AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND: SMILE, APPLE HOUSE, and SHOW BOX

Last Updated on August 13, 2024 by Kay

As you’re likely well aware, Hello Kitty is massively popular in Japan. With this popularity have come various places across the country for fans to visit, one of which is AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND.

My family of three loves Hello Kitty, enough that we’ve been to Awaji Island’s Hello Kitty Apple Land twice, so in this article, I’ll share our experience and provide some helpful tips for those interested in visiting.

AWAJI ISLAND HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND

One popular tourist destination in Awaji Island, which is in Hyogo Prefecture, is AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND. This place consists of three areas (or buildings) to visit, each providing its own unique Hello Kitty experience: HELLO KITTY SMILE, HELLO KITTY APPLE HOUSE, and HELLO KITTY SHOW BOX.

If you want to visit all three, which I recommend you do, I suggest buying a package deal in advance through TableCheck, which will give you discounted tickets. We didn’t do this and I regret it, so I know I will be doing this next time!

HELLO KITTY SMILE

This building contains all things Hello Kitty and is meant to take you on a tour of Hello Kitty Otohime Ryugu Castle. There are Hello Kitty projections on the walls, stuffed Hello Kitty plushies galore, two restaurants, a theatre, and an area to do crafts.

After purchasing your ticket (1500 yen for adults, 500 yen for kids ages 4 and up), you will receive a small booklet with quizzes that you can complete while going through the building. If you answer all of the questions correctly, you’ll receive a sticker. My daughter didn’t have the patience for it, though, which was fine.

Note that this book is in Japanese and I’m unsure whether they have an English version.

My four-year-old daughter was excited by all the sights and sounds the moment she stepped inside. There are plenty of photo spots, including one up the stairs when you go inside so make sure not to forget about it.

The projections on the walls and floor are fun for kids, especially the ones with fish that swim about. My daughter had so much fun running around them.

The movie on the 2nd floor Palace Theatre runs every 10 minutes. There are not that many seats but the movie is quite short and we found there were always seats available. I’ll be honest, I think my daughter was confused for most of the movie and she didn’t seem to quite care for it since there was no real story. It’s only Hello Kitty Otohime, the princess of an undersea palace from the Japanese folktale Urashima Taro, and some undersea creatures swimming about.

I loved the photo spot in the Under Palace kaleidoscope, which is like a mirror tunnel with Hello Kitty plushies in it and a projection of Hello Kitty Otohime. We got some pretty cool photos from it.

Our family decided to have lunch at the Garden Terrace restaurant because they had a greeting with Hello Kitty Otohime at noon. The restaurant served Chinese food and kids can get a bento with Hello Kitty, My Melody, or Pompompurin, which was quite similar to Sanrio Puroland. Included with the bento was juice, ketchup fried rice and soup.

The food itself was decent although the restaurant looked like it had better days.

When it was time for Hello Kitty to arrive, my daughter was super excited and patiently waited for Hello Kitty to come to our table. We had to remain seated as a staff member took a few photos of us and then it was time for Hello Kitty to go.

This greeting cost an additional 1000 yen and although the greeting on the 2nd floor at 1:00 PM is free, you get a cup with Hello Kitty Otohime on it to take home, and you don’t have to line up.

That being said, we also did the greeting at 1:00 PM where we got to take another picture with Hello Kitty Otohime in Hello Kitty’s Room on the 2nd floor. The line moved quite fast so don’t be intimated if you see lots of people lined up! This is free and a staff member will take a photo of you with Hello Kitty. There are greetings about once every hour or so, which is why I recommend doing this, perhaps even over the lunch greeting if you want to save money. Hello Kitty Otohime also gave my daughter a hug, which she was very happy about.

There are also some photo spots outside on the 2nd floor, namely with the giant Hello Kitty head that’s on the top of the building and a cute swinging bench with a Hello Kitty plushie on it. There’s also a beautiful view of the sea.

The second floor has a seating area with a huge wall that has interactive projected images of Hello Kitty and ocean creatures. Kids can chase and hit the starfish to make them disappear, which my daughter and I had a lot of fun with.

The second time we visited, my daughter decided to paint a clay My Melody doll, which was a fun activity to do as a family. Some people are really creative and do a great job in making their own unique My Melody! Keep in mind that the paint stains clothing very easily, so it’s probably not a good idea to do this if you’re wearing clothes you really like and you feel like there might be a mess!

