Just outside central Tokyo in Mitaka, near Kichijoji, the Ghibli Museum is an absolute must for any Studio Ghibli fan! The whole place is designed with that magical, quirky style the studio is known for. You’ll spot plenty of familiar faces, including a life-sized robot from Castle in the Sky hanging out in the rooftop garden. It’s like stepping straight into a Ghibli movie!
If you’re a big fan of My Neighbor Totoro, then you’re in luck because you can actually ride a catbus big enough for adults to ride in. If the idea sounds rather strange and fantastic, that’s because it is.
This well-known museum (so popular that tickets have to be pre-booked 3 months in advance) is situated in a big park in Mitaka, Tokyo, where visitors can view real-life models of beloved film characters, including the striking cat-bus creature from My Neighbour Totoro and this large metal sculpture of the robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky, the studio’s first official film.
The museum also has a small theatre for screening short films by Studio Ghibli that can be seen nowhere else, a cafe, a rooftop garden, and a children’s play area where the famous Catbus is. So far it has been a fluffy 1m-high version just large enough for kids to climb and play on. If you want a real bus to ride in, you’ll have to go to the one at Ghibli Park (although it’s not fluffy at all).
Ghibli’s founder, Hayao Miyazaki, says the museum displays will be something even non-fans can appreciate. With a track record two Academy Award wins – for Spirited Away in 2003 and The Boy and the Heron in 2023 – there’s enough brilliant art in one place to satisfy even the casual anime watcher.
And you definitely don’t have to be a fan to find this fluffy Totoro in a ticket booth adorable. Small note: you can’t buy tickets to Ghibli Museum on the spot, as all entry is by pre-booked tickets only.
A limited number of tickets can be purchased online in English through the l-tike.com website by Lawson for the regular fee of 1,000 yen. Tickets are released on the 10th of every month, for entry for the following month. It’s a well-known fact that getting tickets to Ghibli Museum isn’t easy – tickets sell out very fast since they’re only sold in small quantities, and the museum has a lot of days when it closes.
If you do get to visit Ghibli Museum though, do note that photography is not allowed (unlike at Ghibli Park, where photography is allowed at most places).
