I have two Hello Kitty tattoos so maybe I could stop there about why Sanrio Puroland is on my ulimate bucket list, but I feel like telling a story haha.
One is a simple Hello Kitty bow on my collarbone, which I got around 2011 or 2012 in Virginia. The other is a Hello Kitty Daruma on my shoulder: the traditional Japanese good-luck doll, but with Hello Kitty’s face, because apparently I have always understood the assignment at being tres weird.
I also have Totoro on my bicep. Eventually, I want the Catbus on my tricep, more Sanrio characters around them, and an entire arm that feels like an 80s-kid fever dream: colorful, whimsical, artistic, a little chaotic, and extremely me. Maybe I will add a Spirited Away homage and some Lisa Frank inspired glitter. If you are a tattoo artist in Northeast Florida or Orlando and you see this, HMU!
So yes. Sanrio Puroland is still very much on my Japan list.
TL;DR: What Is Sanrio Puroland?
Sanrio Puroland is an indoor Sanrio character theme park in Tama City, Tokyo, dedicated to Hello Kitty and the wider Sanrio universe. Visitors can enjoy character greetings, colorful parades and shows, themed attractions, restaurants, and shops with exclusive merchandise. It’s like Disney for Sanrio fans. Speaking of, the ultimate trip would ALSO include a trip to Ghibli Park and Tokyo Disney. Someone whisk me away STAT.
For a grown woman who still loves Hello Kitty, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, Tuxedo Sam, Badtz-Maru, Sugarbunnies, or simply the aggressively joyful world of Japanese kawaii design, a vacation like this is not “just for kids” imo.
The Sanrio Store Was a Poor Kid’s Dream
When I was a kid, we had a Sanrio store in Monroe, Louisiana.
It is gone now, which feels a little surreal because Monroe has grown since then, even though it is still not exactly a massive city. But I remember that store so clearly.
The walls were divided by character. Hello Kitty. Keroppi. Tuxedo Sam. Maybe some others that I have forgotten, but I remember the stationery: the pencils, the erasers, the tiny colorful things that were somehow perfectly organized and completely maximalist at the same time which is super characteristic of Japan as a whole.
Japanese design does this thing I love. It can be full, colorful, whimsical, tiny, detailed, and visually loud…but somehow still…intentional. Everything has a place and nothing feels accidental, yet it is decidedly chaotic.
I wanted all of it.
And looking back, some of those items probably were not wildly expensive. But we were poor. My mom could not spare money for cute pencils or character stationery just because I wanted it.
That memory is not sad in a “please feel sorry for me” way but it is part of my story and why I am so dedicated now to being myself on purpose, and absolutely live the treat yourself (within reason) mindset.
I love art. I love color. I love whimsy. I love being able to look at my tattoos and see kid me who wanted the entire Sanrio store, the 22 year-old me who got to go live in Japan, and the current 40 year-old me who has decided she does not need to shrink her joy into something more adult-looking.
Why Sanrio Puroland Is on My Japan Itinerary
I have not been to Sanrio Puroland yet, so this is not a park review pretending to be one. This is a very enthusiastic, very researched, deeply personal “I am going to lose my mind when I finally go” post.
Sanrio Puroland is in Tama City, a Tokyo suburb accessible from Tama Center Station. It is an indoor park with live shows, parades, character experiences, themed food, attractions, shops, and plenty of photo opportunities. Hours and closing days vary, so it is the kind of place I would plan deliberately rather than casually squeeze into a Tokyo itinerary.
And that is the funny part.
I am a travel advisor. I teach intentionality. I care about pacing, rest, sensory load, hydration, and not trying to do 42 things in a day because you saw them all on TikTok.
But put me in Sanrio Puroland and I would probably become four years old again.
“Look at this!”
“Wait, we have to do that!”
“Hello Kitty food?!”
“Why is Little Twin Stars standing over there?”
“I need a photo.”
“I need fifteen photos.”
