Hello Kitty ( or Kitty-chan as she is called in Japan) is one of Japan’s biggest celebrities. It’s very easy to stumble across a Sanrio Toy Shop or you could go to Sanrio Land and meet Hello Kitty and all of her friends.
Sanrio Puroland is often referred to as Hello Kitty Land in tourist guidebooks. Note: This is not located inside the city centre so you’ll need to set aside the good part of the day to attend. It is approximately 30 minutes from Shinjuku Station or 60 minutes from Tokyo Station.
While it is no where near as polished as a place like Disneyland, it caters to the hardcore fans ( and, boy, is it fun to watch those hard-core fans who often come dressed accordingly) from the shopping details to the decorated food options.
The entire theme park is indoors so it is not a weather dependent day.
There are shows (which were really cool), some little rides, interactive areas, restaurants and toy stores.
There are change tables and a baby centre that sells nappies , baby food and baby formula. There are also breastfeeding rooms. Unfortunately strollers are to be left near the entrance in the front lobby so if you’re child isn’t of walking age, make sure you take a baby carrier.
The park can get very busy on weekends and holidays.
If you’d like to try and attend on a less busy day – click on the Japanese version of their website (the English site doesn’t offer this information) and click on the calendar icon. The days that are marked with pink flower are predicted to be especially busy ( also as an FYI… the green flags mean they have a special event going on that day that you can take part in and a character picture on the calendar means that it is that particular characters’ birthday.)
It might be helpful to keep in mind that Sanrio Puroland has a particularly large amount of adult fans. If you have small children, I’d make sure you are standing at the front for show times or they may not be able to see at all.
SANRIO PUROLAND
東京都多摩市落合1-31
1 -31 OCHIAI, TAMA, TOKYO
OPEN 10AM-5PM (UNTIL 6PM ON SUNDAYS AND 8PM ON SATURDAYS)
WEBSITE
The biggest Sanrio store we have visited is SanrioWorld in Ginza. Don’t be mistaken by the title, it is not a theme park but instead a gift store. There are some interactive sections such as characters projected onto your face and my kids loved being there so much.
Within the store are restrooms with change tables. Unfortunately there is no elevator to the second floor, only escalators.
These sweeties are all from the Sanrio stores.
As well as Ginza, you can also find Sanrio stores in 20 other Tokyo locations. See HERE for a list and details.
SANRIOWORLD GINZA
中央区銀座4-1 西銀座2F
2ND FLOOR, NISHI GINZA DEPARTMENT STORE, 4-1 GINZA, CHUO-KU
OPEN 11AM-8PM (UNTIL SLIGHTLY LATER CERTAIN DAYS OF THE WEEK. SEE WEBSITE)
SANRIOWORLD GINZA HOURS & MAP
There are other stores all over Japan that, of course, stock Sanrio products. Almost all toy sections of large department stores, Kiddyland toy stores, airports and large train stations.
The Hello Kitty Cafe in Diver City, Odaiba, has closed down but there is now a small kiosk style cafe in the Sanrio store in Diver City. As part of the Sanrio Store. Right next to the Poop Museum.
If you’re happy to head to another old school amusement park outside of Tokyo, I recommend the Seibuen Amusement Park which has LOTS of retro Hello Kitty rides.
All the details are here.
There is also now a brand new Sanrio (Hello Kitty etc) store where they also sell Hello Kitty-shaped castella.
And if you decide to purchase these soft-serve ice-creams the cup is included for you to take home.
Our family’s Hello Kitty purchases have included:
Hello Kitty Pet Clinic (Dollhouse with Case included)
I bought this on amazon and it comes with us on every single family holiday now. Mainly because Hello Kitty’s head is the actual case for the Pet Clinic/Dollhouse. I wish I could say that the Pet Clinic is still in it’s original form but …. Daniel Tiger, random stickers and other smaller toys now also reside here … so I’ll use the interior picture from the Amazon website so you can see what it first looked like.
It cost approximately 2000 yen on Amazon Japan. It’s available on US Amazon too but for double the price. It’s also at some Sanrio stores, Toys R Us Japan and small business toy stores.
Hello Kitty Vending Machine Toy
Both my little girl and little boy are crazy for this toy. Lots of small pieces so watch little children with them – and for that same reason of small pieces we keep buying it over and over because it’s so cheap to replace those runaway cans and coins.
It’s available on Amazon Japan, Toys’R’Us Japan and also in larger Sanrio Stores.
Hello Kitty Cookies
These are packaged up beautifully and are approximately 250 yen (sold as a single cookie) from It’s Demo drug & beauty stores (all over Japan)
Hello Kitty Beauty Face Masks
I purchased this mask from Tokyu Hands in Takashimaya in Shinjuku (although they are also available in most drug and makeup stores. I have to admit that I thought the result would be more kawaii than horror movie. It cost approximately 600 yen.
