Or just ‘Let’s become lost children together‘ – Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.
Hey Guys!
How are you doing? It took me almost 7 days to get this post finally up, but here it is! I visited with my girlfriend and my Mexican visitor the Forest Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館).
The view from the roof of the Ghibli Museum
I won’t lie, it is probably one of the most lovingly and cutely designed museums I have ever visited in my life (which haven’t been many … but still a handful). It looks like a building that could be found in one of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies and would not seem to be out of place at all.
If you want to visit the museum you have to buy a ticket one month beforehand at a Convenience Store (or in Japanese; konbini コンビニ） like Lawson. If I am mistaken correct me but usually you buy the tickets for the following month on the 11th of the previous month. If the 11th is a weekend or holiday you wait until the following Monday or workday to get it. The ticket costs 1000 Yen for an adult and will allow you (if bought in Japan) to visit the museum in a certain time window (10am to 12pm, 12pm to 2pm, 2pm to 4 pm or 4pm to 6pm). This will keep the museum from becoming to crowded and allows you to have a comfortable trip while being there.
You have to be fast! These tickets are sold out very quickly and should therefor be purchased on the same day when the sales are starting. If you buy your tickets from outside of Japan (which also has to be in advance by the way) you are not limited to exact entrance times. You will be able to visit the museum whenever you want on the booked day!
Most of the staff will be able to talk to you in very basic English but don’t expect anyone to explain you anything in detail if you are not able to speak Japanese. You get a little leaflet in many languages which … doesn’t give you any information but a vaguely drawn plan of the museum and some inspiring words by Hayao Miyazaki (I wrote the words down for you in the title of this blog – What he means is that the museum has no route and you have to explore it however you want and get lost in its ‘magic‘ … uuuh). The whole museum will be in Japanese which makes it hard for foreigners who don’t speak Japanese to enjoy it as much as other Japanese-speaking people. But here are the good news for you not Japanese-speaking-fellas; 80% of the content in the museum itself has not to be read or understood. I would have loved to show you what I mean, but unfortunately it is not allowed to take pictures INSIDE of the museum. But believe me – it has a very unique architecture.
The exhibits change every year and this year it was about ‘The Lens at Work in The Ghibli Forest‘ and was pretty awesome. They had a whole room lined up with art that moves very fast in circles so that it appears like it is a movie or actually animated. Our eyes can’t catch so many images which makes static figures or pictures seem like they are moving. My Mexican friend still took a video of a few of the exhibitions and I will see if I can get it for you guys.
There will also be a room full of hand drawn papers and concept arts of many Ghibli movies which will make real fans yell out in delight. Also the huge souvenir shop will leave no wish unanswered since you can buy almost anything remotely related with Ghibli (notebooks, pens, posters, shirts, figures, buttons etc. etc.) for an almost reasonable price (the Disney souvenir shop is like 1000000 times more expensive in comparison). For the fellas of you who love Totoro (トトロ) you can have a pretty big version of the Cat Bus (猫バス). But if you are able to find this blog and read it without major difficulties you are probably already too old to get inside of it :p But you can still listen to the story of the Cat Bus if you understand Japanese (the poor woman probably has to tell the story 100 times a day – at least!).
The museum has a garden on its roof with replicas from the movie Laputa: Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ) which is the first movie to be published and released by Ghibli Studios! On the roof they have one of the robots which appear in the movie as well as the hieroglyphic cube!
The little forest on top of the Ghibli Museum roof
Hieroglyphic cube from ‘Laputa: The Castle in the Sky’ and my girlfriend deciphering
The robot from ‘Laputa: Castle in the Sky’
The roof of the Ghibli Forest Museum from the entrance
There is also a restaurant/cafe in the museum where you can buy expensive ice cream and food (the ice cream is awesome). There was a 15 men line to enter the restaurant part of the cafe and if everyone of them would have eaten in about 45 minutes … I would have probably starved before getting something into my stomach. I decided to eat a Hotdog for 500 Yen from a little food-stand next to the cafe which wasn’t that bad but I wouldn’t recommend it. Bring your own lunch (Obentou お弁当) and enjoy it outside!
The Strawhat Cafe at the Ghibli museum
The whole visit of the the museum will take you maybe 2 hours or less. It took us about 90 minutes and we had seen everything (Without counting the time we used to get ice cream and a hotdog). But outside of the museum there is a big and beautiful park (which we did not visit – my back was killing me and we had another appointment… we arrived already late at the museum) in which you can take a walk or have your lunch.
Inside of the museum there is also a movie theater which shows a 12 minute original short movie! I don’t know how often they have a new one and if they all follow the same concept, but the movie I saw only used sounds produced by (one?) person and used only one Japanese word which was arigatou (thanks ありがとう). The short movie was probably one of the best things for me in the museum. When you enter the museum you get a little filmstrip which allows you to enter the theater one time (when you enter they will stamp it). You should go and see it!
And before I forget; If you arrive at the Mitaka Station (三鷹駅) there is a bus ticket you can purchase for 300 Yen which will be your transportation from the station to the museum and back! It leaves every 10 minutes but is pretty small. On your way back you should watch out of how many people want to return because the line gets pretty long on the way back at around 4pm or 5pm!
So, did I like it? Yes! Should you all go? Yes, why not! But only if you really like Ghibli or if you want to see a very special museum with awesome architecture (gave me many ideas for my own house I want to have someday). Obviously it is much more fun if you can understand Japanese but most of the things you can do there do not require it. And if you love the Ghibli movies … who cares? 🙂 It gets my approval!
I hope you liked my little blog about the Ghibli Museum! One more point crossed of The List! Thanks for reading guys! And don’t forget to lose your way when you visit the museum!
Jonathan
Let’s lose our way together
Unraveling the mysteries of life 