removed	[51]
Clipper	Sitdown Coaster	Space World	Japan	1995	Removed	[52]
Viper	Sitdown Coaster	Six Flags Great Adventure	United States	1995	Removed	[53]
Fujiyama	Sitdown Coaster	Fuji-Q Highland	Japan	1996	Operating	[54]
Mega Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Hamanako Pal Pal	Japan	1997	Operating	[55]
Big Apple Coaster Formerly Roller Coaster Formerly Manhattan Express	Sitdown Coaster	New York, New York Hotel & Casino	United States	1997	Operating	[56]
Windjammer Surf Racers Formerly Jammer	Looping Mouse	Knott's Berry Farm	United States	1997	Removed	[57]
Kiddy Shuttle	Kiddy Shuttle	Thrill Valley	Japan	1998	Removed	[58]
Crazy Mouse	Looping Mouse	Kitami Family Land Nakajima Park	Japan	2000 Unknown	Operating	[59] [60]
Hyper Kid Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Fantasy Dome	Japan	2000	Closed	[61]
Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster	Sitdown Coaster	Tokyo DisneySea	Japan	2001	Operating	[62]
Rushing Car	Wild Mouse Coaster	Kashiikaen Yuenchi	Japan	2002	Removed	[63]
Actpo Kometa	Sitdown Coaster	Maviland Metalworkers' Palace	Russia	2002 1992 to 2000	Operating	[64] [65]
Loop Screw	Sitdown Coaster	Seibuen Yuenchi	Japan	2004	Removed	[66]
Go Go Sneaker	Sitdown Coaster	Rusutsu Resort Kintetsu Ayameike	Japan	2005 Unknown	Operating	[67] [68]
Hurricane - Screw & Loop Coaster Formerly Tornado	Sitdown Coaster	Himeji Central Park Kintetsu Ayameike	Japan	2007 1981 to 2004	Operating	[69] [70]
Ultra Coaster Formerly Ultra Twister	Ultra Twister	Marah Land Sabahiya Ikoma Skyland	Kuwait	2008 2004 to 2006	Closed	[71] [72]
Bledek Coaster Formerly Loop & Cork	Looping Mouse	Suroboyo Carnival Night Market Jawa Timur Park 2 Maruyama KidLand	Indonesia	2014 Unknown Unknown	Operating	[73] [74] [75]
Grand Canyon Formerly Cobra Formerly Kiddy Shuttle	Kiddy Shuttle	Parc de la Vallée Lunapark Fréjus Odakyu Mukogaoka Yuen	France	2014 2004 to 2011 1998 to 2002	Operating	[76] [77] [78]
Freestyle Formerly SkyRider	Stand-Up Coaster	Cavallino Matto Canada's Wonderland	Italy	2015 1985 to 2014	Operating	[79] [80]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Togo (manufacturer).