Overview: Warner Bros. Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter Tokyo

Welcome, Potterheads! Read on for a step-by-step overview of what you can expect to see when visiting the Warner Bros. Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter in Tokyo, Japan.

This post is a breakdown of each section of the Harry Potter Tour in Tokyo. Another post for general information regarding the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Tokyo is coming soon and see this one for all the photo ops you can prepare for.

Remember, the tour is one-way and you cannot re-enter sections once you’ve exited them (the only exceptions are the Studio Shop, the Frog Cafe, and the Food Hall). So make sure you see all the props and enjoy each room before moving on to the next one! The sections listed here are in the general order you will be visiting/seeing them during the tour.

Map of the Tour

Entrance

You will be let into the building starting about 30-60 minutes before your tour reservation time. You will go through a bag check and metal detector at the entrance. Then you will have options to change, use the restroom, purchase a digital guide (handheld audio-visual guide to enhance your visit), and store items in their cloakroom if you choose to do so.

Lobby, Studio Shop, Frog Cafe, and The Food Hall

The lobby is a large space with seating for people to wait for their tour time. From the lobby you will have access to the Studio Shop, the Frog Cafe, and the Food Hall. The Studio Shop is the largest gift shop in the facility and has delightful souvenirs, from wizarding candy and robes to stuffed animals and keychains. The Frog Cafe has a variety of sweet treats and the Food Hall has more hearty options if you are looking for a full meal. Since these areas are not part of the official tour, you can enter and leave as many times as you please.

Cinema

The first section of the tour is the cinema room, where you will hear from actors and voice actors from the films. This is an important section to pay attention to as they will be going over rules and expectations of the tour. No film or photography is allowed in this room.

The Great Hall

The tour officially begins in a life-size recreation of the Great Hall. When I went, they asked children or anyone who is celebrating an anniversary or birthday to help open the doors to the Great Hall, so it’s potentially something to look forward to if you are visiting on a special occasion. Here you will see some Hogwarts’ robes costumes worn by the main characters, a description of the houses, and the professors lined up at the front.

Production Design

The production design room highlights all the hard work and variety of producers who worked on the Harry Potter films.

Marble Staircase

This section has a green screen opportunity for you to become a Hogwarts moving portrait. After filming yourselves you can go see yourselves in a portrait, complete with a moving staircase.

Living at Hogwarts

The Living at Hogwarts section contains life-size recreations of the places students go in their day-to-day living at Hogwarts, including the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms and the Gryffindor boy’s dormitory.

This section also houses a green screen opportunity to be a Quidditch fan and cheer on your house team.

Costume & Props

The Costume and Props section houses a selection of the costumes worn by actors and actresses across all of the films, and a wide variety of props. My personal favorites here were the wall of Death Eater masks and the invisibility cloak. This section also contains life-size recreations of the Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions classrooms. Have fun viewing the costumes worn by all of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors while waiting in line to take a picture with the Mirror of Erised! This section also has the Hogwarts Library photo op.

Forbidden Forest

The Forbidden Forest houses the many creatures seen in the movies, from giant spiders to centaurs. There are a few interactive experiences in this area, such as gaining Buckbeak’s trust and casting patronuses to defeat the dementors.

Hagrid’s Hut

This is one of the outdoor sections of the tour and you will have a chance to take pictures in front of Hagrid’s Hut and see how the ‘wild wall’ was used to film scenes. There is also a flying Ford Anglia prop to take pictures with.

Backlot Cafe & Butterbeer Bar

This is the approximate halfway point of the tour where you can stop by for refreshments and/or a meal. The Backlot Cafe has meals, drinks, and desserts to choose from and has indoor seating. The Butterbeer Bar serves butterbeer (in cups that you can keep as souvenirs), some snacks, and has mostly outdoor seating.

