Studio Ghibli Museum Tokyo is like walking into a Ghibli film set.

Having loved the Studio Ghibli animated films for a long time it was amazing to be able to visit the Ghibli museum in Mitaka, a suburb of Tokyo.

Sadly it was raining as the museum is itself very green with lots of roof terraces and outside spaces but also in parkland which is very fitting.

The museum opened in 2001 and is a series of interlocking spaces which from the outside have a moulded adobe style appearance and inside resemble a castle with large staircases and huge wooden doors, they have the atmosphere of a Ghibli interior set, slightly turn of the century with Art Nouveau stained glass style windows and a huge domed central glass ceiling. There is a centrepiece spiral staircase which runs throughout the three floors as well as more conventional wooden stairs.

The museum begins with an explanation of animation and a wonderful zoetrope with 3 dimensional Totoro figures, there are rooms that show Hayao Miyazaki’s office style and working methods, how the backgrounds are built up in layers and best of all there is a giant shaggy fur Cat Bus that the under 12’s can clamber in and out and on top of. I would thoroughly recommend a visit here even if you are not aware of much of the Studio’s output as it is just great fun.

There is also a cinema that shows short animations made especially for the museum, every entry ticket includes one screening.

Its about a 30 minute ride out on the JR Chuo line from central Tokyo so fairly easy to visit, the prices all seemed reasonable for Tokyo and there is a shuttle bus from underneath the elevated station especially for museum visitors. The only proviso is if you can,  book before you travel to Tokyo as there is a limit of 200 visitors per day and the museum can sell out. I managed to book tickets in London from an agency listed on the website about 2 weeks before we left and the allocation for some days had already been sold.

 

Entrance to the Ghibli museum in Tokyo with rain cover walkway

 

 

The Robot soldier on the roof of the Ghibli museum, Mitaka, Tokyo

 

 

The patio garden with a working well in the centre

 

 

Patio manhole cover - why don't all manhole covers look like this?

 

 

Giant soft Cat Bus and smoke balls in the Ghibli museum - photo by Yutaka Suzuki

 

 

One of the stained glass window panels

 

 

Another secret patio and roof terrace garden

 

 

One of our gift shop buys, a soft spinning Totoro

 

 

Another gift shop buy, a Totoro key ring at the Ghibli Museum Tokyo

 

 

One super stylish young Ghibli museum visitor in the cafe, Mitaka Tokyo

 

All photos except Cat Bus by Smudgetikka, Cat Bus photo by Yataka Suzuki – all rights reserved

A weekend treat for those with a techy mindset

Nothing to do with fashion in a clothes sense but my son found this clip of New York being digitised. It was made by a film production company and may be made into a feature length movie.

I love it, see what you think.

tinyurl.com/y3p857u

Still from Pixel by One More Production