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 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) area will be located within Yomiuri Land, the Japanese capital’s largest amusement park, the company said Tuesday. "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
