Because Japan is so densely populated and real-estate is scarce and expensive, especially in Tokyo, many of its “theme parks” are actually indoors. We went to one inside Tokyo Tower during our last trip. If you haven’t noticed by now, Tie and I are huge fans of the anime, One Piece. It’s currently all the rave in Asia, so unsurprisingly, they have their own theme park, even if it’s only two stories tall. But since you’re reading this post, you probably already know what One Piece is. Let’s check out what’s inside!
We went on a Monday afternoon, so there weren’t many people. The first time we visited Japan, we didn’t get to see the Tokyo Tower because we weren’t in the neighborhood. This time, we got to kill two birds with one stone. Nerd out + photo op.
Upon entering Tokyo Tower, there will be banners and jolly rogers directing you up the escalator and to the theme park entrance on the third floor. Advanced tickets which can be purchased here are ¥3,000. Otherwise, you can pay on the day of for ¥3,200. My favorite part of the ticket area was definitely the wall of illustrations; in a cartography-esque style, you’ll see each of the One Piece islands drawn out in aerial view.
When you first enter, you’ll see many large manga panels, each relevant to a One Piece character. You’ll get different effects by standing in front of them – for example, Robin’s hands appear as silhouettes.
Throughout the theme park, there are many life-size figures you can pose with for pictures.
Upstairs, there are more One Piece mini sets and games.
One of the games is Usopp-themed. Get through Enies Lobby by shooting down people with his signature slingshot. This is also where we first saw the Law cosplayer. He was really good at the game…because he kept lining up to play it over and over again. You do get a prize for winning. He was totally showing off in front of little kids. Good job, man.
For Nami’s Casino House, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but it’s basically a series of gambles where you need to select one of three choices (such as selecting your character in a race to get to Nami). If you get above a certain score, you win a prize.
With Robin’s game, you are given a dendenmushi to carry around the theme park and listen for clues to solve a mystery.
There was also a pretty cool Franky “pinball” machine. Although how you perform really doesn’t matter. It costs about ¥500 so you’ll definitely get a capsule prize.
Zoro’s game was pretty cool. You first go through a showroom of swords from the anime. Then you are directed to a room where they give you a plastic sword. There’s a giant screen and you must chop all the bombs being hurled at you.
Brook’s haunted house was genuinely scary in certain parts. Your goal is to put salt into a zombie’s mouth. The Thriller Bark arc always creeped me out.
Chopper’s Thousand Sunny Tours was pretty cute. You get to walk around a makeshift Thousand Sunny and view all the rooms (except where Nami is showering). Pictures were not allowed. As usual, I took that rule with a grain of salt and used my phone.
Luffy’s Endless Adventure was a sensory experience. There will be a bit of water splashing on you as Luffy battles onscreen. Then you might get a bit of motion sickness while walking through Ace’s spinning tunnel of fire. That room was trippy.
Some more wacky sets and props:
Towards the end there is also a live action show that’s pretty cool. Actors dress up as the One Piece character and reenact their adventures (using the original voices). It’s fun, has good music, and involves waving around some weird light gem thing. The whole show is in Japanese so we didn’t really follow all the dialogue. Most of it should be pretty self-explanatory, though.
Downstairs, there are more ways to blow your money with a shop and restaurant. We ordered Nami’s mikan curry and Law’s jolly roger float.
