Tokyo One Piece Tower

Tokyo One Piece Tower (jap. 東京ワンピースタワー) was an indoor amusement park centered around One Piece, located in Tokyo Tower and opened on March 13, 2015. It closed for good on July 31, 2020. The park itself was located on floors 3 to 5 of Tokyo Tower, but even in the entrance area there was already, without a ticket, a lot to discover. The basic idea behind the theme park is that it is located on an island in the New World called Tongari Island (jap. ト ン ガ リ 島), where the Straw Hat Pirates landed. Tongari (jap. ト ン ガ リ) means “pointed” and refers to the shape of Tokyo Tower. The head of the island is the Den-den Mushi Tongari Den Mushi. Together with the islanders, they offered fun to visitors in the form of games and attractions based on the Straw Hat Pirates, entertainment shows, merchandise stores, restaurants, and changing events and campaigns, such as annual Halloween specials or different cosplay tournaments, especially for children.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemicthe indoor amusement park was closed on February 28, but it did not resume operations as planned. On July 4, 2020, it was announced that Tokyo One Piece Tower would finally close its doors on July 31, 2020, after more than five years. For the last 14 days from July 18, 2020 until closure, the park was reopened to visitors free of charge.

Attractions

3F: 360 Log Theater ～ The World of ONE PIECE ～

Right at the gates to Tongari Island, behind a “welcome wall” that features over 300 published Vivre Cards of characters in large format, visitors will encounter the 360 Log Theater. The room, which features a giant 360-degree screen, showcases the Straw Hat Pirates’s most memorable moments. These include victories over foes like Crocodile and Gecko Moria, as well as poignant scenes like the confrontation with Nico Robin on Enie’s lobby. The duration is listed as ten minutes and the attraction can be re-entered for re-visits as many times as desired. The attraction is located on the 3rd floor of Tokyo Tower and on the first floor of the One Piece theme park, making it the first attraction visitors enter. It was introduced after the fact, on the 1st anniversary in 2016. Over time, the video footage has been adapted and expanded.

4F: Zoro’s Soul of Edge

On the fourth floor of the Tokyo Tower, the attraction Zoro’s Soul of Edge awaits the visitor. In Roronoa Zoro’s dojo, visitors receive training from the “Pirate Hunter” and face off against enemy battleships. With a katana in his hands, it is the visitor’s job to slice approaching cannonballs and banish further dangers. Swords of Zoro and other characters are also on display there and can be photographed. If you achieve a high score at this attraction, you get a certificate. This certificate was later changed and issued in a Wano Country edition. The duration is given as five minutes.

4F: Nami’s Casino House

Directly after Zoro’s dojo, the visitor comes across a casino on the fourth floor, which is run by Nami, who of course only has eyes for Berry. By using the currency, you can compete against Nami and try your luck in a three-round competition, including roulette. The winner can expect a present, for example a “VIP card” of the casino or an exclusive casino chip, if he has played a certain number of points or enough. The prizes varied within the years. In addition, pictures of memorable moments of Nami are hung there, alongside the giant profile of the straw-hatted navigator. All in all, the games are given a total duration of 15 minutes.

4F: Usopp’s Road to Sogeking

Also on the fourth floor, the visitor is already awaited by the sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates. In Usopp’s game you have to defeat marine soldiers with the help of the Black Kabuto, his slingshot. The rules are simple: With small balls you shoot the figures within a given time limit, but the next round awaits you directly. Whoever even manages to shoot through the symbol of the world government receives a Sogeking mask, but this is not supposed to be that easy. According to the official homepage, the record is eight seconds. The game is indicated with a duration of five minutes.

4F: Chopper’s Thousand Sunny Tours

In keeping with its name, Chopper’s Thousand Sunny Tours is a tour of the second ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, the Thousand Sunny. The tour is led by the ship’s doctor Tony Tony Tony Chopper, with him acting as narrator in a demonstration video. Visitors get glimpses of the different rooms here, so in addition to the kitchen, where Sanji greets you, and Chopper’s lab, Nami and Robin’s room can also be entered. Also a view into the bathroom, with a silhouette of Nami, is possible. In total, the tour on the fourth floor is given as lasting ten minutes.

