First Mario, now Pokemon is getting a new theme park, this time set in the real-life Kanto region the original games are based on.
Earlier today, The Pokemon Company announced that it’s setting up a new company called PokePark Kanto, which plans to collaborate with the Yomiuri Land Co. and The Yomiuri Shimbun to build a brand new Pokemon theme park within the Yomiuriuland amusement park. The new park itself will also be called PokePark Kanto, being described as “a theme park where visitors can enjoy the Pokémon experience in a lush natural environment through various events.” A fun thing about Yomiruiland is that it’s based in Tama Hills, which is based in the actual Kanto region.
Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green (or Blue for those of us over in the west) are obviously set in a fictitious area called the Kanto region, quite clearly naming itself after the real-world region in Japan. This isn’t actually the first collaboration between The Pokemon Company and Yomiuriland, as back in 2021 a nature-focused section of the park called Pokemon Wonder was opened up. Pokemon Wonder wasn’t so much of a theme park as it was a Pokemon-themed nature reservation, with a couple of trails that park-goers could explore, filled with various statues of Pokemon hidden amongst the trees.
Nothing else was confirmed about PokePark Kanto, though it’s sounding like it’ll be a permanent fixture of the larger park. There’s also no word on when we can expect the park to open up, but theme parks generally take quite a long time to build, so I personally wouldn’t get your hopes up to visit it anytime soon.
In the meantime, you could always play the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC, which received a lengthy trailer last week showing off a bunch of returning Pokemon and new features.
