Japan Series #4 : My Sanrio Puroland Experience As A Sanrio Girly
Yes, I went to my "Disney."
I am and always have been a Sanrio girly. Growing up, we used to go to this Toy store at the Jersey Shore ( which doesn’t exist anymore), and I would always pick out a Sanrio product. For a long time, I did not have a favorite character, but of course, as an adult, I finally have a favorite Sanrio character.
For me, It’s Cinnamoroll.
Cinna is a white puppy, not a bunny. I cannot even tell you how many people are shocked when I explain that he is a puppy. Cinnamoroll is a friendly but shy dog who can fly through the air with his ears. He works at a cafe and loves cinnamon rolls, and he is also a Pisces… ( I don’t typically like Pisces men, but he is the exception.) That's enough about my favorite character.
As someone who loves Sanrio, it wasn’t a want, but it was a need to check out Sanrio Puroland, which is basically like Disney but for Sanrio fans ( I do have an upcoming post about Disney as well, so stay tuned.) So I had to go! Erin and I dedicated a day to exploring the land of my hopes and dreams.
Getting There
The train system in Tokyo is really incredible, and you can basically get anywhere easily, and this was no exception. Puroland was the furthest we went on our Tokyo adventure. It took a little over an hour to get there from our hotel, making it our most expensive trip, but it still somehow felt shorter than getting from Manhattan to Brooklyn.
Experience
I meant to write this in our hotel room after visiting Puroland, so that everything would be fresh in my mind, but it’s been a while since I’ve revisited this part of my trip.
We arrived about half an hour before they opened because if there’s one thing I learned about Tokyo, it’s that they love a line. So we got in line without any issues and waited to enter my wonderland.
The good thing about Puroland is that it’s actually all inside, so if you have a rainy day, it’s a great place to go. As soon as we stepped foot in the whimsical woodland, I couldn’t stop saying wow! The theming was so cool and unexpected.
We saw a lot of people running to enter a line, and the others took their seats for the parade. They took their parades so seriously in Japan. We were a little overwhelmed and trying to figure out where to begin our day. Ultimately, we ended up following the lines to where you could sign up for a character meet and greet! I tried to get Cinnamoroll, but he was sold out by the time we got there, and I was upset about it. I was able to meet Wish Me Mell, who is a super cute bunny character that I adore. My meet and greet was at 10, so there wasn’t too much Erin and I could do for that amount of time.
I was one of the first people to meet Wish Me Mell, and she was so cute and sweet. It was interesting to me that so many people of all ages were in line to meet characters or get good spots for the parades. Wish Me Mell was the size of a normal person, but some of the other characters were tiny, and that says a lot because I’m five feet one.
We were right by the My Melody ride, so we decided to go on it as our first ride. The ride went through her life story, and it was super cute. It was also a photo booth ride, so every single room snapped a photo of you, and Erin and I had a lot of fun with it.
We went to buy a Fast Pass for the famous Sanrio boat ride. We were able to get the pass at 11, but it was cash only. At this point, we were running low, but we had enough for it. Most places in Japan took card, but there were a few exceptions like the temples and some fast passes and even Kuji ( or lotteries).
Going on the boat was a highlight of my trip because it was so incredibly magical. You get to go with Cinnamoroll for a tour around Sanrio World, each room is dedicated to a character and their world. It was truly so special.
At some point, we realized the character meet-and-greet kiosk was pretty empty. I somehow managed to get a Cinnamoroll meet-and-greet, but it was scheduled for 5:30, so we had to find a way to kill the rest of the day.
Erin was hungry, so we went to one of the restaurants so she could get the crepe she had been dreaming about, and I got boba. It was fine. Eventually, after that, I decided I wanted lunch at the other restaurant because I wanted the terrifyingly blue curry. The curry came with a meat patty, which was pretty good. I do enjoy Japanese-style curry, and I enjoyed eating it. The blue might have looked scary, but it certainly was tasty.
There were a lot of photo opportunities, so I made Erin take a lot of photos of me since we had so much time. Many of the characters had different rooms or areas to explore, which I loved it.
Our timing worked out to enter Lady Kitty's home without waiting forever! It was so fun to see the incredible theming in “her home.” The tour of her home ended with a meet-and-greet, which was the only meet-and-greet Erin wanted to do during our trip.
Eventually, we ended up in the entrance shop or the main gift shop, which was the most overwhelming store I had ever shopped in. I didn’t purchase Sanrio products prior to this day because I was waiting, and it was worth the wait. I spent close to two hours in the store, shopping and dissociating. Erin was resting elsewhere and literally came to check on me because she was worried something had happened.
I was buying a ton of gifts for myself and my Sanrio-loving besties. I know you all know how much I love shopping for blind boxes, but nothing compares to the number of Sanrio blind boxes I found at Puroland, it was wild. Here’s my haul, BTW:
I will also say I spent the most money at Puroland during the entirety of my trip. The only thing that I spent more money on was my Chanel.
Godzilla Led Me To My Dream Bag
I’ve been thinking a lot about how and what I wanted to say about my vintage bag shopping adventures in Tokyo. It was a big part of my plan for the trip; I made sure to integrate a day into our itinerary when I could go and explore an area known for its secondhand bags. I was ready to explore and hunt for the dream bag, but life doesn’t go as planned.
Since we had more time to kill before my meet and greet, we ended up going to one of the shows. It was a traditional Japanese art style featuring Sanrio characters. I know it sounds insane, but I started to sob because that’s when it hit me. I’m in Tokyo, seeing a traditional art form, but all the characters are Sanrio. It was the only time I cried during our trip.
Eventually, after visiting more shops, we ended up at my Cinnamoroll meet and greet. I have so many thoughts and questions about how an actor was small enough to fit in that costume. Whoever was in there understood English because I told them I flew from New York City to see them, and I got some hugs, too! It was so special! Will I ever be this happy again? Who knows. (probably not.)
Overall, I loved my experience, but I think you could manage it in half a day if you’re not super into shows and parades. The only reason we ended up staying so long was so I could meet Cinna.