Ghibli Museum
Ghibli museum is an amazing, whimsical place and if you’re a Ghibli fan you will find it hard to contain your excitement!
Ghibli studio has produced some of the most iconic Japanese movies, including My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The executive director of the museum and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, wanted to create a museum that was for everyone, a museum that ‘is interesting and relaxes the soul’ and that ‘makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered’. Check out this page for Miyazaki’s philosophy.
The newly opened (Nov 2022) Ghibli Park is separate to the Museum and not located nearby. For information about Ghibili park check the official website.
Totoro meets you at the front entrance in a ticket booth, however, he won’t sell you a ticket as tickets are not sold at the museum, they must be bought in advance. See below for details on how to purchase.
On entry to the museum, exchange your pre purchased paper ticket for a souvenir ticket with a slice of real Ghibli film. This is one of the kids favourite souvenirs. Do you recognise which films these are from?
Unfortunately, there are no photos allowed inside the museum so we can’t show you the circular stairwells, bridges and secret passages. We can’t show you the huge furry cat bus (kids under 12 years only), the replica studio with draft pictures and scrap books, the interactive displays of how animations are made or the room of colour, showing how pictures are coloured! You will find photos on the official website.
We can show you the spiral staircase that leads outside up to the garden on the roof with the 5 metre tall Robot Soldier from “Castle in the Sky”!
Ghibli museum focuses on an appreciation of all stages of the animation process. This can be appreciated by everyone, whether you are a fan of Ghibli or not. We all loved the short original film in the theatre, this changes regularly and they are films that can only be seen at the museum. Check the session times when you arrive to make sure you don’t miss out.
Once you have finished looking through the museum, check out the souvenir shop “MAMMA AIUTO” or the art gallery for a special purchase.
To complete your experience, a stop at the Straw Hat Cafe is an absolute must! The cafe offers seasonal dishes using local ingredients. Sorry not many photos – it was too yummy and before we knew it, it was all gone!!
Who would enjoy this…
For any Ghibli or animated movie fan you will love this museum. However, even if you have never seen a Ghibli film, I’m sure you will still appreciate this quirky museum. Miyazaki’s love of animation is infectious, we can’t recommend it highly enough.
How to get here
Catch the train to JR Mitaka station on the JR Chuo line, about 20 minutes from Shinjuku station. It’s a 15 minute walk from the station to the museum or you can catch a bus from bus stop No. 9 at Mitaka station.
Tickets
Ghibli tickets MUST be purchased in advance, you cannot turn up to the museum and gain entry. Tickets are not expensive as Hayao Miyazaki wanted the museum to be accessible to all. However, with such a cult following of the movies, tickets are incredibly hard to get!
To purchase tickets from Australia, a limited number of official tickets are sold through the website. Tickets are released at 10am (Japan time) on the 10th of the month for the following month.
Note that JTB Australia previously was able to purchase tickets, however, since COVID this has been discontinued. It is important to keep checking the website as things change often without much notice.
If you are in Japan or have friends or family in Japan, you will be able to purchase tickets at ticket machines in Lawson stores the month prior from the 10th of the month and there is often greater availability for this than for the online international purchases.
Sometimes tickets can be purchased as part of a tour package through international companies, however these are much, much more expensive.
Ticket costs: Adult ¥1000, Youth 13-18yrs ¥700, Children 7-12yrs ¥400, 4-6years ¥100.
Ghibli Museum online tickets this also has a calendar with open days.
Straw Hat Cafe: 11am-7pm
Location: 1-1-83 Simorenjaku, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, Japan
Ghibli Park
Ghibli Park is completely separate from the Muesum and located in Nagoya not Tokyo. Information regarding tickets for Ghibli Park is still being released. Tickets for overseas visitors can be found on the official website. First round of tickets for April 2023 were released on 10th January 2023 at 2pm Japan time. They sold out within minutes.
JTB Travel does not sell stand alone tickets but they do sell packages of accommodation and tickets. Contact JTB travel via email as soon as you are aware of dates for assistance with tickets.
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Homework!
To fully appreciate this Museum we recommend watching a few Ghibli movies. If you only have time for one and for younger kids we’d recommend My Neighbour Totoro. It’s a lovely heart-warming story.
