The wildly popular Pokemon franchise will open its first permanent theme park in Tokyo in spring 2026, the Pokemon Company – a subsidiary of Japanese gaming giant Nintendo – announced.
Japan has welcomed a record influx of visitors in recent months, boosting demand for tourist attractions, including a “Making of Harry Potter” film-studio park that opened in Tokyo in 2023.
Named PokePark Kanto, the new 2.6ha area will be located within Yomiuri Land, the Japanese capital’s largest amusement park, the company said recently.
“We want to create a space where Pokemon are always present and where people can have fun with them,” its chief creative fellow Junichi Masuda said in a video announcement.
The park will have two areas: a Pokemon “forest” described as a “spacious wilderness” and an area for shopping and rides.
Pokemon became a global hit after its 1996 launch as a role-playing game for Nintendo’s handheld Game Boy console.
Inspired by the Japanese summer childhood tradition of bug-collecting, players catch and train in battle hundreds of round-eyed “pocket monsters” inspired by everything from mice to dragons.
The franchise also includes movies, an animated TV show, and the “Pokemon Go” augmented-reality mobile game. – AFP