4F: Robin’s Finding Ponegliff

Robin’s Finding Ponegliff is an attraction that guides the visitor through the entire park. At the starting point on the fourth floor, the visitor receives a Den-den Mushi with which he makes contact with the archaeologist Nico Robin. Together with her, the task is to decipher the secret writings of Tongari Island and thus find the secret poneglyph on the island. The writings can be found on all three floors. Following the game, which has a time limit of 30 minutes, you can get your own wanted poster. The bounty increases with the number of Ancient Writings found, with the Den-den Mushi also acting as a “scanner”.

4F: Franky’s Ball Run

Franky’s Ball Run is a pinball machine in the shape of the ship’s carpenter Franky and is located on the fourth floor in “Franky’s Park”, where there is also a Coke bar and a small children’s playground. At the pinball machine you can win exclusive prizes, for example the “MEGA World Collectible Figure General Franky”, the World Collectible Figures of Monkey D. Luffy, Sabo and Portgas D. Ace as children as well as rubber key chains of Roronoa Zoro, Luffy or Trafalgar Law. However, each round also costs real money, namely 400 yen (~4 euros). One round takes about one minute.

4F: Brook’s Horror House

At the entrance to this haunted house, the musician of the Straw Hat Pirates, Brook, awaits the visitor. The house is haunted by zombies and since Brook is too scared, it is up to the visitors to put an end to the goings-on. Armed with salt balls, it’s up to you to prove your mettle and defeat the zombies by putting salt balls in their mouths. One of these zombies is Oinkchuck, for example. In total, the experience is given with a duration of five minutes.

5F: Luffy’s Endless Adventure

On the top floor, the attraction Luffy’s Endless Adventure awaits the visitor, in which the adventures of the straw hat captain Monkey D. Luffy, starting with the handover of the straw hat by the later emperor Shanks, can be relived. During the roughly 20-minute walk, the story is retold, accompanied by music and lighting effects, but in a completely new way. Life-size figures of some One Piece characters serve as representations, among other things. At the end of the attraction, there is still a movie on a screen to see, which was created exclusively for the Tokyo One Piece Tower.

5F: Tongari Theatre

In the Tongari Theater on the fifth floor, on the one hand, there is the greeting booth, where the actors who embody the Straw Hat Pirates can be met and photos can be taken with them. On the other hand, visitors can watch the original anime there on three big screens.

3F – 5F: Tongari Island Photo Spots

In the theme park, there are Photo Spots across all three floors where visitors can put themselves in scenes from the manga for a photo or take pictures with familiar characters. There are a total of six such designated spots. For example, visitors can have their picture taken on the chairs of the three admirals or on the execution scaffold in Loguetown. Furthermore, there is a spot with Chopper and Luffy in the entrance area, with the logo of the Tokyo One Piece Tower. Other photos can be taken with Trafalgar Law, Bartholomew Kuma and Marco.

Other attractions and sights

• 3F: The Plaza of Origin: There, the legendary pirate king Gol D. Roger awaits the visitor at the moment of his execution. In addition, other epic scenes from One Piece are depicted. The place is located on the 3rd floor of the Tokyo Tower and thus on the first of the One Piece theme park, directly after the 360 Log Theater.
• 3F: Straw Hat Crew’s Great Feast is a photo spot where the Straw Hat Pirates can be seen during a feast and a photo can be taken with them. Bartolomeo has also snuck up in the background.
• 3F: Straw Hat Crew’s Autograph Area: There are the autographs of the Straw Hat Pirates, which they drew for Bartolomeo and were shown by him in chapter 801, hanging up. Directly below the autographs are the respective profiles of them.
• 3F: Autographs of Author, Eiichiro OdaIllustrations and autographs of One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda hang out there.
• 4F: Kid’s Space: A colorful playground located in “Franky’s Park” and designed for the little visitors. Suitable for taking a break at Franky’s Coke Bar while the kids play with the various toys. The playground was introduced belatedly, on the 1st anniversary in 2016.
• 4F: Pirates’ Paper Fortune: The figure in the shape of the sea cat from the cover story: ‘Jinbe’s Lonely Sea Knight Voyage’ will tell visitors today’s fate. However, for a fee of 100 yen (~0.80 Euro).
• 5F: Special Exhibition Area: This area of the theme park always features new exhibitions that are only on display for a certain amount of time. The first exhibition revolved around One Piece Magazine, other later exhibitions dealt with The Great Decisive Battle on Marine Ford or the 10,000 performance of One Piece Live Attractions, among others.

