Ghibli Museum

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Ghibli Museum, Mitaka.

A life-size model of a robot from the animation Castle in the Sky on top of the Ghibli Museum.

Ghibli Museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館, Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan^?) is a commercial museum featuring the Japanese anime work of Studio Ghibli. Located in Mitaka, a western suburb of Tokyo, Japan, it opened in 2001.

The museum is a fine arts museum, but does not take the concept of a usual fine arts museum. With many features that are child-oriented and a sprawling and occasionally mazelike interior, the museum is a playfully created place. Centered around the motto "Let's lose our way together," the museum has no set path or order of viewing.^{[citation needed]} It seems to be primarily a Japanese tourist location, as even though the museum brochure has a variety of languages on it, the signs within the museum are in Japanese only.

1 Exhibits
- 1.1 Short films
2 Other features
3 Rules
4 Tickets and access
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Exhibits

In addition to Ghibli-oriented exhibitions, the museum hosts an area where it brings in other animation work. The 2006–2007 exhibition is the Aardman Studio, primarily their work on Wallace and Gromit. The 2005-2006 exhibition dealt with Heidi, Girl of the Alps. On 2004-2005, the museum featured an exhibition about Pixar Animation Studios.

The building features two floors connected through staircases as well as a metallic spiral staircase. There is a sculpture garden on the rooftop.

[edit] Short films

From February 21, 2007 until April 9, 2007 the museum showed the following Ghibli short-films in the Saturn Theatre:

Koro no o-sampo (Koro's Big Walk)
Mizugumo Monmon (Water Spider Monmon)

Each guest to the museum is only permitted to see one of these films during a single visit. From April 11, 2007 through the end of June, 2007 the theatre will show only one feature.

[edit] Other features

The museum also includes an animation bookstore, souvenir giftshop and a theme restaurant called The Straw Hat Cafe.

[edit] Rules

There is a strict no-photography indoors policy^[1]. However, photos are allowed in the garden.

[edit] Tickets and access

The museum requires tickets be purchased in advance, so it is not possible to buy tickets at the museum. Tickets can be purchased at Lawson convenience stores via their automated kiosks called "Loppi." However, instructions are available only in Japanese, and the tickets will often sell out months in advance for weekends and more crowded seasons. Fortunately, the museum has recognized its growing popularity with overseas visitors, and sets aside a small number of tickets for them. In order to purchase these, overseas visitors must purchase their tickets in advance through Japanese travel agencies^[2]. Tickets sold domestically are valid both for a specific date and a specific time; those sold to overseas visitors specify only the date. Note that the latter are reserved at the ticket booth by name; overseas visitors must bring their pre-issued vouchers that are printed with their formal names and passport numbers, so you will need to bring your passport with you on your visit to the museum.

Tickets randomly feature three consecutive celluloid photograms of various Ghibli's films, and you get to keep the ticket as a souvenir.

A bus service connects the museum with Mitaka's train station. The service is ¥200/¥300 for adults (one way/roundtrip) and ¥100/¥150 for children. It is also possible to walk (about 20 minutes) from the train station to the museum, and the path is marked with signage to the museum. The museum does not have parking space for cars, so access via train is encouraged. Access by train is via Mitaka Station on the JR Chūō Main Line, approximately 20 minutes from Shinjuku Station.^[2]