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Sanrio Puroland

Location	Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan
Coordinates	35°37′28″N 139°25′45″E / 35.62444°N 139.42917°E / 35.62444; 139.42917
Status	Operating
Opened	December 7, 1990 (1990-12-07)
Owner	Sanrio
Operated by	Sanrio Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Theme	Sanrio characters
Attendance	1,500,000
Area	45,900 square metres (494,000 sq ft)
Attractions
Total	2
Website	puroland.jp

Sanrio Puroland (サンリオピューロランド, Sanrio Pyūrorando), also known as Hello Kitty Land, ^[1] is an indoor theme park located in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan. Opened on December 7, 1990, it hosts attractions, live shows, shopping outlets, and restaurants dedicated to Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Gudetama, and Aggretsuko, in a manner akin to Disney theme parks.

Sanrio Puroland attracts over 1.5 million visitors per year, and is ranked among the major theme parks in Japan, along with both Tokyo Disney Resort parks and Fuji-Q Highland. Sanrio also operates Harmonyland, an outdoor theme park in Oita Prefecture.

History

Origins

During its conceptual phase, Sanrio Puroland ^[a] was known by many names - first as Sanrio Communication World, ^[2] as well as Sanrio Heart Park and Sanrio Piero Land ^[b]. The original theme was going to be "communication", as opposed to Sanrio's existing works, including its characters. Sanrio Puroland was a "bald attempt" to challenge the Walt Disney company and its theme parks. ^[4] To build the theme park, Shintaro Tsuji (then the president of Sanrio) worked with Landmark Entertainment Group ^[2] and established a subsidiary called Sanrio Communication World Co., Ltd. ^[5] (now merged into its current incarnation, Sanrio Entertainment Co. Ltd.). The initial design phase began in 1987, ^[2] and Sanrio Puroland broke ground in November 16, 1988. It took a team of 2,500 workers ^[c] approximately two years to complete, at a cost of around JPY 60-70 million.

Early days

Sanrio Puroland opened on December 7, 1990, and would operate at a loss for the first few years of operation, due to factors such as the aftereffects of the Japanese asset price bubble burst and complaints from city locals.

Modern times

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2021)

Notable temporary closures

Sanrio Puroland was temporarily closed from February 22 to July 20, 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[6] On February 24, 2024, the park was closed after staff received an email saying that a "hazardous" object had been placed on the premises. A subsequent police search found no such items. ^{[7] [8]}

Points of interest

Attractions

Rides

Sanrio Puroland offers visitors two dark rides. The Sanrio Characters Boat Ride ^[d], which tells the story of various Sanrio characters preparing for a party held by Hello Kitty, ^[9] was the park's only ride until the opening of SANRIOTOWN in 2013, and with it the introduction of Mymeroad Drive, where riders are taken to a tour of Mariland (My Melody's homeland) via a rental car designed by Kuromi, My Melody's rival. ^[10] Both rides offer commemorative photographs which can be separately purchased.

Walkthrough attractions

Sanrio Puroland has two walkthrough attractions, both found at SANRIOTOWN (second floor), as follows:

• Lady Kitty House - Visitors explore a regal-like residence with several items decorated in Hello Kitty's image (some parts of this attraction are designed by Japanese graphic designer and art director Yuni Yoshida). At the end of the attraction, visitors can have a photo together with Hello Kitty (can be printed for a separate fee). ^[11]
• Kiki & Lala Twinklingtour - Visitors explore a replica of the birthplace of Kiki and Lala (Little Twin Stars). ^[12]

Other attractions

Visitors can ring Hello Kitty's Bell of Happiness, located inside the Tree of Wisdom. ^[13]

Other attractions inside Sanrio Puroland include five food factory displays (candy, juice, chocolate, bread, and ice cream), and a game corner with kids' rides, purikura booths, and UFO catchers. ^[14]

Live entertainment

Main parades

The main parades of Sanrio Puroland take place around the Tree of Wisdom in Puro Village (first floor). The current main parade is "Miracle Gift Parade" (performances are currently suspended since 2020), which debuted in late 2015 to commemorate Sanrio Puroland's 25th anniversary. Past parades and seasonal parades are as follows: ^[15]

Stage shows

Sanrio Puroland hosts a variety of stage shows (both regular and seasonal) in various areas. Selected past and present shows are as follows:

Other shows

Sanrio Puroland also hosts a daily fireworks show (during the summer) and various illumination shows.