Stores

1F: One Piece Mugiwara Store

The One Piece Mugiwara Store is located on the ground floor outside the theme park and can be visited without a ticket. It offers merchandise related to One Piece. Besides this one, there are other official Mugiwara stores in Japan. It did not close its doors along with Tokyo One Piece Tower on July 31, 2020, but on October 4, 2020. This was possible because it was located outside the theme park.

1F: Sanji’s Oresama Restaurant

The restaurant is located on the first floor of the Tokyo Tower and thus outside the indoor amusement park. Right next door is Café Mugiwara. It is operated by the straw hat cook Sanji and offers buffet lunch between 11:00 and 15:00 and à la carte dishes from 15:00 to 22:00. There were also special menus on certain occasions, such as the anniversary menu for the 23rd anniversary of One Piece. A life-size figure of Sanji stands between the two restaurants, and the restaurant itself features many decorations from the world of One Piece, such as a giant ship mast centered in Sanji’s Oresama restaurant.
Oresama (俺様) is a narcissistic way of saying “I” in the Japanese language.

1F: Café Mugiwara

Café Mugiwara is also located on the first floor of Tokyo Tower, outside the indoor amusement park. It is located right next to Sanji’s Oresama Restaurant. It is a library café and offers One Piece-related food and drinks as well as One Piece books and manga for visitors to read during their stay. Hours may vary, but it is usually open from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. In the last two weeks before the closure, the hours were changed and the cafe was open from 11:00am to 7:00pm.

3F: Tongari Store

On the third floor is the Tongari Store, which offers exclusive merchandise, for example for the live shows. The head of the island, the Den-den Mushi Tongari Den Mushi, already awaits the visitor in the entrance area. On the fifth floor is another Tongari Store, but much smaller.

4F: Franky’s Cola Bar

A small café in the indoor amusement park, created by Coke lover Franky. There you can find a variety of snacks (fast food) and drinks with Franky motives like star-shaped waffles, but also Takoyaki. The café is located in “Franky’s Park”, right by the “Kid’s Space” and the pinball attraction “Franky’s Ball Run”. Since the two restaurants “Café Mugiwara” and “Sanji’s Oresama Restaurant” are located on the first floor of the Tokyo One Piece Tower and thus outside the theme park, this is the only place to eat and drink inside.

One Piece Live Attractions

The One Piece Live Attractions are performed in a theater on the fifth floor of the Tokyo One Piece Tower. At a price of 1,200 yen (~9.70 euros), the shows last about 15-20 minutes each. In total, there were four Live Attractions with different plots, with these being performed over 10,000 times. While the voices are spoken by the original voice actors, performers bring the characters to life on stage. Singing and dancing are a part of all shows, and projection mapping in particular is used to add atmosphere. Interactions with the audience are not only encouraged, but are always an important part of Live Attractions. The last performance of each Live Attraction was broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Tokyo One Piece Tower.

One Piece Live Attraction 1: Welcome to Tongari Mystery Tour

The first Live Attraction premiered on March 13, 2015, the opening date of the indoor theme park, and was performed until April 10, 2016. While it already celebrated its 2,000 performance on December 14, 2015, it was performed over 2,600 times in total. The show was scheduled to run for 15 minutes. The action takes place on Tongari Island where the Straw Hat Pirates discovers a dark cave. Adventurous, the captain goes ahead and the crew follows him, with Nico Robin quickly discovering ancient writings on the walls of the cave. There, however, they encounter mysterious mist creatures that can change shape and present themselves as the thing the Straw Hats fear most. Without help, the pirates can’t fight the creepy monsters and lose the battle, leaving “the curse of the cave” upon them. The only thing left to help them is the audience, which holds the Straw Hats’ salvation in their hands; a “Hearth Stone”, which releases its powers through a special spell, freeing the pirates from their curse. Once this is done, Luffy is able to defeat the mist creatures and through Franky’s help, the crew is able to escape the cave.

