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Toshimaen (Tokyo) to close ; replaced by Harry Potter Studio Tour

davidm

davidm

Strata Poster
In what is possibly the most bizarre news for a little while ; saw this on the ECC facebook this morning ; Toshimaen in Tokyo to close (ahhh RIP) :(

....but then the article is all "to be replaced by a Harry Potter theme park" WTF?

Toshimaen, a 90-year-old amusement park in Tokyo, will be closed step by step, and a park in Tokyo and a theme park for Harry Potter, a world-famous novel and movie site, will be built on the site of the park. Interviews with stakeholders revealed that negotiations were underway.
Click to expand...

Run this thru Google translate for the deets ;
www3.nhk.or.jp

としまえん 閉園検討 跡地に“ハリポタ”テーマパークの交渉も | NHKニュース

東京の遊園地で90年を超える歴史を持つ「としまえん」が段階的に閉園し、跡地に東京都の公園や、小説や映画が世界的に人気の「…
www3.nhk.or.jp www3.nhk.or.jp

(* possibly more "studio-tour" than Wizarding-World - but still quite random, I mean its not even in the best location.)


EDIT : another article here ; https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Harry-Potter-theme-park-set-to-open-in-Tokyo-in-2023

EDIT2 : blooloop running with the story now too ; https://blooloop.com/news/harry-potter-theme-park-tokyo/
(how much of that is just rehashed speculation though)
 
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I wonder if they will give it the Space World treatment and keep it going in its current state, whatever that may be, for the rest of the year.

Hadn't heard of this place before and doesn't appear to justify an impromptu visit but hopefully parts (*creds*cough*) will remain for a bit longer.
 
While the coasters aren't spectacular.

If the park does close the biggest loss will really be one of the flat rides. The park is home to what I think is the oldest carousel in the world. The El Dorado Carousel which was built in 1907 in Germany before being sent to Coney Island New York in 1910. It operated there until some time in the late 60s before being shipped to Toshimaen where it still operates now.

It's a gorgeous piece of irreplaceable history and I'd hate to see it lost to more nonsense about some fictional child wizard.
 
It's always sad to lose a park, especially one that has so much history like Toshimaen apparently does! However, the part that intrigues me most is the mention of Harry Potter as its replacement; I must admit I would be a little surprised if it turns out to be a theme park, as I'm not sure Universal would approve the construction of a Harry Potter theme park so close to their Wizarding World in Universal Studios Japan!
 
^I was under the impression that it was going to be more like a studio experience, like the one in London- but I'm not sure where I heard that from.

I also didn't love toshimaen, although I was happy it existed. the one togo coaster was pretty fun all things considered but dang it was ugly and empty. yomiuriland really emerged victorious as the better tokyo park (thats not disney) in my head
 
YAY, BYE GIRL BYE.

Seriously, it was a ****hole and they kicked us out for tattoos meaning we wasted the commute and had to come back covered up another day.
 
I always forget this place even exists. I'm surprised it's lasted this long to be honest.

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk
 
Not sure why ; but this story has popped up on the internet again the last couple of days, so much so that the BBC is even running with it.

www.bbc.co.uk

Can Harry Potter magic tourists back to Japan?

Film studio Warner Bros hopes its new tourist attraction based on the boy wizard will be ready for 2023.
www.bbc.co.uk

Don't think that it says anything more than "we" already knew though.

_114013404_4b9e5a53-5dff-4dce-b877-3b72a2e2df7e.jpg
 
Am I correct in assuming that this is an exact replica of (or at least very similar to) the Warner Bros Studio Tour in Leavesden? Not saying that’s a bad thing, as I visited the Leavesden one in 2017 and loved it, but it seems a little odd, as I thought a lot of the appeal around the Leavesden tour was to do with the fact that you were seeing the real film sets, and that Leavesden was the only place you could see these film sets?

Having replicas elsewhere seems to go against the whole idea of the concept to me, but I’m sure it will be very successful, as Harry Potter seems pretty popular in Japan; maybe I’m missing a piece of the puzzle here?
 
Replica may be the wrong word but I'm sure everyone's expecting the same sort of thing and experience.

Watford and Tokyo are at least have a sizeable distance between them.
 
davidm said:
Not sure why ; but this story has popped up on the internet again the last couple of days
Click to expand...
Because ITOCHU put out a press release!
www.itochu.co.jp

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter Set to open on Toshimaen grounds in the first half of 2023 Agreement Executed between parties | Press Releases | ITOCHU Corporation

Provides information about [Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter Set to open on Toshimaen grounds in the first half of 2023 Agreement Executed between parties]. ITOCHU, one of the leading sogo shosha, is engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of...
www.itochu.co.jp www.itochu.co.jp

Significantly, the full press release mentions Fantastic Beasts and I don't think those sets are currently on display in London. Be interesting to see if they bother to make a third FB film for when this attraction opens.
 
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