Shops

• Entrance Shop - The largest shop in Puroland, which is located on the third floor. Original Puroland goods are available here ^[16]. When the park first opened, it was called the “Souvenir Festival Plaza.” Inside of the store was a castle and circus tent, and a moving trap bridge was built. Additionally, the cashier was set up inside of an enclosure similar to that of an Orient Express train car called the “Register Train,” and the entertainment part of shopping was displayed.
• Lady Kitty House Shop - Shop focused on selling Kitty goods, located on the second floor of Sanrio Town. Original “Lady Kitty House” goods are also available here ^[17].
• My Melody Shop - Located directly above the entrance of Rainbow Hall on the fourth floor ^[18], vivitix (shop that closed on November 5, 2013 and was formerly Strawberry Lounge) was renovated^{[ citation needed]}. This is a shop focused on selling My Melody goods and there are some available that are designed exclusively for Puroland ^[18]. Attached to this shop was a room entirely decorated with My Melody goods, which was renewed as a photo spot called “My Melody Garden” in 2020.
• Gudetama Shop - Shop focused on selling Gudetama goods, located on the third floor of Rainbow Hall ^[19].
• Village Shop - Shop that mainly sells stationary, plush toys, etc for children and is located on the first floor of Puro Village ^[20].
• Duty-free counter - Tax-free counter that sells candy, plush toys, cameras, etc. on the fourth floor of Rainbow Hall. The duty-free counter and duty-free services will no longer be available as of November 17, 2023^{[ citation needed]}.
• Boat Ride Photo Corner - Shop located on the second floor of Puro Village that sells souvenir photos, headbands, etc. during the Sanrio Character Boat Ride^{[ citation needed]}.

Restaurants

• Restaurant Yakata - A buffet style restaurant on the fourth floor of Rainbow Hall. Visitors are able to enjoy meeting and taking photos and/or videos with 6 different characters at random- Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, Pompompurin, and Wish me mell - at this restaurant ^[21]. There is a 70 minute time limit. Installed at the information desk is a “reception system to reduce waiting time.” To know their turn in line, customers get a numbered ticket from the information desk and use their mobile device to scan the QR code found on the ticket. Until their turn is called, customers can freely roam around inside the park ^[21]. Operation was suspended after its temporary closure in February 2020^{[ citation needed]}. In July 2020, the buffet was made available again. In the same year on August 10th, the buffet format was suspended, and the restaurant reopened for business with a one-plate menu. As of 2022, greeting visitors at their seats has been suspended and instead characters appear onstage in the restaurant^{[ citation needed]}.
• Sanrio Rainbow World Restaurant (sponsored by Coca Cola East Japan) - Located on the fourth floor of Rainbow Hall ^[22], this “Food Machine Restaurant” underwent renovation and reopened as a rainbow-themed food court-style restaurant on December 23, 2016. The restaurant interior is decorated with colorful rainbow-like decor. Mainly depicted are the associated colors and messages of seven Sanrio characters (Hello Kitty, My Melody, Little Twin Stars, Pompompurin, Keroppi, Gudetama, and Cinnamoroll), and aside from this, their objet d’art is placed at the entrance of the restaurant. The menu features desserts decorated with Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty and Gudetama ^[22], as well as other foods that can be found in food machine restaurants, regardless of the typical clientele. Additionally, a limited-time menu supervised by Koji Matoba was available to celebrate the restaurant’s opening^{[ citation needed]}. Seating capacity: 350 people.
• Character Food Court (sponsored by Coca Cola East Japan) - A fast-food style food court/ restaurant inside of a renovated “gourmet bazaar” which is located on the first floor of Sanrio Town ^[23]. The menu is primarily aimed at young women and children, and features Japanese curries and sweets in the shape of characters like Hello Kitty, My Melody ^[23], etc., which is reminiscent of character bentos and food art, as well as the Sanrio characters that are popular on Instagram. Events like the “Character Curry General Election” are held periodically^{[ citation needed]}. Seating capacity: 524 people.

In addition to these restaurants, there is the Dream Cafe ^[24] (formerly Tea Time Terrace, seating capacity: 65 people), which is located on the fourth floor of Rainbow Hall. For a limited time, the cafe is open as “My Melody Dream Cafe,” “Cinnamoroll Dream Cafe ^[24],” etc. (sponsored by Nissei) which offer original sweets and other items with the character designs. Additionally, on the first floor of Puro Village is Sweet Parlor^{[ citation needed]}, which offers a collection of drinks, character designed ice creams, etc.

Incidents

In 2015, a 5-year-old boy of foreign nationality fractured one of his fingers in the Sanrio Characters Boat Ride after reaching one of his hands out into the waterway and jamming it into one of the boats' metal stopper. ^[25]

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• Official website