{"id":4029,"date":"2026-01-17T22:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T05:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=4029"},"modified":"2026-01-17T22:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T05:00:50","slug":"visiting-japans-gyarados-pokemon-park-in-the-city-with-a-special-connection-to-magikarp%e3%80%90photos%e3%80%91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=4029","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Japan\u2019s Gyarados Pok\u00e9mon park in the city with a special connection to Magikarp\u3010Photos\u3011"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The town with the carp castle also has a park with the Pok\u00e9mon carp\u2019s evolved form<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Hiroshima Station<\/strong> went through some pretty extensive renovations last year, with a brand-new station building called Minamoa<\/strong> added to the amenities. Minamoa has a variety of shops and restaurants offering all sorts of Hiroshima cuisine and souvenirs, but arguably the building\u2019s biggest draw of all is that it has a Gyarados plaza!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s Gyarados, the fearsome Water\/Flying-type Pok\u00e9mon<\/strong> that evolves from the humble Magikarp<\/strong>, that we\u2019re talking about here. Eager to see the storied creature for ourselves, we hopped on the train and headed west to Hiroshima. This was our first visit in a while, and almost as soon as we stepped out of the Shinkansen gates on the second floor, we spotted our first Pok\u00e9mon, even though it\u2019s one that requires a trained\/Trainer eye to see<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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While most people\u2019s attention will be drawn to the wall of Pikachu illustrations, we were looking at that bench in a familiar shade of pale purple, and just as we expected\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u2026it turned out to be Ditto!<\/strong> We especially liked how the Ditto bench isn\u2019t just a different color, but also a different material from the ordinary benches it\u2019s flanked by, and we got a special kick out of seeing unsuspecting travelers sit down for a spell without ever realizing they were seated on one of the most popular Pocket Monsters.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the benches next to Ditto, perched on the one to the right is Munchlax<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The baby version of Snorlax is known for its big appetite, and is seen here taking a moment to sample the local sweets scene. Held in each of its hands is a momiji manju, a maple leaf-shaped cake filled with sweet bean paste, chocolate, or custard<\/a>. With Hiroshima Prefecture being famous for its maple trees and beautiful fall foliage, the cakes have become a symbol of the prefecture itself, and while most people eat just one at a time, they\u2019re tasty enough that we can\u2019t really fault Munchlax for doubling up.<\/p>\n

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Making our way from the Shinkansen gates to Minamoa, we passed through a section of the station on the first floor where we encountered even more wild Pok\u00e9mon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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This Snorlax<\/strong>, perhaps the older sibling of the Munchlax we\u2019d seen earlier, was surrounded by healthy fruit snacks illustrated on benches\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u2026and this cheerful Bulbasaur<\/strong> is happy to share some vines for travelers to rest on too.<\/p>\n

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Furret<\/strong> has actually claimed part of the bench for itself, but we\u2019ll give it a pass because of how adorable it is.<\/p>\n

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But again, these were all just bonus Pok\u00e9mon. Gyarados is who we were really here to see.<\/p>\n

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After making our way inside the Minamoa building, we hopped on the escalator and rode it up to the ninth floor\u2019s Sora Moa rooftop terrace.<\/p>\n

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Even before heading out into the open-air space, you can see Magikarp through the windows, and it looks like at least one of them managed to complete the difficult evolution process, because here\u2019s Gyarados!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The clever visual design has Gyarados looking like it\u2019s bursting up from watery depths, allowing for a life-size recreation of the Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s head<\/strong>. It\u2019s in the middle of performing its powerful Hydro Pump<\/strong> attack, and the super high-pressure blast of \u201cwater\u201d shooting from its mouth is actually a slide, boarded by climbing up the back of Gyarados\u2019 neck.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the ridable Magikarp rocking horse\/seesaw-style play equipment gently flops back and forth, just like Magikarp does when performing its less-than-super-effective Splash<\/strong> \u201cattack.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But why are Gyarados and Magikarp in Hiroshima?<\/strong> Because along with maples, Hiroshima has a connection to carp. During the Sengoku period, carp were kept in the moat of Hiroshima Castle to be used as an emergency food source in the case of invasion, earning the fortress the nickname \u201cCarp Castle.\u201d Today the schools of fish live a beautiful, decorative existence, and Hiroshima\u2019s professional baseball team is named the Carp as well. There\u2019s also the fact that carp are seen as a symbol of determination in Japanese folklore (tales of carp swimming to the top of waterfalls and becoming dragons is why Magikarp has such a difficult but ultimately rewarding evolution process), and Hiroshima, given its World War II history, is a place that can appreciate stories of overcoming adversity.<\/p>\n

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Because of that, Gyarados and Magikaro are Hiroshima\u2019s representative Pok\u00e9mon, just like Slowpoke is for Kagawa<\/a> or Lapras is for Miyagi<\/a>. The Pok\u00e9mon Center Hiroshima megastore, which is located inside the Ekie building that\u2019s also attached to Hiroshima Station, always has a large amount of Gyarados merch in stock, and even a Gyarados statue at the front of the store.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Red being Hiroshima\u2019s image color, it\u2019 s red Gyarados, and you can see a bit of it in the photo here.<\/p>\n

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\u25bc The walk from Gyarados Plaza to Pok\u00e9mon Center Hiroshima<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Getting back to the Gyarados Plaza, Gyarados and Magikarp are joined there by a few other Water-type Pok\u00e9mon, including Mantyke<\/strong>, Luvdisc<\/strong>, Marill<\/strong>, and the most cheerful Psyduck<\/strong> we can ever recall seeing.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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\u25bc It\u2019s good to see Psyduck looking so contented. Poor guy has been through a lot.<\/p>\n

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There is one word of caution we should add if you\u2019re planning to visit Gyarados Plaza<\/strong>, though no, it\u2019s not about the danger of incurring the creature\u2019s wrath. Since it\u2019s an open-air park, the plaza is closed to visitors during inclement weather such as heavy snow, severe rain showers, and strong winds, so you\u2019ll want to check the forecast and plan accordingly. Aside from that, though, it\u2019s a charming place that\u2019s great for snapping some Pok\u00e9mon photos even if you\u2019re too big to use the play equipment yourself. And if you happen to be on the opposite side of the country, in Japan\u2019s real-world Kanto region, don\u2019t forget that Pok\u00e9 Park Kanto is opening soon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Location information<\/strong>
\nGyarados Plaza \/ \u30ae\u30e3\u30e9\u30c9\u30b9\u3072\u308d\u3070
\nLocated inside Minamoa
\nAddress: Hiroshima-ken, Hiroshima-shi, Minami-ku, Matsubaracho 2-37, Minamoa 9th floor
\n\u5e83\u5cf6\u770c\u5e83\u5cf6\u5e02\u5357\u533a\u677e\u539f\u753a2\u756a37\u53f7 minamoa9F
\nOpen 10 a.m.-8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Photos \u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The town with the carp castle also has a park with the Pok\u00e9mon carp\u2019s evolved form. Hiroshima Station went through some pretty extensive renovations last year, with a brand-new station…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}