Tokyo’s Kitty Theme Park & Food Court | Sanrio Puroland

Tokyo has no shortage of theme parks to entertain visitors and residents. Tokyo Disneyland is the biggest and most well known but on the other side of the city, a 39 minute train ride from Shinjuku is Sanrio Puroland – the Tokyo home to Hello Kitty and her universe of friends. Fans will ove this place

Japanese Pop Culture is Saving the Countryside | The HELLO KITTY Plan

Japan has a problem. More and more tourists are visiting but very few of them leave the trail between Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima. Well, one company has a plan to help revitalize Japan's aging and declining population and countryside. Use Japanese Pop Culture to turn heads and bring attention to one of Japan's most beautiful and relatively unknown spot in Kansai, Awaji Island. Awaji Island has no train stations. There is very little tourist infrastructure. What do they have? Rice paddies, onion fields, lots of green hills surrounded by the sea -- and now, Hello Kitty! Recently opened Hello Kitty Show Box is a strange sight from the air. It's surrounded by farm pastures and well, just doesn't seem to fit, which is why it's perfect! It's 100% and unequivocally ONLY in JAPAN!

What It’s Like To Ride Japan’s Hello Kitty Bullet Train

The Hello Kitty bullet train can be found speeding across western Japan. It launched on June 30th and runs until November. The purpose of the Shinkansen is to encourage travel throughout western Japan. Here's a look at what it's like to ride the train.

Hello Kitty Shinkansen train to debut in Japan this summer

The world-famous Sanrio character wants to welcome you onboard her very own high-speed train.

It was a sad day when the West Japan Railway company reminded us recently that their limited-edition 500 Series Evangelion Shinkansen would be ceasing operation this May. The specially wrapped train, which took its styling cues from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, had been shuttling passengers to stations along the Sanyo Shinkansen line from Osaka to Fukuoka since November 2015, becoming a fixture in the landscape of the region.

It’s time to wipe away those tears now, though, as JR West has just announced there’ll be a new animated character tie-up in store for their 500 Series Shinkansen. This time, they’re adding a whole lot of kawaii cuteness to the high-speed model, with Sanrio’s Hello Kitty leading the charge for their next cool train project.