You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (February 2016) Click for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 3,504 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at :ja:サンリオピューロランド; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|ja|サンリオピューロランド}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sanrio Puroland" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

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.

Historyedit

Originsedit

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 daysedit

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 timesedit

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

Notable temporary closuresedit

Sanrio Puroland was temporarily closed from February 22 to July 20, 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

Points of interestedit

Attractionsedit

Ridesedit

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,^[7] 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.^[8] Both rides offer commemorative photographs which can be separately purchased.

Walkthrough attractionsedit

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).^[9]
• Kiki & Lala Twinklingtour - Visitors explore a replica of the birthplace of Kiki and Lala (Little Twin Stars).^[10]

Other attractionsedit

Visitors can ring Hello Kitty's Bell of Happiness, located inside the Tree of Wisdom.^[11]

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.^[12]

Live entertainmentedit

Main paradesedit

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:^[13]

Stage showsedit

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

Other showsedit

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

Incidentsedit

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.^[14]

Referencesedit

Footnotesedit

Citationsedit

Bibliographyedit

External linksedit

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sanrio Puroland.

• Official website