Studio Ghibli (pronounced "jiburi") has created some of the best-loved films in Japan (and the world), including recent Academy Award–winner The Boy and the Heron (2023). Master animator Miyazaki Hayao designed this museum himself, and it’s redolent of the dreamy atmosphere that makes his animations so enchanting.
The Magical World of Ghibli
Studio Ghibli's films transport viewers to fairy-tale lands as well as ones not unlike our own, but where magic, unusual creatures and the supernatural intervene in unexpected ways. While Miyazaki has long been fascinated by machines – and many of his works feature steampunk-esque contraptions, the artist remains committed to hand-drawing – a rarity in contemporary animation, and the artistry shows.
Even those unfamiliar with the works of Studio Ghibli, founded in 1985 by Miyazaki and the late Takahata Isao, will find this museum enchanting. Fans likely won’t want to leave.
Exploring the Museum
The Ghibli Museum, Mitaka rewards curiosity and play: peer through a small window, for example, and you’ll see little soot sprites (as seen in Spirited Away; 2001). A spiral staircase leads to a purposefully overgrown rooftop terrace with a 5m tall statue of the Robot Soldier from Castle in the Sky (1986). A highlight for kids (sorry, grown-ups!) is a giant replica of the cat bus from the classic My Neighbor Totoro (1988) that under 12s can climb on.
There’s also a small theater where original animated shorts – which can only be seen here! – are screened (you’ll get a ticket for this when you enter). The film changes monthly to keep fans coming back. Special exhibitions, meanwhile, often feature storyboards, sketches or cel art from past or present Ghibli works.
Elsewhere there’s an imagined workshop filled with the kinds of books and artworks that inspired Miyazaki, as well as vintage machines from animation's history. Naturally, the museum gift shop is excellent, with plenty of tempting character goods for both kids and grown-ups.
Detour Through the Park
The museum sits on the western edge of Inokashira-kōen, another of Tokyo’s beloved green spaces, this one with woodsy strolling paths, a big central pond and an ancient shrine to Benzaiten (one of Japan’s eight lucky gods). It takes about 30 minutes to walk through the park between the museum and Kichijōji Station (one stop before Mitaka on the JR Sōbu-Chūō line). Otherwise, Mitaka is the nearest station to the museum
