Moomin Theme Park Opens at Lakeside in Eastern Japan

Hanno, Saitama Pref., March 16 (Jiji Press)--Moominvalley Park, a theme park featuring Finnish fairytale Moomin, opened near Lake Miyazawa in the city of Hanno, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on Saturday. Moomin Monogatari, the operator of the theme park, hopes that the facility will attract one million visitors annually. The lakeside was selected as the venue of the theme park, as the location is rich in nature and its atmosphere resembles that in Northern Europe, the setting of the Moomin stories. The park has four areas, including Moominvalley. The iconic Moominhouse has also been built, allowing visitors to see the rooms inside. "It will probably turn out to be the last theme park opened in Japan during the country's Heisei era," Moomin Monogatari President Motoki Watanabe said. Heisei, which started in January 1989, ends on April 30 this year with the abdication of Emperor Akihito. A new era is set to start on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito assumes the throne. "I hope that Moominvalley Park will fit for the new era," Watanabe said. Finnish Ambassador to Japan Pekka Orpana said that he is pleased as the theme park opened this year, which marks the 100th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between the two countries. "I've been a Moomin fan for 10 years," a 28-year-old female corporate worker, dressed like Snufkin, one of the key characters in the Moomin stories, said. "I'm so happy because I could come to the world of Moomin," said the woman, from the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido. END