Tokyo Sesame Place (東京セサミプレイス) was a Japanese Sesame Street theme park located in Akiruno, Tokyo, Japan, which operated from 1990 to 2006. It was a Japanese version of the Sesame Place theme park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. However, despite the name, it was not affiliated with the American park, being owned and operated by Tokyotokeiba Co. Ltd., and was located on the Tokyo Summerland complex near the golf club (sharing the same car parking space as it), about 1.5 km from the Tokyo Summerland water park.
Park[]
To enter the theme park, visitors went on a long escalator ride through a steep hill all the way to the top in front of a giant Big Bird head. (At 40.8 meters, it was the longest escalator in Japan at the time.[1])
Most of the attractions were the same as its American counterpart during its first years, with a few unique ones. Due to the small size of the park, the attractions were more or less like playground equipment. There was also two restaurants, some carnival games, kiddie rides (which were moved to Tokyo Summerland after the park's closure) and a gift store named after Hooper's Store.
Attractions[]
Sesame Square
- Big Bird's Gate
- Barkley's Walkway - A walkway similar to the Big Bird Bridge.
- Aqua Blasta Water Game
Construction Area
- Monster Maze - Maze with large punching bags.
- Grover's Super Dig - Kids could sit on small mechanical excavators and dig up dirt.
- Cookie Mountain - Climbing equipment. This version doesn't include any net covering the attraction.
- Sesame Construction Railroad
- Twiddlebug's Perch - A terrace lounge.
- Count's Number Room
- Elmo's Nets and Climbs - An enclosed 2-story outdoor playground.
- Ball Pool - Located on the second floor.
- Slimey Slider - A enclosed slide that took attendees down to the first floor.
- Zoe's Court - A sand play area.
Sesame Food Factory
- sit-down restaurant
- takeout
Sunny Day Area
- Herry Monster's Net - Climbing net. It is placed over Sesame Beach.
- Big Bird's Pond - Bumper boats.
- Snuffy's Ball Pool - A deep ball pit.
- Oscar's Observation Tower
- Little Bird's Gate
- Ernie's Bed Bounce - Inflatable bed. This version was enclosed.
- Rainbow Pyramid - Attendees could put balls inside the pyramid and the air would push them up.
- Prairie Dawn's Playground - Rest area.
- Sesame Forest - Small playground and picnic area.
Water Activities Area (summer season only)
- Rubber Duckie Pond
- Bert's Balancing Beam
- The Amazing Mumford's Water Maze - A water attraction.
- Sesame Beach - Small water pool.
Show Area
- Big Bird's Nest - A replica of Big Bird's nest for photos
- Sesame Studio - Indoor theater that had short live shows featuring the walk-around characters.
- Rubber Duckie Stage
- Guy Smiley's Tower - Staircase tower that could take attendees to the bottom and top floors.
1-2-3 Sesame Street Area
- Sesame Street - An indoor replica of Sesame Street, similar to Sesame Neighborhood.
- Hooper's Store - A gift shop.
- Big Bird's Nest - A replica of Big Bird's nest for photos
- Bert & Ernie's Play Room - An indoor playground for babies and toddlers.
- Coin rides
Characters[]
Walk-around characters included Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Ernie, Bert, The Count (first appeared in late 1990s), and Zoe (first appeared in early 2000s). In stage shows, the characters' voices were dubbed by the same voice actors from the NHK dub.
Walk-arounds of Mojabo and Teena from the Japanese co-production also appeared at the park during its last few years.
Closure[]
On September 27, 2006, Tokyotokeiba Co. Ltd. announced that the park would close down on December 31, 2006, citing changes in the business environment for its closure.[2]
After closure, the major parts of the park including signage, the Escalators and the Big Bird head were removed from the site. The former site of the park remains vacant and abandoned, as of 2023.
Merchandise[]
See also[]
- Universal Studios Japan, which added the Sesame Street characters in 2003