[2019-10-05]
I woke up that morning with a big hangover (the night before I had fun with some friends and got to sleep after 3 am). I was screwing it up a bit. I was tired and just wanted to sleep more, but I had to get up to achieve my big plan for the day. I left quickly and took the train to Mitaka.
My destination was located inside Inokashira Park, a large and famous park featured in many manga and anime, that has a scenic pond with an urban legend. According to it, if you ride a boat with your lover, your relationship would get cursed by jealous goodness from the neighboring shrine, and you may soon break up. Even so, boat rentals are pretty popular, and you’ll always find couples on those swan boats.
I arrived at 9:50am, with just enough time. I followed the directions with a bit of headache and sleep, but happy, feeling already the magic. It was hard to believe that I was reaching the Ghibli Museum; an experience which I always heard was difficult to achieve. It’s closed many days of the year, and also you have to get the tickets in advance, and with great perseverance to get them before they quickly sell out. (At the end of this post, I’ll explain how I managed to get a ticket).
I assume you’ve heard of Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki, and the magical and beautiful world depicted in their breathtaking films. The museum transports you into that world. But not as it was based on a specific movie; instead, you will feel living your own Ghibli film.
Everything is extraordinarily carefully crafted and hard to describe, and sadly, pictures are not allowed inside the building, only on the rooftop garden.
The museum has 3 floors and a rooftop; you start from the basement, but you can wander in any direction and explore it in any order. And, although every inch of it is marvelous (with little details in every corner), there are 3 sections that I loved and enjoyed the most:
- “The Beginning of Movement” permanent exhibition. Here, the concept of animation, its principles, and history, are described in an unforgettable interactive way. One of the main attractions is a 3D zoetrope that gives life to the characters from Totoro.
- The “Saturn Theater” where you can watch one of the Ghibli short films created only for the museum. Each time, you could catch a different one. I had one about a tiny water spider and its daily life, so simple in concept but magically accomplished.
- The permanent exhibition “Where a Film is Born”. This room transports you to the mind and environment where Miyazaki creates his works, showing the process, from lots of inspiring items and books, sketches, character concepts… up until the completion of the creation.
In the rooftop garden, you’ll find a big robot statue from the movie “Laputa: Castle in the Sky”, surrounded by beautiful flowers. There were some people doing queue for taking pictures with it.
There is also an annually changing exhibition area, where I tried to understand how they define colors for the films (everything was in Japanese). A store full of wonders, with objects that you won’t find in any other place, I wanted to buy them all, but not with my big Journey ahead. And a café and some spaces for younger kids to enjoy.
I can only say that I absolutely enjoyed my time there, and won’t hesitate to visit it again, anytime I could have the chance. I would love to see all the other short films and buy many souvenirs from the store as possible.
But also, I can’t wait for the anticipated Ghibli Theme Park (in Aichi Prefecture) to be completed. It seems that they are planning to open it this November (2022).
I didn’t want to leave but, I spent more than 2 hours wandering around, and it was already full past midday. I recommend doing the same as me and going at opening hours (10 am), so you can enjoy it with the least amount of people.
After the museum, I went for a walk in the big park. I saw many people around, practicing different sports, doing picnics, enjoying nature. Then, I head to another big attraction, The Inokashira Park Zoo, which I also planned to visit that day.
The Zoo itself wasn’t so bad; although, there was an external bird area with cages too small; many of them were too crowded, and others, like the cranes and herons, looked really sad.
The main area had some small animals and many spaces where the kids can learn and interact, like a guinea pig petting room, or a huge squirrel cage where you can enter and see them playfully jumping and running everywhere.
I would like to think that those animals were rescued somehow and can’t live in the wild, but the regulations for the zoos in Japan aren’t the best ones, and there are awful stories about zoos with the worst conditions.
Aside from the animals, there was an area with interesting statues; I didn’t understand why it was there, but it was entertaining.
This zoo is part of a museum and parks entrances pass, called the Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass. The pass cost me ¥2200 (now in 2022 costs ¥2500 ~$22usd), with 99 facilities, between museums, zoos, and gardens; the majority with free entrance, and others with big discounts. From the day you first use it, the pass has a valid period of 2 months. I calculated that, if I buy it that day, it would be valid until the last day of my journey, back in Tokyo.
If you plan to visit several museums in Tokyo, the Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass is totally worth it. Just 4 or 5 normal entrances to those places would have cost more than the pass itself; so, it’s something I can recommend.
You can check the website for the prices and the deals, and you can buy it at the entrance of any of the places.
Inokashira Park is a place where you can spend a whole day and enjoy many activities and interact with a lot of people.
This is how I easily acquired the Ghibli Museum tickets:
First, you need to be ready and decide the dates in advance (maybe having more than one option in case it runs out too fast).
Then, you have to enter this website the previous month of the visit on the 10th day and at 10am (Japan time).
So, for example, you want to go any day of October, you have to buy the tickets on September 10th, (or probably 9th, depending on the country you are in; just make sure it’s 10am on the 10th day of the month in Japan).
I recommend doing a test the 10th of the month before, so you can familiarize yourself with the platform, and understand the tables with the days that are closed, sold out, etc. Also, as I recommended above, you should go at 10 am, at the opening time for the museum, and when the least people are inside.
And last, you have to be sure of everything because the tickets only work for one specific date and time.
Don‘t hesitate to ask any questions in the comments below.
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