A Harry Potter Halloween

10 minutes ago

4 min read

Okay... a Harry Potter fan I am not.

But a few train stops from my house is "The Making of Harry Potter," a Warner Brothers Studio Tour theme park, the Tokyo version. (The original is in London.)

The glass facade of the entrance to "The Making of Harry Potter"

The park opened three years ago to much success and while I have never been inclined to visit, we had a recent houseguest who was yearning to go. And so off we went! Just in time for a Harry Potter Halloween.

This is not a rollercoaster, waterslide, spinning teacup type of park. Rather it is an all enclosed, walk-through exhibition, with life-sized motion picture sets and interactive displays. Perfect for photos, videos and selfies. Wanna join the Hogwarts world? Well, here you can.

And the visitors were just as entertaining as the displays. Many clad themselves in wizard robes and witch's hats. With one hand they waved their magic wands and with the other they aimed their smartphones. And everything, everywhere came in two languages—English and Japanese—as almost half the magical crowd were tourists.

The exhibition halls are massive and everyone edges through at their own pace. It took us close to five hours to finish—it's that large. Including time for guzzling butterbeer and browsing the shops.

Would I go again? Well... If I had another Harry Potter loving houseguest—sure! If that fits you, you now have a Hogwarts invite.

Below are some photos. One note: Nothing here is a toy model. Like everything in the Harry Potter universe, all that follows is as big—or even bigger—than life.

A room with a thousand flying pieces of white paper.

The storm of Hogwarts acceptance notices that Harry receives at the Dursley's.

The entire Dursley house at Number 4 Privet Drive is reconstructed.

(And is larger than my place in Tokorozawa.)

A dimly lit shopping street, with storefronts with many windows. A man in a dark-striped shirt and cap stands to the right.

Part of Diagon Alley, where Harry shops with Hagrid.

The fellow in the striped shirt isn't Hagrid; it's my son, Jay.

A shop front displaying many white owls in cages.

Eeylops Owl Emporium on Diagon Alley.

The Hogwarts Express locomotive train is ready to depart.

The Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 3/4.

An enormous hall lit by jack-o-lanterns hanging from the ceiling. A long table filled with food and plates stretches down the entire wall.

Part of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. I believe this is the Ravenclaw section.

The silver and green coat of arms for Slytherin, featuring a snake

Gryffindor and Slytherin: Opposite each other in the Great Hall

On the left is a mannequin of a dwarf in a black suit coat and tie. On the right is a mannequin of an enormous man with long hair and a full beard.

Replicas of Professor Filius Flitwick and Hagrid near the front of the Great Hall.

Hagrid appears many times throughout the exhibits.

A fiery red bird sits on a perch in a room.

Fawkes the Phoenix

A statue of a strict looking man in a robe. The man is pointing with his right arm.

A statue of the first Headmaster of Hogwarts

A statue of a giant red bird inside of a stairway alcove.

The magical Griffin Stairway that leads to the secret entrance to Dumbledore's office.

A mannequin of a noseless man in a green robe. Around the man is a giant, vicious-looking snake.

A rendition of Lord Voldemort

Two bubbling cauldrons in a dark room. One cauldron is bubbling pink and the other is bubbling green.

Some of the bubbling cauldrons from Potion Class. It's okay to stir the pot.

An ancient and large bookcase, with shelves full of books that stretch to the ceiling.

Part of the Hogwarts Library

Near the entrance to the Forbidden Forest

Two centaurs with bows and arrows stand atop a giant tree root.

Centaurs on guard

A scary-looking, blue demon-like being descends from between two dark trees.

A descending Dementor. This one almost landed on me!

A giant, purple spider approaches from under a tree.

A huge, talking spider (my favorite kind). I think its name is Aragog.

A skeleton-like figure with angel's wings holds an axe-like weapon before a gravestone. In the air above is a celestial model similar to the planet Saturn in appearance.

The Angel of Death before the Tomb of Tom Riddle. A celestial orrery is above.

A tower on top of a concrete platform. On the tower is written "Magic is Might." Under the platform are statues of many people being crushed.

The sinister "Magic is Might" monument

Now some of the wide assortment of film props, along with Harry Potter merchandise

A giant dinosaur's or dragon's head with its mouth open to show its pointed teeth.

Looking down from above. Almost two meters from snout to chin.

A Medusa-like head with snakes for hair. The head has a scary face with its mouth open.

Bad hair day.

A giant troll or ogre with huge ears, deep eyes, naked shoulders and crooked teeth.

I dunno. Some big guy. The shoulders are a meter and a half across.

A giant snake wrapped around a bookcase. The snake has its mouth open to show dangerous fangs.

Inside one of the souvenir shops.

The GIF of the head of a long-haired bearded man. There is no body. The eyes blink by themselves.

Many displays focused on the processes of film-making.

Here is an automated exhibit of Hagrid's head.

The GIF of a white owl, turning its head and raising its shoulders.

Hedwig, the snowy owl.

Smaller versions were on sale for 50 bucks. (¥8,000)

"Part" of the wand display. Thirty bucks each. (¥4,900)

The life-sized model of an elf with big ears and eyes.

Dobby, the house elf, with the stuffed version on sale for 27 dollars. (¥4,200)

The automated Hedwigs are just above.

A customer holds a gray and red wizards robe with one hand.
A man wears a gray and red wizards robe.

A large portion of the crowd wore wizard robes, with that of Gryffindor being most popular.

Cost = 85 bucks. (¥13,000.) But photos were free. That's Jay the Wizard.

A white and red pullover sweater with the word "Hogwarts" written across the top.

You name it; they sell it. A Hogwarts pullover for 50 dollars. (¥8,000)

Three full mugs of butter beer sit on a tray on a table

Ah, butterbeer! Tastes like cream soda, heavy on the cream. You get to keep the mug.

A castle-like display of the Hogwarts school. People standing to the left show how big the display is.

A replica of Hogwarts, near the park exit. See the woman on the left? She shows the scale.

The gold and black cap to a tub of cookies. On the cap is written "The Making of Harry Potter."

My houseguest's souvenir: a modest tub of vanilla wafers.

I've read one Harry Potter book and seen one film. I had to Google to fill in most captions above. For prices, I used a rough exchange rate of 155 yen to the dollar.

I am still not a fan, but I bow my head to the cross-cultural impact of Harry Potter.

Harry is a prime example of the unifying effect of soft power. In a world torn apart by so many thorny issues, heroes like Harry Potter serve to tie us all together.

Happy Halloween!