When you’re done, the staff will dry the doll for you and then pack it in a box with bubble wrap.

The souvenir store by the exit has Hello Kitty merchandise that can only be found at HELLO KITTY SMILE, specifically Hello Kitty Otohime and Hello Kitty Mermaid. So if you like collecting exclusive Hello Kitty merch, then this is for you.

We took some photos with some giant apple figures with Hello Kitty on them near the exit and then, having spent 2.5 hours at HELLO KITTY SMILE, we headed to APPLE HOUSE and SHOW BOX. The other two are about a 5-minute drive away but there’s also a shuttle bus. I saw many people walking as well, including some with kids, and I think it’s about 15 to 20 minutes away on foot.

HELLO KITTY APPLE HOUSE

This won a Guinness World Record for being the largest building shaped like an apple. Entry is 1000 yen for adults and 500 yen for kids.

The APPLE HOUSE has a 360-degree theatre that we honestly didn’t look at much. Instead, we headed up to the viewing deck where you can see the top of HELLO KITTY SHOW BOX and a view of the sea and town.

To be honest, it seemed a little expensive for what it was. But it was cool to see the SHOW BOX from above, which holds a Guinness World Record for the “largest roof in the shape of a brand character”.

HELLO KITTY SHOW BOX

Unfortunately, the first time we visited tickets for the cafe shows were completely sold out. We should have purchased the tickets in advance or gone straight to the SHOW BOX in the morning instead of going to HELLO KITTY SMILE first.

So don’t make the same mistake as us!

Next time, we bought tickets in advance to see the cafe time show. Note that the time on your ticket is from when you can enter, but the show won’t start until 30 minutes later. It’s worth going early, though, because you will get your food right away and we noticed some people from the slot before us were hurrying to finish their food after the show had ended.

All of the food at HELLO KITTY SHOW BOX is vegan and for their cafe show, they offer a range of vegan dishes from desserts to burgers. Basic drinks, like tea and coffee, are included as well.

We decided to get desserts — I got the apple pie, which was absolutely delicious! I think this was the best apple pie I ever had in my life. The hot apple on top of the flaky piece of puff pastry is everything dreams are made of.

My daughter got the kids’ sweets plate, which had a variety of sweets with fruit.

My husband got a banana parfait in a My Melody cup. When you’re done, you can take home a new cup! Our daughter ate this and she really liked it.

When you make a reservation for SHOW BOX, you can specify whether someone in your party will have a birthday that month, and if they do, they’ll get a free birthday plate! We did this with our daughter and the plate had a small cup of cut fruit with her name written on the plate in chocolate. It was very cute.

The live show at SHOW BOX changes every few months, and since we went in July, the show was summer-themed.

Throughout the show, you can watch ballet dancers and listen to live music played on a violin and flute. The background projection features Hello Kitty as well as different colorful scenes.

Hello Kitty also makes an appearance and cutely sings various Japanese songs, which was a pleasure to watch.

At the very end of the show, you can take photos with Hello Kitty. Since it was my daughter’s birthday month, she got priority when it came to photos and the background image on the screen changed to a birthday cake!

It was a great experience and I would definitely go again.

Overall Impression of Awaji Island Hello Kitty Apple Land

We enjoyed visiting AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND, enough that we went TWICE, but if I’m going to be completely honest, I wouldn’t travel from far away to see it unless I was a huge Hello Kitty enthusiast.

Our favorite part was undoubtedly HELLO KITTY SHOW BOX, so make sure you book this in advance before you go!

How to Get to AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND

There are several options to get to AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND from Osaka and Kobe. The easiest is by car, but there are also free shuttle buses that will take you to HELLO KITTY SMILE and SHOWBOX.

To get to Awaji Island by public transport, the easiest way is by taking a highway bus from Sannomiya Station in Kobe.

Where to Stay on Awaji Island

If you’re looking for a Hello Kitty experience, I suggest staying at Grand Chariot Hokutoshichisei 135°. This hotel has Hello Kitty-themed beautiful, cottage-like rooms overlooking the mountains and sea. It’s also close to AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND.

Wrap-up: HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND in Awaji Island, Japan

AWAJI HELLO KITTY APPLE LAND is a must-visit destination for Hello Kitty enthusiasts, although if you’re not that big of a fan, it’s okay to skip it. In fact, I think Sanrio Puroland is loads better.

However, there is still plenty to see and do on Awaji Island, so if you’re in the area and want to visit it, definitely do so!