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The Ghibli Museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館, Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan, Mitaka Forest Ghibli Museum) is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, in Japan. The museum combines features of a children's museum, technology museum, and a fine arts museum and is dedicated to the art and technique of animation. Features include a replica of the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro (1988), a café, bookstore, rooftop garden, and a theater for exclusive short films by Studio Ghibli.
.jpg) Exterior of the Ghibli Museum | |
 | |
| Established | 1 October 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1-83 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka Tokyo 181-0013 |
| Website | Official website  |
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Planning for the museum began in 1998, and construction started in March 2000. The museum opened on 1 October 2001.[1]
Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki designed the museum himself, using storyboards similar to the ones he creates for his films. The design was influenced by European architecture such as the hilltop village of Calcata in Italy. The museum features internal and external spiral staircases built from iron, interior bridges, and balconies stretching throughout the building's height. The stairways lead to exhibits, dead ends, and across bridges.[2] These characteristics are meant to reflect Miyazaki's building designs displayed in his film work.[3] Miyazaki's aim was to make the building itself part of the exhibit[4] and for the museum to be an uplifting and relaxing experience "that makes you feel more enriched when you leave than when you entered".
Photography and video recording is prohibited inside, because the museum is described as a "portal to a storybook world".[3]
"Let's get lost together" is the museum's slogan, derived from Miyazaki's vision for visitors to immerse themselves in his imagination and film work.[3][5]
In February 2020, the museum closed temporarily as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6][7] It re-opened to Mitaka residents only in July and fully in September.[8]
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Permanent exhibitions
On the bottom floor of the museum is an exhibit room showing the history and science of animation, including a three-dimensional zoetrope named "Bouncing Totoro", with models of characters from My Neighbor Totoro (1988).[9] On the first floor is a mock-up of an animation studio. Called "Where a Film is Born", the five-room exhibit is meant to showcase the creative process of an animation filmmaker, including illustration techniques.[2] Packed with books and toys, the room also displays drawings and illustrations that cover the walls.[3] Another exhibit demonstrates the process of creating an animated film, with sketches, storyboarding, keyframing, cleanup, coloring, and background painting.
Special exhibitions
In addition to Ghibli-oriented exhibitions, the museum hosts an area showcasing work from other studios.
| Date | Exhibit |
|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Spirited Away |
| 2002–2004 | Castle in the Sky and Imaginary Flying Machines |
| 2003–2004 | Works by the Russian animator Yuri Norstein |
| 2004–2005 | Pixar Animation Studios |
| 2005–2006 | Heidi, Girl of the Alps |
| 2006–2007 | Aardman Studios, primarily focused on their work on Wallace and Gromit. |
| 2007–2008 | Goldilocks and The Three Bears (3びきのくま, Sanbiki no kuma), based on a picture book version by Leo Tolstoy. Panda! Go, Panda!, one of Miyazaki's and Isao Takahata's early, pre-Ghibli films from 1972.[10] |
| 2008–2009 | Petit Louvre[11] |
| 2009–2010 | Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea[12] |
| 2010–2011 | Ghibli Forest Movies — Welcome to Saturn Theater[13] |
| 2011–2012 | The View from the Cat Bus[14][15][16] |
| 2012–2013 | The Gift of Illustrations ― A Source of Popular Culture[17][18] |
| 2013–2014 | The Lens at Work in the Ghibli Forest[19] |
| 2014–2015 | The Nutcracker and the Mouse King ― A Fairy Tale Treasure[3] |
| 2015–2016 | The Haunted Tower ― Perfect Popular Culture[3][20] |
Short films
The Ghibli Museum shows several short films. Located in the basement is the Saturn Theater,[3] which has windows where automated shades lower and open before and after each showing. This is because Miyazaki designed the theater with small children in mind, who could possibly be scared of the closed-in space.[21] The museum shows one of the following Ghibli short films in the Saturn Theatre:[22]
- Koro's Big Walk (コロの大さんぽ, Koro no dai-sampo)
- Water Spider Monmon (水グモもんもん, Mizugumo Monmon)
- Mei and the Kittenbus (めいとこねこバス, Mei to Konekobasu)
- The Day I Harvested a Star (星をかった日, Hoshi o Katta Hi)
- The Whale Hunt (くじらとり, Kujiratori)
- Looking for a home (やどさがし, Yadosagashi)
- A Sumo Wrestler's Tail (ちゅうずもう, Chūzumō)
- Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess (パン種とタマゴ姫, Pan dane to tamago hime)
- Treasure Hunting (たからさがし, Takara Sagashi)
- Boro the Caterpillar (毛虫のボロ, Kemushi no Boro)
The films are also screened at the Cinema Orion in the Grand Warehouse section of Ghibli Park, in Nagakute.
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Tri Hawks
Tri Hawks is a reading room and bookstore in the Ghibli Museum. Opened on 6 February 2002, it is filled with books recommended by Hayao Miyazaki. The name Tri Hawks comes from a translation of "Mitaka", the city where the museum is located, which means "three hawks".[3][23]
Mamma Aiuto
Mamma Aiuto, on the top of the Ghibli Museum, is a gift shop named after the band of sky pirates in the movie Porco Rosso.[24][25] The film was set in Italy, and the name Mamma Aiuto translates to "mama, help me" in Italian.[3] Among other items, it sells classic and non-Japanese animation movies under the Ghibli Museum Library label.
Straw Hat Café
The Straw Hat Café is the Ghibli Museum's only sit-down restaurant. It was created with the help of a housewife and mother of four; Miyazaki wanted the café's food to be "a kind of home cooking".[26] It serves hot and cold food, snacks, and desserts.[3] Sold at the takeout section is an original alcoholic beverage, "Valley of the Wind" beer, which was created in a collaboration with Dairy Kingdom Oratche, a microbrewery in Tanna Basin. The beverage's label was hand-drawn by Gorō Miyazaki, Miyazaki's son, who is an animation director at Studio Ghibli.[27]
Catbus room
There is a playroom for children aged 12 and below with a Catbus toy to play in. Its size is slightly reduced from the original scale in My Neighbor Totoro, for it to fit into the museum.[3][28]
Rooftop garden
On the museum's roof is a garden with a life-size, five-meter-tall statue of a robot from the final episode of Lupin III Part II and from the film Castle in the Sky.[2][29] The Robot Soldier was made by the artist Kunio Shachimaru. It is formed from a hammered copper plate and took two years to complete. The keystone from Castle in the Sky, bearing an inscription in Old Persian cuneiform, which can also be found in the rooftop garden, is a replica of the control room stone found in the floating castle, Laputa, in the movie.[30]
Fresco painting
At the entrance of the building, the museum's ceiling is covered in a fresco painting that features characters from Studio Ghibli films, such as Kiki on her broomstick from Kiki's Delivery Service (1989).[3][28]
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Tickets to the Ghibli Museum are only accepted if bought in advance. They range in price from ¥1,000 for adults to ¥700 for 13–18-year-olds, ¥400 for 7–12-year-olds, and ¥100 for 4–6-year-olds. Younger children can enter the museum for free.[2][3][31]
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