2004 Spring - The Empress of Cute - Hello Kitty at 30 - Sanrio Puroland
Sanrio Puroland
The Puro-mised Land
text by Seiji Yamagiwa / photography by Miyabi Tanaka
It's an ordinary weekday morning in Tokyo as I set off to visit Puroland. At this theme park created by Sanrio, Japan's leading maker of character goods, Hello Kitty and her hyper-cute colleagues in the Sanrio dynasty await my visit. An hour-long train journey takes me out to the Tama district, a bedroom community on the outskirts of Tokyo. Besides the direction signs that are invariably accompanied by images of Kitty, there is very little to separate this particular suburb from any other of its kind.
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Puroland from the outside: It is one of the world's few all-indoor theme parks.
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Soon enough, I am safely inside this pantheon of Japanese cute culture, being warmly greeted by George White, Kitty's famous Papa. Most of my fellow guests are families with children, chiefly led on by girls ranging from toddler to 10 years of age, but I also notice the occasional 20-something girlfriends paying homage.
An escalator followed by some steps leads me down to the heart of Puroland, where Kitty herself along with boyfriend Daniel waits to welcome visitors. A small girl of about 5 or 6 rushes past me and quite literally jumps on Kitty. As was the case with her old man George, Kitty has shed her "five apples tall, three apples heavy" stats and traded them for average human size. Sanrio has furnished this Kitty a slightly smaller head and significantly longer, moving arms and legs, but this is clearly out of simple—dare I say it—convenience, and nothing more. And it isn't as if the girl that went flying past me, or for that matter any of the dozens of others crowding around and looking up at Kitty, are questioning any of it. On the contrary, they simply seem pleased as punch.
The adorable couple makes the rounds of tables to greet guests at lunchtime. |
"Illuminant—the parades of light" is the current main parade at Puroland. Amazing lighting effects liven up the singing and dancing. |
Kitty entertains a group of preschool children on a day trip inside Kitty's House. |
What strikes any new visitor to Puroland is its modest size. I descend to the first floor and walk around the "Tree of Wisdom" main square at the center of Puroland, and I'm back where I started after barely half a minute. The entire place has only one ride dedicated to the familiar cuties—a boat running on rails that slowly carries you through rooms with motorized Sanrio characters being their usual amiable selves.
Kitty's House is another crowd magnet: surprisingly unpretentious, about as down-to-earth as the cute feminine cat herself. The single-story apartment has scattered inside such Kitty props as a ringing telephone with Kitty on the other end of the line, a Kitty-shaped TV on which Kitty is reading news reports about Kitty appearing in a fashion show, a grand piano with the prerecorded voice of Kitty singing each of the notes, and so on. There's an orderly queue near the exit as visitors wait to have photographs taken beside the "real" Kitty. As I skip the queue and make for the door, I realize that my visit has left me no more enlightened about Kitty than I was previously. Those who study Kitty often talk about the significance of the absent mouth, but even this peek into her lifestyle is mute on detail.
The shows performed simultaneously in Puroland's four theaters often involve younger members of the audience. |
The ground-floor shop boasts a comprehensive array of Sanrio products. |
After lunch I watch the day's main event where all the major characters parade around the square alongside professional dancers. I say parade, but this is practically a mini-musical replete with singing and dancing. Amid the lighting effects that amazingly manage to transform the scenery, I notice both kids and adults alike gazing intently at the show. Their sparkly eyes tell of their adoration, and I realize Kitty is here to stay. I am lost as to why this might be, but the cat is cute, I grant you that much.
Sanrio Puroland
1-31 Ochiai, Tama-shi, Tokyo
Tel. 042-339-1111
Open 10 AM to 5 PM weekdays, until 8PM on Sundays and holidays
For more information about Puroland and its closure days:
www.sanrio.co.jp/english/spl/spl.html (English)
www.puroland.co.jp (Japanese)
www.sanrio.com (Sanrio's official Web site in English)
Articles from the 2004 SPRING issue:
Kateigaho International Edition Issues:
2005 SUMMER - 2005 SPRING - 2005 WINTER
2004 AUTUMN - 2004 SUMMER - 2004 SPRING - 2004 WINTER
2003 AUTUMN - INAUGURAL ISSUE
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