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MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY

Tokyo Trip

Day 10 - October 23 2024

Easy blog day! We had booked tickets to the Making of Harry Potter, a studio tour about an hour away by train a couple days ago for this morning. We left the hotel at 9:15-ish. The only direct train was out of Roppongi, a neighboring district, so we walked 20 minutes to get to that main station and took a 30 minute direct train to the studio. The walk was very pretty, actually. There was a ton of greenery, which is not common within the city unless you are in a park. The foliage here is very similar to the PNW, very lush and dense rainforest.

We arrived at our ticketed time, 10:30 and started the tour! Only the first 15 minutes is “guided” as you are ushered into a few rooms for some info and videos. Then, the curtains roll up and you walk into the great hall at Hogwarts. From there on, it is all self-guided at your own pace. Similar to a museum, but with many interactive sets. For example, you can stand in front of a painting backdrop and become one of the living paintings in the room. This activity is set up in the room with the moving staircases, so you can watch your own “painting” move on the wall. Another is being directed through a quidditch match as a spectator, cheering and booing and ducking, while they cut it into the movie. 

The bluish tinted paintings are the ones people are recording and being shown on the wall
It was a short recording, but we did not understand that and thought it was a photo, so the screen next to the camera says "now act scared" so we held the pose for an uncomfortable 30 seconds LOL So our portrait was just us trying to hold this pose and then going, wait what?
Cheering for a Griffindor score
Booing a Slytherin goal. OK the three foreigners in this look like Hagrid giants. I swear, the others were just squatting a bit and we just didn't realize that was what we should be doing! Keep in mind, everything is in Japanese, so we are doing our best to follow along and honestly, not totally succeeding!
Shocked when Harry gets hit with the ball- the woman in the middle should earn an Emmy for this performance.
Hagrid's hut!!!
I squeeled at Diagon Alley
The original tapestry
One of the activities is swirling your hand in front of a screen with the woods and dementors on it, and your patronus animal appears. Mike's was a puppy, which was so fitting. Mine was a Phoenix!

All of it sounds so kitchy, and if you aren’t a fan of the movies, it is. However, it was all really well done and super fun and silly. We had a great time exploring the rooms and sets. They have an outdoor area to drink mugs of butterbeer (delicious-tastes like cream soda with extra thick cream) and some surprisingly good gift shops. We were both pleasantly surprised with the quality of the whole thing. 

After a few hours on our feet, we took the train back and got to walk in a light drizzle but took a different way to the hotel, which took us right by a temple we had no idea was here!

After dropping off our purchased gifts (We now have no idea how we are going to fit all the stuff we have bought into just one extra suitcase), we walked just around the block to a pork ramen place. This is one of our last “final meals” we wanted. Holy hell was the broth thick and creamy. It was like eating melted butter which, while delicious, did not sit well. 

Is this a warning...?

So, we decided to chill at the hotel to allow our feet and tummies to recoup. Only one more full day left! We are both missing our pups but it will also be very difficult to leave.

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