The Ghibli Museum was designed to entertain children through Japanese anime projects of the Ghibli Studio. It is a fine arts museum, but offers a more chaotic and thrilling experience than what you would normally expect. The interior confuses and surprise with its maze like appearance.
The museum lives up to its motto, “let’s lose our way together,” by transporting you into a world that is ethereal. This modern museum was opened eleven years ago in October 2001 and was designed, inspired by European architecture, by Hayao Miyazaki. The building in itself is a fine arts specimen and delightful to the eye.
Anime
This innovative museum has a couple of permanent exhibitions that can be viewed throughout the year. There are also several special exhibitions that showcase animation work that are not by Ghibli. ‘The View from the Cat Bus‘ and ‘The Boy’s Room‘ are favorites with visitors.
The building hosts the ‘Saturn Theatre‘ that shows animation movies. You will also enjoy the rooftop garden that has a huge statue of the robot from ‘Castle in the Sky‘. You will find souvenir and book shops that sell interesting items that you can take back home with you.
You must also step into the reading room ‘Tri Hawks’ where you are encouraged to see, touch, and feel mystery through books. ‘The Straw Hat Cafe‘ is the in-house restaurant and you will find restrooms where you can rest your feet for a few minutes.
The museum is very ‘handicapped friendly’. They not only have wheelchair access to all the three floors (except the rooftop garden), they also provide wheelchairs upon request. Guide dogs of blind visitors are also permitted.
Access
You can access the museum, which is located in the Mitaka Inokashira Park, from the Mitaka Station. You can catch the museum’s bus; the schedule for the bus is given on their website. You will need to pay an admission fee; children under 4 are allowed free admission.
