Shanghai Will Soon Be Home to a Naruto Theme Park

By Urban Family, March 27, 2019

This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.

By Yuzhou Hu

If the Smurf Theme Park we reported on yesterday isn't enough for you, then you are in luck as Shanghai will soon be home to yet another theme park. Naruto, the world-renowned Japanese manga and anime about ninjas, is slated to open its character theme park in Shanghai later this year, reports The Paper.

The project was announced in a press conference held last week. The theme park, which is officially dubbed 'Naruto World,' will be situated on the 11th floor of the Shanghai New World Department Store and occupy an area of approximately 7,000 square meters.

Image via online.sh.cn

As a matter of fact, pop-up exhibitions of Naruto have been held several times before in the city and received promising outcomes, which may boost the confidence of the anime's production committee to develop a long-term project. Naruto World will become the first overseas theme park of the franchise.

"Last year marks the 40th year after the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China was signed," Keiji Kamei, Deputy Consul General of the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai, stated on the conference. "I firmly believe the project this time will further promote the cultural communication and development between the two countries."

"We are honored to house the Naruto World," claimed Shi Derong, vice president of the New World Co., LTD. "The cooperation is sure to breathe new life to our long-established department store and Nanjing Lu."

Image via The Paper

Being the third best-selling manga series in history (right after One Piece and Dragonball), Naruto has sold 235 million copies in 35 countries worldwide. Meanwhile, the animated series adapted from the manga has been aired in over 80 countries across the globe, affecting a whole generation of teenagers and triggering mass enthusiasm over ninjas.

[Cover image via The Paper]

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).