The nearest train station to Warner Bros. The Making Of Harry Potter attraction is Toshimaen Station. It's easily confused with the Seibu Line and the Oedo Line. There's an old one with no designs whatsoever, and there's the newly renovated train station to make it look like Harry Potter-themed.
My friends and I got tickets to the attraction, but we have different schedules so we decided to meet at the studio tour. That meant I had to commute alone to the theme park. Did I forgot to tell you we're going to the Warner Bros. The Making Of Harry Potter studio tour?
Toshimaen Station isn't that far from where I live, just 30 minutes by train if I take the Oedo Line. But Oedo Line's Toshimaen Station isn't a Harry Potter-themed station. It's just a normal train station, so I had to change trains in the middle of my ride going there. I know, I could have reached the theme park sooner but it's not everyday that I get to come to Toshimaen so I didn't mind having to do the hassle. Besides, I was on my own so I wasn't a bother to anyone else except me.
I'm here at the yellow mark. My destination's the green mark.
I changed trains from Oedo to Seibu at Nerima Station. I had to wait around 10 minutes for the train to arrive. There were trains but they won't go to Toshimaen. If you're planning to go to Toshimaen Station from Nerima Station, be sure to check the train you're taking. Same platform but trains go to different places.
I finally arrived at Toshimaen Station. I was happy seeing it's not just your ordinary transit gateway, it's like I'm about to depart for Hogwarts!
The poles have the name of the station in English and in Japanese. It's also painted red to match the theme.
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Looking down, there were some invisible footprints that led me to the center of the station.
The statue in the middle of this small train station already caught my attention earlier when I got off the train. It's like a mini Hogwarts express train.
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Apparently, this train display was from an old attraction but it was closed in August 2020. Now this object has been reborn and is now here at Toshimaen Station.
On the covered area, it's all painted in dark red! The cabinets from afar included.
Even the vending machines here are dark red. It's special.
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Does this clock also resemble the one in the movies? I totally forgot! But it looks like it.
I didn't question why this light was turned on when it was still bright in the afternoon. π It just looks so pretty!
There's a telephone booth, and mind you, it works. Try to listen to what the operator says when you come. I wasn't able to try it but my friend did.
I wasn't able to ride the Harry Potter characters' train going here so I thought of waiting for the next train and see if I'd get lucky. To kill time, I went to the farthest end of the platform.
Standing on the farthest end and seeing the tracks like this reminded me of my usual commute when I was still living in Osaka. Now in Tokyo, my home's on the subway line so I couldn't really enjoy looking at the train tracks in broad daylight.
Now that I was standing here, I realized Toshimaen Station is really a small station. It's in a quiet neighborhood in Nerima-ku. I thought to myself, I could live around here. There are direct trains going to Ikebukuro Station, so it's not a problem. If lucky, it could probably go to Shibuya too.
After I got tired of roaming around the small station, I sat on the bench and waited. My friends were also on the incoming train so I figured we could just meet up here.
While waiting, I saw this cute lawn mower. It's also red like this train station.
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The train arrived. And and and..... It wasn't a Harry Potter train. Oh, the look of disappointment on my face. π
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Harry, Hermoine and Ron (not on the photo), why could I only catch a glimpse of you 3 from this plain yellow train I was riding? Huhu
Outside the station, there's a deer-like statue which made me wonder what it was. Probably this area has a zoo of some sort..? But I checked the maps and there was none. Turns out, what I saw was the patronuses! If you're unfamiliar with the term, it's an animal or a magical creature that serves as your protector when you cast the spell expecto patronum.
The train station is just a prelude. What we're about to do in the next few hours really got me so pumped and thrilled! Catch my next blog about our Warner Bros. Studio Tour! π
Thanks for reading!
See you around! γγγγγΎγγοΌ
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.