A theme park in Tokyo featuring the Hello Kitty character closed on Saturday after receiving a ‘terrorist alert’ e-mail.
Sanrio Puroland in Tama notified the public about the hazardous object in a statement on its website: “We will be temporarily closed today as we are unable to adequately ensure the safety of our customers, performers and on-site staff at this time”.
Located in Tama, the Sanrio Puroland Park brought the police up to speed at 9 am local time about the warning issued to them via e-mail. It highlighted the presence of ‘hazardous’ objects at the park premises.
The following reports confirmed that the police hadn't discovered anything suspicious at the park so far.
"Hello Kitty' celebrating its 50th anniversary this year represents an anthropomorphised white cat, a widely known fictional character and is one of Japan's best-known cartoon characters. Yuko Shimizu created it originally. The Japanese entertainment company Sanrio owns the character as its creative entity. The mouthless cat-like figure, used to market everything from plush toys to aircraft, has been deployed by Japan's government to promote tourism and as an ambassador of cute.
