At its core, the Harry Potter movie series is about a young person coming to grips with death as it intrudes on their fantasy world. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) enters a realm of magic and limitless wonders when he first goes off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s a place that rescues him from the doldrums of a Cinderella-like life where he’s sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs and being treated like a second-class citizen in the home of the Dursleys. They’re his aunt, uncle, and cousin, but they might as well be his wicked stepmother and stepsisters.
At Hogwarts, Harry escapes that life in England and makes friends with Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), so he’s not alone anymore. Moreover, he becomes the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived. Halfway through the eight-movie series, however, death comes calling for another young man who’s only a few years older than Harry. (He happens to be played by Robert Pattinson, who went on to play an undying vampire in Twilight.) The arrival of the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) forces Harry to grow up as his movie series takes on a dark, oppressive color palette under the direction of David Yates.
I wasn’t as much a fan of the last four Harry Potter movies. I’ve only read the first two books, so I don’t know how faithful the movie adaptations were, but if you’re like me and would prefer to live in a fantasy world a while longer, come right this way as we explore Tokyo’s Harry Potter Cafe and its new Warner Bros. Studio Tour.
The Harry Potter Cafe in Akasaka
Earlier this week, we took a trip to the Harry Potter Cafe, located in Akasaka. It was my first time visiting this part of the city, though it was a rainy day and I didn’t see much of it beyond the Harry Potter plaza.
Taking the subway to Akasaka Station, you’ll immediately be immersed in the Wizarding World as you come up from underground. There’s a magical Time-Turner on the stairs, which are flanked by two long walls of witch and wizard portraits. When you hit the open air, you’ll also see the ACT Theater, where a stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently playing.
You have to make online reservations for both the Harry Potter Cafe and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour well in advance, and once we got to Akasaka, we were more impressed by the outside than the inside of the cafe. The interior struck me as rather bare and off brand, like they had just hung up random portraits and didn’t have enough recognizable Harry Potter features.
As for the food, my favorite dish was the bangers and mash (officially, the Hogwarts Sausage and Mashed Potatoes). We also had the Platform 9 3/4 Beans and a Hedwig Mini Cake.
The bubble around our non-alcoholic Expecto Patronum cocktail burst before I could get a picture of it. Once the vapor it left had dissipated, we were left with a drink that looked and tasted like blue window cleaner.
Despite that and the Harry Potter Cafe’s lackluster interior, we still had a fun time there. That said, it’s not an experience that I’d recommend going out of your way for if your time in Tokyo is limited. Personally, I think Potter fans would get much more bang for their buck at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Nerima.
The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo - The Making of Harry Potter
Our first visit to Akasaka came after my first visit to Nerima last month, when I took the Warner Bros. Studio Tour there and saw a gorgeous sunset outside afterward.
The tour is mostly self-guided, and its full name, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo - The Making of Harry Potter, is almost as long as the winding trek through its recreated movie sets. If you’re looking to retreat from the horrors of the real world and enjoy some escapist fantasy, this warehouse of wonders in Nerima could be the perfect place to get lost for an afternoon.
The tour starts out in the Great Hall, where the students of Hogwarts enjoyed all their meals, and where they were sorted into different houses like Gryffindor (Team Harry) and Slytherin (Team Voldemort). This is the one part of the tour where you only have a few minutes before they usher you along to make room for the next group.
The walking route then takes you past the moving Marble Staircase in another cavernous room where the walls are covered in portraits from floor to ceiling. From there, you move through the Living at Hogwarts section, where you can see the Slytherin Common Room and other sets.
In Costumes and Props, there are mannequins done up like all three versions of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. You’ll see the two older versions, played by the late Richard Harris and Michael Gambon (the latter of whom passed away just recently), and the younger version, played by Jude Law in the Fantastic Beasts prequels.
The Learning at Hogwarts section takes you into the classroom, where you can see potions master Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) and other professors in their element.
Having just visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan (USJ) for the first time last December, I found the Warner Bros. Studio Tour to be no less immersive. It was almost better in places because you could take your time and drink in the sights longer.
At USJ, for instance, the Flight of the Hippogriff coaster moves past an animatronic of the titular winged creature, but the ride is over in 60 seconds, and you never have time to stop and take pictures. On the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, by contrast, you’ll see animatronics of the Hippogriff and Hagrid (Rory Cochrane) in the Forbidden Forest, and you can spend as much time there as you want.
You can also see Hagrid’s Hut before you hit the halfway point of the tour at the Backlot Cafe and Butterbeer Bar. Factoring in a meal break there, the entire tour wound up being a four-hour experience for me.
There’s so much to see along the way that I’m not even going to attempt to show everything or explain it all here. Instead, I’ll let these photo highlights from the second half of the tour speak for themselves.
