Living in Hong Kong in the mid-70s exposed me to Hello Kitty and her pals a couple of decades before she became a worldwide staple. I hate to say it, but Hello Kitty is my Mickey Mouse. Kay told me that there was a Sanrio themepark in Tokyo which she visited the last time she was in town, so of course I demanded that we visited it.

Situated in a suburb that’s like the Croyden of Tokyo, Puroland is a giant indoor themepark with an emphasis on shows starring the Hello Kitty roster of characters, a couple of rides, many opportunities to buy Sanrio-branded tat, and a parade. Like all themeparks, it is both crappy and great. We pick a day when we know that it’ll be dead and quiet and we work our way through a series of over-designed shows that feature Hello Kitty and her pals vanquishing various forces of evil, sitting amongst impassive audiences who are urged “Let’s Dancing!!” by overexcited performers. We hug various people (Men? Women? Children? Who knows) dressed in furry Sanrio mascot suits. We eat a Hello Kitty bun. We visit Kitty’s house, where everything is shaped like her head. We nod and smile and bow at female Sanrio staffers who talk to everybody in creepy baby voices. We learn a Hello Kitty dance. We poo in toilets decked out as fairytale glades. We buy stuff covered in tiny teddies. We leave, several hours later, exhausted and headachey.



Psst, this is what Puroland looked like (.mov, 7.1mb and worth it)

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