TOKYO: Seibu Railway Co. said Friday its Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo will be closed at the end of August, with the site to be converted into a facility featuring the Harry Potter series.

A park will also be built on the site of the amusement park in Nerima Ward, which is run by a subsidiary of the railway operator.

Seibu, the Tokyo metropolitan government, a Japanese arm of US entertainment giant Warner Bros. Inc. and others signed notes on the development of the site after Toshimaen's closure.

The Harry Potter facility is expected to open in the first half of 2023.

Regarding the Toshimaen site, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at a press conference, "We plan to prepare a place where Tokyoites can relax and a park that will include evacuation areas for times of disaster."

She added that Warner Bros. is planning to build a facility offering Harry Potter studio tours, which would be the second of its kind in the world after the one in Britain.

Koike voiced hopes that the site will be a safe and fun place.

One of the leading amusement parks in the Japanese capital, Toshimaen opened in 1926.

Although the park is famous across the country, the number of visitors in fiscal 2019 stood at 1.07 million, down sharply from the peak level of 3.9 million.

JIJI Press