![\"Tivoli](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tivoli-gardens.jpg\")
Feeling cross: A controversial tweak has some Swiss companies on edge (Image: Anne-Sophie Rosenvinge)<\/p>\n
That narrative cannily focuses on Japan\u2019s highly commodified contemporary culture, so Hikari features a konbini store selling mochi, banana Kitkats, Pocky chocolate and seaweed snacks; a branch of Copenhagen\u2019s much-loved Com\u00e9 Rice Kitchen onigiri shop; vending machines selling Pok\u00e9mon figures; and a taiyaki stall. An accent of \u201chigh\u201d culture, which Tivoli is also well known for in Denmark, comes by way of an original Takashi Murakami sculpture on the main \u201cstreet\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is all quite brilliantly packaged within just 2,000 sq m, without feeling cramped. Tivoli is calling Hikari its \u201cmost ambitious architectural and spatial investment in nearly 200 years\u201d. Sixty tonnes of ceramic tiles were imported from Japan to build it, along with reclaimed wooden doors and signage for that jolt of Shibuya-style visual energy. The zone also features two new visitor attractions: a wall-of-death-type experience, The Typhoon\u2019s Eye, \u201cinspired by the immense power of Japan\u2019s typhoons\u201d (hmm, wonder how Japanese people will feel about that?), and Hotel Hikari, a discombobulating (though not particularly Japanese) funhouse.<\/p>\n
Though Copenhagen is experiencing an inbound-tourist boom, Hikari is designed primarily by Danes for Danes. \u201cAround 65 per cent of our visitors are Danish and in recent years we\u2019ve seen an increasing interest in Japanese food, culture and the number of Danes visiting Japan,\u201d M\u00f8rch Koch tells Monocle. Danish travel to Japan increased by more than 23 per cent from 2024 to 2025. \u201cBut we aren\u2019t jumping on any bandwagon. This will be here at least while I am alive,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
Tivoli, which first opened in 1843, does not take such redecoration lightly. Hikari, which was unveiled in mid-August (it means \u201clight\u201d in Japanese), has taken more than five years to develop and involved visits by designers, staff and gardeners to Japan, seeking inspiration for everything from the signage to the materials and plants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of the budget, CEO Susanne M\u00f8rch Koch would only say that it was \u201cthree-digit million kroner\u201d (\u20ac10m-plus) but this is clearly her flagship initiative: she started as CEO six years ago and has led the park\u2019s charge for tech-free fun with record-breaking visitor numbers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The amusement park industry is characterised by the ever-expanding scale of the parks themselves and on rides based on existing IP such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel and the like. But Tivoli doesn\u2019t have the budget to buy those rights and it can never grow beyond its original 80,000 sq m, hemmed in as it is on all four sides by roads and the Central Station, hence the ingenious IP-free, space-busting approach of Hikari.\u00a0<\/p>\n But was the park worried about accusations of cultural appropriation in attempting to create its own interpretation of Japanese pop culture? When Tivoli opened its architects felt at liberty to design buildings vaguely inspired by \u201cArabian\u201d or \u201cOriental\u201d styles that would probably provoke an outcry today. \u201cWe are doing this with dedication, love and respect, and we have Japanese consultants involved and Japanese products on sale,\u201d says M\u00f8rch Koch. \u201cWe have taken so much care with our selection.\u201d<\/p>\n I visited with a Japanese friend who was actually quite touched by the efforts and commitment of Tivoli\u2019s designers and gardeners. The signage was maybe a little busy, she said, but otherwise she pronounced it pretty authentic.<\/p>\n