Pokemon theme park opens in Tokyo

TOKYO

The first permanent Pokemon theme park opened in Tokyo on Thursday, featuring cute rides and a woodland area where visitors can try and "catch 'em all".

It is Japan's latest tourist attraction catering to a record influx of overseas travellers, and tickets are already sold out for the next two months.

Visitors to PokePark Kanto, within Tokyo's largest amusement park Yomiuri Land, are greeted by statues of the electric mouse Pikachu and other creatures from the franchise.

Pokemon - one of Japan's top cultural exports - began in 1996 with video games on Nintendo's Game Boy console.

Inspired by the Japanese summer childhood tradition of bug-collecting, players catch and train in battle hundreds of "pocket monsters".

The phenomenon has evolved since then to become wildly popular worldwide, with anime series, movies, a trading card game and the augmented reality smartphone app "Pokemon Go".

PokePark Kanto has two areas: a hilly outdoor zone nearly half a kilometre long (1,600 feet) full of Pokemon figurines, and a town modelled on those in the games for shopping and rides.

To access the woodland area, visitors must be able to climb 110 steps without assistance, the park's website says.

A record number of tourists entered Japan in 2025, despite a steep fall in Chinese visitors in December due to a diplomatic row between the nations.

Another big theme park, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, said last month it was also planning Pokemon-themed attractions, without giving details.