Where to Meet the USJ Hippogriff Show, Niffler, Pygmy Puff, and Baby Dragon: Magical Creatures Encounter

Magical Creatures Encounter

For a limited time, magical creatures seen in the original stories and movies will appear right before your eyes in the Harry Potter area.

Event Dates

Started Friday, March 15, 2024
Resumes Friday, March 20, 2026. End date TBD

How Much Does It Cost? Is There an Admission Fee?

There is no additional charge as long as you have a ticket to enter USJ.
However, when the Harry Potter area is crowded, you cannot enter without an Area Timed Entry Ticket.

That said, an Area Timed Entry Ticket has not been required in recent years.

Hippogriff Show

A Hippogriff is a magical creature with the following features.

An eagle-like head
A horse-like body
Sharp talons
Wings covered in scales

To avoid offending the proud Hippogriff, give it a polite bow.

This show lets you learn about Hippogriffs alongside students from all four houses.

Venue: Performance Stage
Show length and frequency: About 10 minutes; 8–10 shows per day. Start times and the number of shows vary by day.

The show is held on the Performance Stage.

Only touch the Hippogriff when instructed by a crew member.
Only one guest will be allowed to bow to and touch the Hippogriff,
but several groups can take commemorative photos with the Hippogriff and the wizarding school students (only guests selected after raising their hands).

Niffler Greeting

The Niffler from Fantastic Beasts is a mischievous magical creature that loves collecting shiny objects in its pouch.
Take a commemorative photo with the Niffler.
It might even play a prank by gathering something shiny.

Frequency: 8–10 times per day. Start times and the number of appearances vary by day.

Venue: In front of Owl Post

Baby Dragon Encounter

Frequency: 8–10 times per day. Start times and the number of appearances vary by day.
Baby Dragon: The plaza next to Hogsmeade Station

Note: It is the wall on the opposite side from the one shown in the photo above.

Pygmy Puff Encounter

The Pygmy Puff Encounter is held in the small open space at the far left side of the building shown in the photo above.

Fantastic Beasts Merchandise

Fantastic Beasts magical creature merchandise

Harry Potter Area News

A new magical experience, “Magical Creatures Encounter,” will arrive for a limited time in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one of Universal Studios Japan’s most popular areas, starting Friday, March 17, 2023.

At last, Universal Studios Japan will bring to life an extraordinarily moving and exciting experience found nowhere else in the world, where guests can actually meet and interact with expressive magical creatures such as the Hippogriff and Niffler that bring the wizarding world vividly to life.

Since opening in 2014, the wizarding world has captivated fans from Japan and around the globe as a place where every visit brings a new encounter with magic. Now it is evolving even further.

Guests will meet the proud Hippogriff, the magical creature Harry Potter first encountered in his first Care of Magical Creatures class in the third Harry Potter story, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban;

the Niffler, which escapes from protagonist Newt’s case in the Fantastic Beasts film series and steals glittering treasures;

and two more magical creatures—the adorable Pygmy Puff and a smoke-breathing Baby Dragon—bringing a total of four kinds of magical creatures to life right before your eyes.

Feel the breath of these lively magical creatures, watch their expressive eyes and subtly moving fur,
hear their voices, and even interact with them. These moments, impossible to experience in the Muggle world, deepen your immersion in the wizarding world and deliver extraordinary emotion and excitement.

More than 20 years ago, a boy named Harry Potter was suddenly led to the platform for Track 9 3/4 at London’s King’s Cross Station.

From there, readers around the world journeyed with Harry into author J.K. Rowling’s imaginative Wizarding World and became captivated by it.

Since then, all seven Harry Potter novels have become bestsellers, eight blockbuster films have been produced, and the franchise has expanded into an award-winning stage play and much more.

Its growth has shown no signs of slowing, and in recent years the Fantastic Beasts film series has continued to release new installments and gain popularity.

Created by J.L. Rowling and loved by people of all ages around the world, the Wizarding World continues to expand without limit, captivating audiences with the extraordinary adventures that unfold within it.

These adventures cross past, present, and future, drawing people around the world into journeys beyond time and creating even more fans.
The Wizarding World has always delivered real magic—and will continue to do so.