Ghibli Museum

Plunge Into the Spellbinding Realm of Hayao Miyazaki

Ghibli Museum has been on my bucket list ever since I moved to Japan. However, it never happened as soon as possible. Getting the ticket is not like a walk in a park. It takes A LOT of PATIENCE. After planning and waiting for the 10th day of the month, at 10 am, I got lucky. FIRST IMPRESSION: All I can is that I really like the location. I’ve never seen a neighborhood with that much greenery. It felt like the whole street joined forces with Ghibli to create a mini-forest to match its theme. WHAT’s INSIDE? : YOU CAN’T TAKE PHOTOS INSIDE! Well, I can’t blame for having such a rule because this generation is very much obsessed with documenting everything. I am also guilty of this one, but I try not to do it as much as I can. Anyways, the inside is a bit cramped, so I understand why they have a booking system. But, there are a lot of things to see. TOP 5 TO SEE IN GHIBLI MUSEUM: 1. Hayao’s replica studio. I like drawing and collecting art materials, hence I’m really fascinated with looking at other artist’s work place. 2. Storyboard and other Sketches. It’s just amazing to see the step by step process on how they created each animation. It’s undeniably very useful for aspiring mangakas or animators. 3. The Theater After walking around, it’s nice to sit and just watch a movie. 4. Food Replicas Seeing the food mock-ups was really fun because it kind of reminds me of my kitchen toy when I was a kid. 5. The Robot Since it’s only allowed to take photos outside, many visitors take their time to take selfies with it. I personally just like the garden that surrounds him. I'm just fond of trees and flowers! THINGS TO REMEMBER: 1. Plan your visit 2. Book as early as you can. Every 10th of the month, starting at 10 am, the reservations for the next month is open. It SOLDS out very fast so I highly suggest getting the tickets as soon as it becomes available. 3. Ordering your Ghibli Pass on the internet is challenging. Be persistent and keep refreshing. 4. If no. 3 fails, just go to LAWSON. This is what we did. After trying for 15 minutes on its website, we decided to run to the nearest Lawson. Guess what, the time that we wanted was FULLY BOOKED, hence changing our plans. The company option is Japanese, but here is its tutorial, on how you can do it! http://www.lawson.co.jp/ghibli_museum/english.html#top ************************************************************************* Overall, it was an entertaining day to get captivated by Hayao Miyazaki’s work over and over again. I just wished I had more time, so I can fully get lost to the spellbinding realm of Ghibli.