Just outside the seating area, you will find props such as the Knight Bus, the telephone booth entrance to the Ministry of Magic, Hagrid’s flying motorcycle, the Hogwarts covered bridge, and some of the giant chess pieces seen in the first film. There is also a replica of 4 Privet Drive where you can walk in and see the cupboard under the stairs and the Dursley’s living room and kitchen.

Platform 9 ¾ & Railway Shop

Welcome to Platform 9 ¾! Here you can take pictures with the Hogwarts Express and trolleys as they enter the wall leading to the platform in the films. While you’re here, make sure to visit the Railway Shop! Since it’s part of the tour, you can’t return to this gift shop once you exit this section. There are also a few items exclusive to this gift shop that aren’t available in the large Studio Shop, so keep an eye out for those!

Take some time to view the Great Wizarding Express that appears in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore hosted in this section. This is an original set that is only available at the Studio Tour in Tokyo!

Set Construction

The Set Construction section is a very interesting and eye-opening area of the tour that highlights all the work that went into every little detail in the sets and props throughout the films.

London Ministry of Magic

This section has a life-size replica of the “Magic is Might” statue in the Ministry of Magic featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Walk around admiring the lobby of the Ministry with the offices lined along its walls, complete with a section where you can take photos with the Floo Network entrances!

Creature Shop

See all the behind-the-scenes work that went into filming the creatures seen in the Harry Potter films in this section! You’ll see an array of prosthetics and props used to create various creatures, and a list of all the pets that played characters such as Hedwig, Fang, Crookshanks, and Mrs. Norris (my favorite part of this section!). You’ll also see a section dedicated to the creatures seen in the Fantastic Beasts films.

Broomstick Experience

A popular green-screen experience shown on many of the promotional materials for the Studio Tour is the broomstick experience! This section houses several green screen booths where you will ride a broomstick and follow the directions given by a staff member so that you can get a video of you flying around London.

There is also an overlooked part in this section where you can film yourself in a “Have You Seen This Wizard?” poster like the one Sirius Black was portrayed in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Art of Sound

My personal favorite is the Art of Sound section. Although a small portion of the tour, it highlights all the work that went behind sound production as well as the awards received by the composers of the films. Music and sound may not always be the star of the show for most people, but it plays an important part in making sure character voices and significant sounds are heard clearly and for creating emotions surrounding certain scenes.

Diagon Alley

Walk through Diagon Alley and look through all the shop windows as if you’re doing your Hogwarts shopping! From Gringotts Bank on one end to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes on the other, enjoy seeing the iconic shops from the films. Unfortunately, you cannot enter the shops here and can only view them from the outside.

Graphic Design

In the Graphic Design section, you’ll get an up-close look at the various design choices used throughout the films. You’ll get to see the Black Family Tree tapestry, the Marauder’s Map, various signages, Daily Prophet prints, and more.

Hogwarts Model

In this room, you’ll be able to walk around the Hogwarts Model that is placed at the center. You’ll read about the influences behind the design of the castle, how much detail was added to handcrafted models, and how the model was used against a green screen to produce some of the most iconic and memorable images of the Hogwarts castle seen in the films.

Wand Room

Finally, you’ll walk through a hallway filled to the top with boxes of wands, just like we see in Olivander’s Wand Shop and Gregorovitch’s shop in the films. If you look closely, you’ll see some wands labeled with the names of characters from the books and films. This is the final section of the official tour.

Lobby, Studio Shop, Frog Cafe, and The Food Hall

After passing through the Wand Room, you’ll be lead straight into the Studio Shop, which is not part of the official tour and can be entered and exited as many times as you please. With that, you are back to the section mentioned at the beginning of this post before the start of the tour! Spend some time perusing the shelves of the largest gift shop in the facility if you didn’t before the tour, rest in the lobby, and/or grab a bite to eat at the Frog Cafe or Food Hall.

I hope that you found this overview of the Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter informative! With this guide, you should now know what to expect to see when you go through the tour. More information regarding important notes for the tour will be in a future blog post, and a list of cool photos ops you don’t want to miss during your tour can be found here. Have fun!