The Ghibli Museum is known worldwide and is located in Mitaka, Japan. The museum showcases the work of the Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli, which is behind some of Japan’s and the world’s most loved animated films such as: “Spirited Away,” and “Ponyo”. The museum opened to the public in October 2001. Tickets are extremely limited and should be booked in advance online before arriving, usually one month before. The museum is a mansion full of tiny doors, winding staircases, and a rooftop garden. Photography isn’t allowed which only adds to the mystery and excitement of the place.
Getting To The Ghibli Museum
Ghibli Museum is open from 10 am to 6 pm. Tourists should make sure to book tickets in advance online as they do not accept buying tickets on the day, this is the only way it should be done. Tourists can get to the museum either by train or bus. The museum is a 15-minute walk from the train station.
Ticket Prices
Tickets for the museum aren’t expensive and they have a variety of prices depending on the age of the visitor. Children under 3 are free.
- Adult Price: Ages 19 and over -1000 jpy
- Children's Prices: Ages 13 to 18-700 jpy, ages 7 to 12-400 jpy, ages 4 to 6-100 jpy, and ages 3 and under are free
Bus Prices
Tourists can catch the bus to the market. They may also catch a train but the bus will be less expensive. The walk from the bus station to the museum is 15-20 minutes.
- An adult ticket for one way is 210 yen or 329 yen for a round trip.
- A kids ticket, which is for ages 7-12 years is 110 yen for a one-way ticket and 320 yen for a round trip.
Exhibits At The Ghibli Museum
The museum includes many expeditions, and these include; a technology museum, a children’s museum, and an art museum. There is also a café, rooftop garden, reading corner, and a theatre that plays short films by Studio Ghibli.
Cat Bus Playroom
There is a playroom in the museum and this has the well-known cat seen in the film “My Neighbor Totoro” (1988) in there. This is a giant cat bus toy for children to play in and is very popular and fun for the children.
- For age 12 years and below
- For the cat bus to fit in the playroom it has to be downsized from the original film scale
The Robot Soldier
On the roof of the Ghibli museum, there is a garden that has a life-size tall statue that is five meters tall. This statue is a robot soldier made by the artist Kuino Shachimaru. The statue is made from a hammered copper plate and was in a film where an army had a broken robot falling from the sky.
- The life-size robot soldier statue is from the last episode of Lupin III and also from Castle In The Sky.
- The statue took 2 years to make.
Straw Hat Café
Bright orange walls and red window frames are on the building of the straw hat café. You can relax and enjoy an open outdoors feeling, here you can wash your hands before mealtime on the colorful washstand just to one side of the café deck. With visitors coming from all around the world, there is one menu in Japanese and another menu in English and Chinese.
Food
At the café, tourists can find many treats including; mini cakes, snacks, lunches, hot meals, sandwiches, and soups, along with a variety of drinks, hot and cold.
- Some hot foods that are offered include Russian beef stroganoff and creamy soup.
- Some cold foods on offer include brewed pork cutlet sandwich and bread made with whole-grain flour
Beverages
There are lots of tasty drinks to choose from and even an adult drink on the menu (draft beer). Other drinks on the menu include cold and hot drinks.
- Hot drinks on the menu include hot cocoa and Russian tea
- Cold drinks include an iced coffee and sunset cream soda
“MAMMA AIUTO!”
“MAMMA AIUTO!” is the name of the gift shop at the museum. “MAMMA AIUTO!” translates to “Mamma Help Me!” in Italian. This gift shop is where tourists will find all their favorite studio Ghibli character products, they will also have a variety of original museum gifts. Make sure to spend some time looking around here at all the pretty and out-of-the-ordinary window displays. Some gifts here include:
Silhouette Stand Of Kiki’s Delivery Service
In the film, Kiki is a 13-year-old witch in training who sets up her own delivery service. She has a magical cat, Gigi, who speaks throughout the film and serves as her sidekick. There is a silhouette stand of her delivery that you can also purchase.
- Kiki is played by Minami Takayama in the original Japanese version. Kirsten Dunst voices Kiki in the English dub.
- The silhouette stand of Kiki’s delivery is $17.95
Treats
Emblem cookies are very popular and can also be purchased in the gift shop of the museum. These cookies are very sweet and are decorated with the museum emblem and other Ghibli characters.
- Emblem cookies cost $15.40
- These cookies come in a beautiful tin, which can be used even when the cookies are gone.
The Ghibli museum is very popular and shows all the crazy and wonderful art of Studio Ghibli, showing different parts of well-known films. This really is an experience that shouldn’t be missed. Travelers considering a visit here should take the opportunity and treat themselves to tasty emblem cookies.