Ghibli Museum

“Studio Ghibli won the Palme d’Or award at the Cannes International Film Festival!!”

In May 2024, just around the time I’m writing this article, the big news captured many people’s hearts. A variety of Japanese anime works have attracted lots of people in the world. Among them, we cannot help but mention Ghibli.

In Japan, there are two places that Ghibli fans can’t miss: Ghibli Park in Aichi and Ghibli Museum in Tokyo. Today, let me introduce the one in Tokyo. Let’s dive into it.

☆Book a ticket

They don’t sell tickets there, so make sure you decide the exact day and time you want to enter and buy a ticket on the internet beforehand. Since there is no time limit to stay there once you arrive, earlier is better.

Here is the link to buy the tickets.→★★Tickets information★★

☆From the nearest station 

Ghibli Museum is located in Mitaka City, on the western outskirts of Tokyo. A 20-minute train ride from Shinjuku station brings you to Mitaka station. From the station, you can take a five-minute ride on a Totoro-themed bus or walk for about 15 minutes. I took the latter way. While walking the street called “Kaze no sanpo michi (風の散歩道),” which means “Wind’s Walkway,” the theme song of My Neighbor Totoro kept playing in my head!

☆To the entrance

Just after entering the campus, Totoro welcomes us. We can see Makkurokurosuke, the soot-black Dust Bunnies, from the tiny round window too. Anyone can get to this area without a ticket. Don’t miss them!

Colorful walls draw us into the museum, and soon after, we are at the entrance. Thanks to the limited number of people who have tickets on the specific time, we don’t need to wait for a long time to step into the world of Ghibli!

☆Adventure!

We are not allowed to take pictures inside the facility. Even if they allowed us, pictures wouldn’t do it justice! I was tingling with excitement. Inside, there is a world where we feel as if we became one of the characters in the Ghibli stories. They don’t ask us to follow any specific directions. I recommend you stand there, look right, left, and even up for a while, and decide which way you want to go first.

Without saying, there are countless captivating things here and there throughout this museum. Among them, I’d like to pick out three things which caught my attention the most.

♪The Cat Bus

Can you imagine how strongly I wished I were a kid in that moment? There is The Cat Bus from My Neighbor Totoro, but it is only for kids! Kids were playing inside, outside, and on the fluffy-looking bus as if they were Satsuki and Mei’s friends. It seemed exactly like it was in the film.

♪Theater

Inside the museum, there is a small theater called “The Saturn Theater,” and they offer a short film that we can watch only here. Sitting on a small red bench in a cozy room and reveling in the film is one of the highlights of visiting this museum.

♪Cafe

This castle-like museum has an orange enchanting cafe, Mugiwara boushi, the Straw Hat Café. A kind staff member revealed the secret that the executive director, Miyazaki Hayao, named it. Sitting under a red pine tree at the terrace with hearty meals made me want to stay longer. It must be a good idea to revisit there and enjoy the change of seasons.

★★ The café menu★★

☆The birth of Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

Ghibli Museum opened on October 1, 2001. According to a staff member of the museum, Miyazaki Hayao had been developing the concept and blueprint for this museum just around the same time when he had been creating the film Howl’s Moving Castle. I can’t wrap my mind around how he produced these two impressive “works of art” at the same time. Apparently, this museum is a must-visit! 

Last of all, let me share a message from Miyazaki Hayao. It shows that he put his whole heart into creating this visitor-friendly museum. I’m positive that this message will make you want to visit there!

★★Message from Miyazaki Hayao★★

♪♪Ghibli Museuｍ, Mitaka♪♪

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