By NATSUMI NAKAI/ Staff Writer
June 1, 2023 at 07:00 JST
A renovated train station for an envisioned entertainment area themed on the “Harry Potter” series was unveiled in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, with a mashup of new features and objects from bygone days.
A ceremony on May 16 marked the completion of the remodeled Toshimaen Station in the runup to the opening of the new theme park opening a month later on the former site of the now-defunct Toshimaen amusement park.
“The station was designed in a way that it can become more than just a transit point,” said Hitomi Gomi, an official of Seibu Railway Co., who was involved in the refurbishing of Toshimaen Station and a platform at Ikebukuro Station. “Our hope is for local residents to love it for a long time, too.”
Seibu Railway started Toshimaen Station’s reconfiguration work a year earlier in the hopes of turning “the area around the station into a place for visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Harry Potter.”
Referencing a train station from the series, the remodeled station is marked by support beams painted red as they line the edges of the platform.
Toshimaen Station is also decorated with a bench and phone booth once used on Toshimaen’s grounds to remind passengers of the more than 90-year history of the beloved local landmark there.
A special train was likewise unveiled during the ceremony in anticipation of the new attraction’s opening. The train’s sides had the images of the three main protagonists of the “Harry Potter” movie franchise painted on them: Harry, Hermione and Ron.
Services began that day between Toshimaen Station and Ikebukuro Station. The first train left as Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and a representative of the planned facility’s operator, Warner Bros. Studio Japan, signaled for the departure.
Koki Ogata, 10, an elementary school student from the capital’s Itabashi Ward, said he came to see it with his mother.
“I was sad to see Toshimaen gone, but its (the new attraction’s) upcoming opening is exciting,” he said.
Improvement work on a platform at Ikebukuro Station that the dedicated train will arrive at and depart from has also been completed, according to Seibu Railway.
The new platform resembles King’s Cross Station in London and is adorned with articles such as a clock presented by Warner Bros. Studio Japan.
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A specially painted train to mark the opening of a new Harry Potter-themed amusement park begins running on May 16 in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward. (Natsumi Nakai)
