Latest news with #Buckbeak
Time Out
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Japan's first flagship Harry Potter Shop has opened in Harajuku
It was only a matter of time before Japan would welcome its first flagship Harry Potter Shop, given that Potterheads here already flock to the wildly popular Warner Bros. Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter in Tokyo, as well as The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at USJ in Osaka. The new Harry Potter Shop in Harajuku is the franchise's third flagship store in the world, after London and New York. Spanning 900sqm, it's directly connected to Meiji-Jingumae Station, making it an easy stop when you're in the area. Officially opened on August 14, the massive new Harry Potter hub is so much more than just a retail space. In addition to offering a wealth of wizarding-related merchandise, it entices fans with fun photo spots, an exhibition of film-used props, and an exclusive food and drink menu at the in-house Butterbeer Bar. The store's Forbidden Forest theme brings you face-to-face with magical creatures, including the famed hippogriff Buckbeak. Crafted by the team behind the film sets, the statue is strikingly realistic – from his detailed feathers to his piercing gaze, you'll feel as if you've stepped straight into Hagrid's magical garden. Alongside Buckbeak, the first floor offers merchandise from the four iconic Hogwarts houses, plus exclusive items only available at the Harajuku store. Think T-shirts, sweatshirts, baseball caps, plushies and more. A magical escalator through the Forbidden Forest will take you up to the second floor where you'll find the confectionery section, modelled after Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Here, you can stock up on popular sweets like the Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs. Don't miss the wand counter, where friendly staff will help you find the perfect wand for your personality. To complete your wizarding look, you can also pick up robes, ties, sweaters and other essential Hogwarts gear. Of course, no visit is complete without stopping by the Butterbeer Bar, where you can enjoy a glass of Butterbeer and Harajuku-exclusive treats like Butterbeer ice cream and a pizza-flavoured Buckbeak bun. Keep your eyes peeled – beyond the film props scattered throughout the store, you'll discover hidden treasures like fairies in tiny peepholes and the whimsical Golden Snitch.
SoraNews24
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Tokyo has a brand new Harry Potter shop with its own butterbeer bar – Let's see what's inside【Pics】
The wizarding world comes to the Harajuku fashion district. As the primary boulevard of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku neighborhood, Omotesando is lined with fashion emporiums for some of the world's top apparel and accessory brands. However, the latest big name to take up residence on the street comes not from the fashion world, but from the wizarding world, as this week marks the grand opening of the Harry Potter Shop Harajuku. The massive store is made up of multiple sections focusing on different aspects and locales of the Harry Potter universe, including a Butterbeer Bar, the first cafe in the country outside of an amusement park or museum to serve up the series' beloved beverage. Greeting visitors on the first floor, in the Forbidden Forest area, is a full-scale statue of Buckbeak the hippogriff. Crafted by visual effects artists who worked on the Harry Potter movies, Buckbeak's feathers and facial features are so true to his onscreen depiction that we expect more than a few visitors to bow to him, or at least do so inside their hearts. Buckbeak is far from the only enchanted beast you'll encounter inside the store. Peer into the trunk of this tree, for example, and you'll find a Pickett. Look up, and you'll also spot several owls, either perched on trees or flying across the sky, perhaps en route to deliver important messages. The theming is so thorough that we were enjoying ourselves even before we started looking at the merch, such as the shirts, caps, mugs, and robes of Hogwarts' four houses in the House Pride corner. Also on the first floor is a collection of Harry Potter Shop Harajuku-exclusive items. Rather than show favoritism to any one house, these are done in stylishly underrated color schemes, and they feature the kanji for Harajuku (原宿) for extra souvenir suitability. We're still on just the first floor, but we've got one more stop before we head upstairs: Harajuku's very own Honeydukes, stocked with real-world versions of Harry Potter candies and some matcha-flavored themed sweets as well. Okay, now it's time to take the elevator up to the second floor, and even that is a treat for fans, as it really wraps you in the atmosphere of trying to make your way out of the Forbidden Forrest. The second floor also has a Honeydukes corner, but this one sports a photo spot. The MinaLima art gallery has beautiful pieces on display and for sale. But the most exciting shopping experience has to be the wand shop section. There are dozens of wands on display, including intricately detailed recreations of specific characters' wands as seen in the movies. There's such a wide variety that some shoppers might not know where to start in narrowing down their selection, but the expert wand salespeople on hand are happy to explain their differences and help you find the one that's just right for you. Between the wand shop and fitting rooms for robes that you can purchase with customized name embroidering, this part of the store makes Omotesando feel like Diagon Alley. And last, as promised, the Butterbeer Bar. Until now, if you found yourself fancying a butterbeer here in the real world, you needed to head either to the Wizarding World area inside Universal Studios Japan in Osaka or to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo–The Making of Harry Potter walkthrough museum in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, each of which require you to purchase a ticket to enter. Not even the Tokyo Harry Potter popup cafe had the drink on its menu, but at Harry Potter Shop Harajuku, the butterbeer flows freely. In addition to an 800-yen (US$5.40) butterbeer (which is a delightful chilled carbonated elixir with butterscotch and cream flavors), we also enjoyed a cup of salty caramel butterbeer ice cream (600 yen), topped with butterbeer foam and caramel sauce. On the savory side, we had a tasty Buckbeak Bun (800 yen) with a cheese pizza sauce filling, and also picked up some icing cookies (three for 2,000 yen) to take home. The Harry Potter Shop Harajuku has its grand opening to the public on August 14. Shop information Harry Potter Shop Harajuku / ハリー・ポッター ショップ 原宿 Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 6-31-17 東京都渋谷区神宮前6丁目31番17号 Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Website Photos © SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