One Piece Live Attraction 2: Second

The second Live Attraction premiered on April 23, 2016 and was performed through April 9, 2017. In total, nearly 2,000 shows were performed. The show was scheduled to run for 20 minutes. Once again, the action takes place on Tongari Island, but this time Trafalgar Law and Admiral Kizaru join the cast. The Straw Hats are trapped, scattered, and locked in a cage by their actual Alliance partner. It turns out he is working with Admiral Kizaru, but this was also just a plot and ultimately he turns on him to help the Straw Hats. Once again, it is up to the audience to assist the Straw Hats and reunite them through a magical spell as well as wielding the familiar “Hearth Stone”. Afterwards, Law swaps places with the Straw Hat Captain using his devil powers, who is then able to defeat the Admiral.

One Piece Live Attraction 3: Phantom

The third Live Attraction premiered on April 29, 2017 and ran until April 7, 2019, almost two years. In April 2018, the show was slightly changed and continued under the name “One Piece Live Attraction: Phantom”. While the plot remained the same, only the projections were edited. One notable feature is that the plot was overseen by Eiichiro Oda, and he designed the character Ann himself. The same character who later made an appearance in One Piece – Stampede. The theme songs “4ever Don” and “Phantom ~ Promise ~” are by the band Greeeen, with whom Oda has a friendly relationship. The Straw Hat Pirates meet a young woman named Ann on Tongari Island, who grew up there but left to become a famous diva. In addition, she ate of a devil’s power that gave her the abilities to create visions of herself and others, provided she touches an image of it. Upon her return, she has achieved her goal, but she is later kidnapped by Buggy, a samurai of the seas, and forced to use her devil powers to help him apprehend the Straw Hats. He plans to turn her over to the Navy. He is aided in his plan by his new bodyguard, Puggy. They eventually succeed in capturing all the Straw Hats except their captain Monkey D. Luffy, but he sees through the visions Ann creates. Although visibly upset by a projection of Sabo, he can still win in the end and defeat the two enemies. Towards the end, Ann creates a vision of Ace asking the audience to watch over his little brother Luffy for him.

One Piece Live Attraction 4: Marionette

The fourth and final Live Attraction premiered on April 24, 2019 and performed through March 8, 2020. In the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic, the entire theme park was closed. When the park reopened on July 18, the show was also brought back to the schedule for the final two weeks until closing on July 31. Ann once again made an important appearance. This was the only live attraction whose YouTube performance was released with English subtitles on the official channel.

This time, the brilliant but equally cruel scientist Caesar Clown has taken up residence on Tongari Island to defeat the Straw Hats, and most notably their captain Monkey D. Luffy. Using a newly developed gas, he can control those who inhale it like puppets. This works even on strong characters. Having already controlled most of the inhabitants of Tongari Island, he targets Ann, but she is able to be rescued by Sabo.

However, during the rescue, Sabo himself inhales the gas and is henceforth under Caesar’s command. With him, Caesar now plans to defeat Luffy and it turns out that he has another strong ally on his side in Charlotte Cracker. Meanwhile, Ann managed to escape and meets part of the Straw Hats, but the enemies are also already on their way. In a fight, Caesar manages to get some of the Straw Hats under his control, but they are able to get Chopper to safety beforehand so he can make an antidote. Eventually, they are able to stop the effects of the gas through a vision of Reiju Vinsmoke. Sabo and Luffy then defeat Caesar and Cracker, and everyone joins the audience in a party. At Ann’s statement that it must be nice to have such good friends, Luffy tells her that they are friends too.

Miscellaneous

• For the three-year anniversary, attendees who purchased a “Live & Park Pass” received a special volume called One Piece Volume 333.

Awards

• In 2016, Tokyo One Piece Tower ranked 7th in TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice 2016 ~ Theme Park Edition.
• In 2018, Tokyo One Piece Tower ranked 7th in TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice 2018 ~ Theme Park Edition.
• In 2019, Tokyo One Piece Tower ranked 4th in TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice 2019 ~ Theme Park Edition.
• In 2019, Tokyo One Piece Tower ranked 17th in TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice poll of the top 25 theme parks in Asia.

External links

• https://www.facebook.com/onepiecetower.tokyo/ – The official Facebook page
• https://twitter.com/onepiecetower – The official Twitter page