“I need to go in the shop.”
I would be overstimulated, delighted, and probably a little dizzy. I might need to sit down and have a tiny emotional breakdown by the end of the day because there is only so much joy, color, nostalgia, and character merchandise one adult woman can process at once.
And honestly? That is part of the appeal for me!
I Want in the Photos
One thing I am trying to get better at when I travel is being in my own photos.
I take good travel photos. I notice details, settings, color, scenery, food, and the people I am traveling with. But I often return home with gorgeous destination images and very few photos of me actually being there.
That becomes especially obvious when I am building content around a place. I have beautiful Scotland photos, Highlands photos, and Edinburgh photos, but I noticed this last week that I do not enough images of Heather in Scotland.
Part of it is that I do not love asking people to take my picture and the other part of it is that selfies can feel awkward. And in Japan, I would also want to be respectful of other people’s space and not treat a public place like my personal content set. There is a whole thing about this actually.
Still, Sanrio Puroland is exactly the kind of place where I would want to make a plan for photos on purpose.
Not to perform for the internet but to have evidence that I let myself be there. Ok, maybe a little IG bragging that I wore the cute outfit and I do not actually live in workout gear. Maybe some proof that I met the character and I got the ridiculous themed snack. I can be the serious, capable, career-minded adult woman who also got wildly excited about Hello Kitty and Kiki and Lala.
Women Are Allowed to Be Both
I think women are allowed to have fun and embrace their inner child without having to minimize it, hide it, or pretend it conflicts with being a capable adult.
You can be a leader at work, a mother, a partner, a business owner, a coach, the person everyone depends on AND still be completely unabashedly NUTS about a pink character theme park.
You can be the woman who runs meetings and manages difficult things and also be the woman who wants to buy a Cinnamoroll pencil case, pose with Hello Kitty, and eat something shaped like a bow.
It is not either-or.
It is all you.
That is one reason I care so much about wonder-heavy travel. I do not think the best trips are always the ones where you look the most sophisticated. I think they are the ones where you remember who you are when nobody is asking you to be useful or “productive” or god forbid…normal for five minutes.
How I Would Build a Sanrio Puroland Day Into a Tokyo Trip
I would not treat Puroland as a rushed add-on between three major Tokyo neighborhoods.
It’s important to give it a real day to soak it all in.
That means checking the official calendar before booking, confirming current opening hours and character/show schedules, buying the right ticket, and leaving enough time to get from central Tokyo to Tama Center Station. Sanrio Puroland is about a five-minute walk from Tama Center Station, which is served by the Keio Line, Odakyu Line, and Tama Monorail.My ideal itinerary would include:
- An intentionally cute outfit that still lets me walk comfortably
- Time for the character greetings, shows, parades, attractions, food, and shopping
- A plan for photos without becoming a nuisance to other guests
- Room in the schedule to not rush myself through the experience
- A calm dinner or quiet hotel evening afterward, because I already know I will have used every ounce of my joy battery
And I would absolutely leave extra suitcase space for purchases. I have learned enough about myself to know that “I will just look” is a lie.
Japan Is Not Just a Checklist
Japan is full of incredible “must-do” attractions. Tokyo alone can become a giant list of districts, museums, food stops, shopping streets, temples, themed cafés, Disney, anime experiences, and neighborhoods that everybody tells you not to miss.
But my favorite kind of travel planning starts with a different question:
What would make this trip feel like yours?
For one person, that is food and fashion. For another, it is temples, onsens, or hiking. For me, part of the answer is Sanrio Puroland, Totoro, Akihabara, snacks, and the kind of places that make my colorful, whimsical, younger self feel fully invited along.
If Japan is on your list, I can help you build an itinerary that balances the big highlights with the deeply specific things that make you light up.
And if the idea of a future wonder-first, bookish, whimsical Japan group trip sounds like your kind of chaos? Join Travel with Heather and stay close. I have ideas.
