Ghibli Museum Mitaka
The Ghibli museum came up pretty frequently as a MUST SEE when I first visited Japan in 2007. I never went. 1. People who had been there made it sound like the museum was located in a really inconvenient, hard to find location. 2. I had not really seen any Ghibli films (I don't think I'd even seen Totoro back in 2007).
Over the years, I discovered that the museum is quite easy to find. It's located in Inokashira park, which is a great place to visit anyway.
I have also since watched some of the Ghibli films, though far from all of them. These are the ones I've seen:
Grave of the Fireflies
My Neighbour Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Ponyo
From Up On Poppy Hill
The Wind Rises
I can't decide on a favourite, it has to be either Grave of the Fireflies, Ponyo, or The Wind Rises.
When magic_treehouse asked me if I could help him get tickets for the museum, I saw it as an opportunity to finally go experience the museum for myself. You have to buy tickets in advance. Tickets for September went on sale August 10th (and tickets for October went on sale September 10th etc etc etc). They sell out fast. You also have to pick a time slot for entry (10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm). The museum is very popular, I think this is a good way to reduce over crowding, though I understand it can be a little troublesome for tourists to get tickets(?).
Honestly, I had very low expectations. Over the years, I've heard complaints from many Ghibli fans that the exhibit is lacking, the museum is too crowded, it's just meant for kids.
So I was absolutely blown away once I made it inside.
Being able to explore the building was worth the ticket price alone (which by the way is very reasonable, just ¥1000 per person). There's no set course to take, you enter, and then you're free to explore to your heart's content. It was a very refreshing approach to this type of museum.
Ghibli's philosophy shines through in the layout and the playful thoughtfulness of the exhibits. The museum is a celebration of animation and Ghibli's philosophy as a whole, it's not really the place to go if you want to learn trivia about the Ghibli films.
They do have complete storyboards on display that you can look through freely, but they seem to be on rotation. I would have loved to look through the storyboards for The Wind Rises, but the books on display right now were From Up On Poppy Hill and Porco Rosso.
There is also a cinema where they screen original short films made just for the museum. They've got 9 different of these short films on rotation. The film screened this September was やどさがし (House Hunting).
It was a brilliant little film where a girl escapes the noisy city searching for a new place to stay. The film played around with sound a lot. Sound effects were spelled out in hand drawn letters as part of the action in the film, and all sounds were made by human voices (similar to the earthquake sequence in The Wind Rises). There was no soundtrack other than the vocalised sound effects. I had to look up the voice actors afterwards, because there was a huge reaction from the audience once the credits rolled. Turns out all the sound effects were vocalised by Tamori! Yup, the Music Station guy. Wow.
You're not allowed to take pictures inside the museum. I understand their reasoning, but I would have loved a picture of myself riding the cat bus (the museum opened up a special cat bus room for adult visitors just earlier this year)!
I would have liked to try the café, maybe some other time if I decide to go again!
I'm really glad I went. It is absolutely well worth a visit. I would go as far as to say you don't really have to be a Ghibli fan to enjoy it. A love for animation is a must, though.
I recommend the museum's official site if you want to learn more about the museum. The opening greeting from Miyazaki is amazing. They absolutely succeeded in creating the museum he wanted to make.
Been coming to Tokyo since 2007, but never been to the Ghibli museum before. Thanks to @magic_treehouse for taking me, it was amazing! pic.twitter.com/1QdgVUbUHJ
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) September 23, 2016
Over the years, I discovered that the museum is quite easy to find. It's located in Inokashira park, which is a great place to visit anyway.
I have also since watched some of the Ghibli films, though far from all of them. These are the ones I've seen:
Grave of the Fireflies
My Neighbour Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Ponyo
From Up On Poppy Hill
The Wind Rises
I can't decide on a favourite, it has to be either Grave of the Fireflies, Ponyo, or The Wind Rises.
When magic_treehouse asked me if I could help him get tickets for the museum, I saw it as an opportunity to finally go experience the museum for myself. You have to buy tickets in advance. Tickets for September went on sale August 10th (and tickets for October went on sale September 10th etc etc etc). They sell out fast. You also have to pick a time slot for entry (10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm). The museum is very popular, I think this is a good way to reduce over crowding, though I understand it can be a little troublesome for tourists to get tickets(?).
Honestly, I had very low expectations. Over the years, I've heard complaints from many Ghibli fans that the exhibit is lacking, the museum is too crowded, it's just meant for kids.
So I was absolutely blown away once I made it inside.
Being able to explore the building was worth the ticket price alone (which by the way is very reasonable, just ¥1000 per person). There's no set course to take, you enter, and then you're free to explore to your heart's content. It was a very refreshing approach to this type of museum.
Ghibli's philosophy shines through in the layout and the playful thoughtfulness of the exhibits. The museum is a celebration of animation and Ghibli's philosophy as a whole, it's not really the place to go if you want to learn trivia about the Ghibli films.
They do have complete storyboards on display that you can look through freely, but they seem to be on rotation. I would have loved to look through the storyboards for The Wind Rises, but the books on display right now were From Up On Poppy Hill and Porco Rosso.
There is also a cinema where they screen original short films made just for the museum. They've got 9 different of these short films on rotation. The film screened this September was やどさがし (House Hunting).
It was a brilliant little film where a girl escapes the noisy city searching for a new place to stay. The film played around with sound a lot. Sound effects were spelled out in hand drawn letters as part of the action in the film, and all sounds were made by human voices (similar to the earthquake sequence in The Wind Rises). There was no soundtrack other than the vocalised sound effects. I had to look up the voice actors afterwards, because there was a huge reaction from the audience once the credits rolled. Turns out all the sound effects were vocalised by Tamori! Yup, the Music Station guy. Wow.
You're not allowed to take pictures inside the museum. I understand their reasoning, but I would have loved a picture of myself riding the cat bus (the museum opened up a special cat bus room for adult visitors just earlier this year)!
I would have liked to try the café, maybe some other time if I decide to go again!
I'm really glad I went. It is absolutely well worth a visit. I would go as far as to say you don't really have to be a Ghibli fan to enjoy it. A love for animation is a must, though.
I recommend the museum's official site if you want to learn more about the museum. The opening greeting from Miyazaki is amazing. They absolutely succeeded in creating the museum he wanted to make.
Been coming to Tokyo since 2007, but never been to the Ghibli museum before. Thanks to @magic_treehouse for taking me, it was amazing! pic.twitter.com/1QdgVUbUHJ
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) September 23, 2016