Hasta La Motion!

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., a leading U.S. filmmaking company, is all set to open a Harry Potter theme park in Tokyo.

Warner Bros. is gearing up to put together the park on part of land that is currently occupied by the soon-to-be-closed Toshimaen Amusement Park in Nerima Ward, Tokyo.

Warner Bros. will lease part of the about 20-hectare plot of land, which is owned by Seibu Group, while the Tokyo metropolitan government will buy the rest of the land from Seibu to develop a park. The existing amusement facilities and swimming pools of Toshimaen will be soon replaced by the park. Negotiations are in process between Warner Bros., Seibu Group, the Tokyo metropolitan government, and others – with a decision expected to be officially made soon.

The content of the theme park is being discussed, with reference to Warner Bros.’ filmmaking studio in London where visitors can tour the studio sets that were actually used for the making of the Harry Potter films.

On this tour, visitors can stroll through the sets, including those of the Great Hall of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; the shopping street of Diagon Alley; and the Platform of the Hogwarts Express locomotive. They can also see movie props up close, including magic wands. This is referred to as a studio-type facility, which is different from those of Universal Studios in the United States or Universal Studios Japan (USJ) in Osaka, where rides and attractions are also available.

Harry Potter is a story by British writer J.K. Rowling, with the titular boy wizard the main character. It was first published in 1997 in Britain, and its Japanese translation was published in 1999 in Japan. As the story became a global hit, Warner Bros. made a screen version of the story in 2001. Sequels of both the story and the film have been made.