SANRIO -
Most of us know Japanese Corporation "Sanrio" through Hello Kitty, and most of us know her through the Sanrio Rainbow
Gate store (see New York's latest in the pic below), it's kind of a cuter version of a Hallmark store.
Walk into one and you'll marvel at just how much stuff they can fit Hello Kitty's face
onto....candies, pens, pencils, erasers, backpacks, purses, sleeping bags, vacuums, toasters... and so much more, right?
But what if you wanted more?
Where can you get Hello Kitty Steamed buns complete with pink bow? or
Hello Kitty Stick Snacks? or a Hello Kitty Bento on a Hello Kitty tray?
What if you wanted a steamy
bowl of Hello Kitty Ramen?
...and wanted to eat them with
Hello Kitty Chopsticks?
or
y'know what ? Maybe you just want to mail a letter with a Hello Kitty Stamp
...and drop it into a Hello Kitty Mailbox.
Well, Tokyo has a solution
for that...
SANRIO PUROLAND
サンリオピューロランド
(aka "The Hello Kitty Theme Park") - With just about anything and everything
you can imagine from the world of Sanrio.
Puroland (Pureland in english) isn't like most theme parks we know, it's
all indoors for a start and because the main event for most Tokyo-ites are the shows, the rides are scarce, but if you're
interested in seeing Hello Kitty in a world of Sanrio come to life then this amusement park should put a smile on your face.
Upon entering Puroland you'll see the entrance to "Puro Village"
the painted sky lends an air of peace and calm.
Attractions:
Hello Kitty Boat Ride
This boat ride
is alot like "Its a Small World" but filled with Sanrio characters. Some of the characters, you might not know like
this monkey called "Monkichi" below:
...but rest assured
you'll see some old favorites like Hello Kitty and My Melody, ...the character on the right is Kuromi, born on Halloween
she's My Melody's arch nemesis.
..and
the Little Twin Stars relax while swingin' on a star.
It's not all
sunshine and rainbows though, after we see an entire room of Badtz Maru gambling....
and drinking
(also, that's one confused bartender)...
It ends with him getting
spanked by his mom, her arm moves up and down and if you look closely....Badtz Maru has a tear streaming down his face.
and now that you've
seen the thrills and horrors of the boat ride, why not visit Kitty -chan ("Miss Kitty" as the japanese know her) in person?
Kitty's House - That's right! It's
Hello Kitty's official residence, it takes no time to realize that Kitty-chan's got quite an ego.
Her car is parked out front.
After an attendant
calls Kitty-chan and announces your arrival you walk into the Foyer...a skylight drops beads of water (seemingly
held in mid-air) to the fountain below.
You get to see Kitty's
dining room, living room, bedroom, bathroom and when you're done you get to meet Miss Kitty and take a picture.
Check out our visit
to Puroland in 2010 on YouTube below:
Restaurants
- Puroland has a main restaurant on the first floor, a food court and a fancier buffet restaurant on the fourth floor
Character Food Court - This is Puroland's main restaurant and is the most conveniently located (on the first floor).
It's called a "food court" but we're in Japan and that's just a name, there's only one menu here. Dig into dishes like pasta and curry modeled on Sanrio characters, like the My Melody Pink Curry and Cinnamon Sweet Dreams Curry below:
Sanrio Rainbow World Restaurant
- This rainbow-themed restaurant features a separate menu for 7 Sanrio characters. Choose from pasta, roast beef over rice, desserts and more.
Yakata
- Yakata means "Little Castle" and this classic restaurant was renovated and opened again in April 2019 as a meet & greet character restaurant with a family buffet. yay!
Puroland
Shows - Please see the YouTube video below of Cinnamoroll's show to get an idea of how the shows are there.
Believe it or not, when they get to the chorus they're singing "Imag-i-nation" in english.
Take the Keio 京王
line (from Shinjuku or Nakano) to Chofu 調布, from there make sure you're on the line to Tama Center 多摩センター and continue
on, or wait on the platform for the Keio line 京王 to Tama Center 多摩センター.
Price: 330 Yen
Time: 40 minutes
Once at the train
station in Tama Center just follow the signs to the outdoor shopping center, you'll see it and at the very end is Sanrio Puroland.
