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Theme Park Heaven in Japan
Hollywood's Turning Japanese - Or should I say Japan is turning Hollywood?
With the fascination Japan has for American movies and their heroes, Hollywood has been under-represented in Japan's own entertainment stronghold: the theme park. Or so we thought, before our April 2001 visit to the Land of the Rising Sun.
You see, theme parks were a recurring theme in our two-week family tour of Japan, both to bribe our son to stay focused on the country's magnificent temples, religious arts and handcrafts, and because the world's most advanced electronic amusements are found in Japan.
We wanted this trip to be fun.
Kitty's a Hit
When we planned an afternoon at Tokyo's Sanrio Puroland theme park, it was with visions of the Buddhist notion of life in a blissful "pureland"and how that might be translated into a theme park. Little did we suspect that it was the home (or should I say litter box?) of the Japanese icon "Hello Kitty."
If Felix is the only Hollywood cat you know, here's a major movie feline that beats his Box Office any day. And what a delightful surprise she and her theme park turned out to be. Big Kittys, little Kittys, pink and blue Kittys, all of Kitty's animated pals, lots of stuffed Kitty costumes, teeny weeny rides through Kittyland, cute climbing areas in a big treehouse, live shows with lively young girls cooing, and an incredible gift shop with Kitty wallets priced higher than at Louis Vuitton.
Sanrio Puroland or "Kittyland" as it's popularly known, makes preschoolers and their adult caregivers stars for a day. And it's more clean-cut than Hollywood Boulevard. Kittyland can be easily reached within 90 minutes of central Tokyo on the Keio train line, and is a few minutes' walk from the train station.
Kyoto's Movie Village
Combine my family's interest in theme parks and movies and you'll know why Kyoto's Eigamura Studio Village was a must. The website of the Japan National Tourist Organization promised Samurai warriors and a classic backlot where we could watch productions in action. The movie studio theme park, owned by Toei, has both, with lanes, shophouses, bridges and scenic areas dating primarily from Kyoto's Golden Age, the A.D. 1200-1500s of the Muromachi era. As cameras roll on Kimono-clad Samurai and beautiful young Geisha starring in soap operas, visitors can admire how these TV series achieve rich production values with such a small crew. We stayed awhile at the Museum of Japanese Cinema to watch clips from many great epics, but preferred the more experiential activities at the park.
In the bustling costume shop, visitors of all ages can try on various wigs and good guy/bad guy/princess gear and pay to have their photograph made with any number of classic Japanese backgrounds. We survived several bloody, smoke-filled "haunted" stages lined with corpses -- which the faint of heart should not visit. We shrieked with the schoolgirls through a well choreographed Ninja stunt show whose evil host went out of his way to make us feel welcome in English.
On one sound stage, a young director (we assumed the man in the beret was the director) coached two Samurai on their roles: they would meet at a water well center stage, fight over something serious, then the victor would escape. It happened according to plan, as we watched one scene being videotaped and overlaid with a much more dramatic "stormy sky" background.
On another stage in the new digital PADIOS building, we donned costumes and climbed into a boat as a director coached us on how to interact with science fiction special effects. It was a free demonstration of "movie magic," but of course we bought several copies of the finished three-minute video in which we successfully fended off invaders from Outer Space. To our delight, our son adored this place as much as his parents.
In a country as familiar yet exotic as Japan, Western travelers with children are often comforted by things akin to 'home.' With this in mind, we had scheduled a visit to the new Universal Japan theme park to follow five days of temple-touring in Kyoto.
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