Nijigen no Mori is an interactive theme park located north of Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture. Thanks to different universes dedicated to Godzilla, Naruto and Crayon Shin Chan, it welcomes many fans of these famous characters from Japanese popular culture and known around the world.
Established within the vast prefectural park of Awaji-shima of Hyogo (Hyogo Prefectural Awajishima Park in English) and composed of forests and hills which dominate the panorama in the north of the island, Nijigen no Mori initially opens its doors to a family audience. , looking for nature and outdoor games for their children.
The leisure park grows as the worlds it adds to its catalog. These are taken from manga and highlight some key characters of Japanese popular culture such as the little boy nicknamed Shin-chan, Tezuka’s phoenix and more recently the ninja apprentice Naruto and the creature Godzilla.
Nijigen no Mori does not have thrill rides, but rather places its visitors at the center of history, through interactive two-dimensional and augmented reality animations and puzzles to be solved to navigate the park.
Here is an overview of the main attractions that can be experienced on site, listed by their official names in English.
Godzilla Interception Operation Awaji
The latest entertainment to debut in October 2020, Godzilla Interception Operation Awaji is all about incapacitating the giant prehistoric reptile, which looks menacing with its semi-buried body and its mouth wide open. To carry out this mission, the participants evolve within 4 spaces:
- the theater of operations which explains the story and places the action in Awaji at NIGOD, the Godzilla National Disaster Research Institute;
- the two ziplines, one of which penetrates Godzilla’s mouth, to launch missiles at him to make him inactive. Please note, we only choose one of these two lines;
- the shooting range where target cells are shot to stop the growth of the monster;
- the museum which houses for the first time in the world a permanent exhibition dedicated to Godzilla and the evolution of his representations, through models used in the films, some of which can only be seen here.
This new attraction lives up to its promises and you really feel taken by the story. The monumental representation of Godzilla turns out to be well done and looks even more spooky after dark, when only lit by a few spots of light.
Naruto & Boruto Shinobi-Zato
Open since April 2019, this part of the park is devoted to the manga Naruto and its spin-off Boruto. Visitors evolve in a reproduction of the hidden village of Konoha which notably houses the Ichikaru Ramen ? restaurant and gives access to the two main attractions of this universe:
- Heaven Scroll, which can be translated as “heaven scroll” and which involves walking through a ninja house with physical and / or intellectual challenges depending on the path you choose at the start. At the exit, we admire the magnificent Hokage monument;
Earth Scroll, which means “parchment of the earth” and which is a succession of puzzles whose goal is to find the 7 chakras. The game ends with a rather successful entertainment room. - At the same time, an augmented reality attraction on the theme of Ninjutsu is also possible from a smartphone application ?, by collecting the “AR” logos scattered around the park. At night, video mapping projections are to be seen for those who stay until the park closes.
Naruto fans will be delighted to meet many of their heroes such as Sakura ? Haruno, Uchiha Sasuke, Hatake Kakashi, Yamanaka Ino, Maito Gai, Orochimaru or the Akatsuki organization. Represented on a human scale, we are happy to sit beside them for a nice souvenir photo.
